diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f087b429
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*.tar.gz filter=lfs diff=lfs merge=lfs -text
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-B01_SL_load_single_file.yml b/.github/workflows/test_icesat2_tracks_pipeline.yml
similarity index 78%
rename from .github/workflows/test-B01_SL_load_single_file.yml
rename to .github/workflows/test_icesat2_tracks_pipeline.yml
index 216f2b9c..d8b435c1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-B01_SL_load_single_file.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_icesat2_tracks_pipeline.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-name: Test Steps
+name: Smoke Tests
 on:
   pull_request: {}
   push:
@@ -35,16 +35,16 @@ jobs:
             icesat2waves correct-separate --help # prelim name
 
       - name: first step B01_SL_load_single_file
-        run: load-file --track-name 20190502052058_05180312_005_01 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work
+        run: load-file --track-name 20190502052058_05180312_005_01 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
       - name: second step make_spectra
-        run: make-spectra --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work
+        run: make-spectra --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
       - name: third step plot_spectra
-        run: plot-spectra --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work
-      - name: fouth step IOWAGA threads 
-        run:  make-iowaga-threads-prior --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work
+        run: plot-spectra --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
+      - name: fourth step IOWAGA threads 
+        run:  make-iowaga-threads-prior --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
       - name: fifth step B04_angle
-        run: make-b04-angle --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work
+        run: make-b04-angle --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
       - name: sixth step B04_define_angle
-        run: define-angle --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work
+        run: define-angle --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
       - name: seventh step B06_correct_separate
-        run: correct-separate --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work
\ No newline at end of file
+        run: correct-separate --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_test_suite.yml b/.github/workflows/test_test_suite.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ab9c0f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_test_suite.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+name: Test Steps
+on:
+  pull_request: {}
+  push:
+    branches: [ main ]
+jobs:
+  python_run_scripts:
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        version: ['3.11']
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    steps:
+      - name: install mpi
+        run: sudo apt update && sudo apt-get install openmpi-bin openmpi-doc libopenmpi-dev 
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          lfs: true
+      - name: setup python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ matrix.version }} # install the python version needed
+          cache: "pip"
+      - name: install icesat2-tracks using pip
+        run: pip install .
+      - name: install pytest
+        run: pip install pytest pytest-xdist pytest-sugar pytest-durations
+      - name: Run tests
+        run: pytest --capture=sys --verbose --showlocals --tb=long --numprocesses=auto tests/test_steps.py
+        
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/test_steps.py b/tests/test_steps.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2cb6203f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_steps.py
@@ -0,0 +1,394 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+"""
+This module contains a test suite for the following commands:
+      - name: Step 1 B01_SL_load_single_file
+        cmd: load-file --track-name 20190502052058_05180312_005_01 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
+      - name: second step make_spectra
+        cmd: make-spectra --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
+      - name: third step plot_spectra
+        cmd: plot-spectra --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
+      - name: fourth step IOWAGA threads 
+        cmd:  make-iowaga-threads-prior --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
+      - name: fifth step B04_angle
+        cmd: make-b04-angle --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
+      - name: sixth step B04_define_angle
+        cmd: define-angle --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
+      - name: seventh step B06_correct_separate
+        cmd: correct-separate --track-name SH_20190502_05180312 --batch-key SH_testSLsinglefile2 --output-dir ./work --verbose
+
+To this end, it sets up a temporary directory within the `tests/` directory with subdirectories containing the required input data for each step. The tests are run in parallel using the `xdist` plugin, with each worker having its own copy of the input data. This allows the tests to modify the input data without affecting other workers. The `setup_module` function (fixture) is responsible for creating the temporary directory and setting up the input data for each step. It also prepares the target directories for each step by extracting the necessary files from tarballs in the `tests/testdata` directory and organizing them in the appropriate directory structure.
+
+After the tests are completed, the `teardown_module` function is called to clean up the temporary directory.
+
+The metadata for each script is stored in the `scripts` list, and the paths to the files that should be produced by the scripts are stored in the `paths` list. The `run_test` function is used to run the scripts and check whether the expected files were produced. If the files were produced, the test passes. If not, the test fails.
+
+With the input data in place, pytest runs each of test_stepX functions, which call the `run_test(script, paths_to_check)` to run the scripts and check whether the expected files were produced. If the files were produced, the test passes. If not, the test fails.
+
+To create similar tests for other steps, you can use the `create_script` function to create the script and the `makepathlist` function to create the paths to the files that should be produced by the script. The `create_script` function takes the name of the script as an argument and returns a list containing the command to run the script using the `subprocess.run` function. The `makepathlist` function takes a directory and a list of file names as arguments and returns a list of paths to the files in the directory. If the test requires input data, you can use the `extract_tarball` function to extract the input data from a tarball and organize it in the appropriate directory structure within the `setup_module` fixture.
+"""
+
+from datetime import datetime
+from pathlib import Path
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import tarfile
+from tempfile import mkdtemp
+
+
+def checkpaths(paths):
+    result = [Path(pth).is_file() for pth in paths]
+    print("\n")
+    # report which files are missing (in red) and which are present (in green)
+    for pth, res in zip(paths, result):
+        if res:
+            print(f"\033[92m{pth} is present\033[0m")
+        else:
+            print(f"\033[91m{pth} is missing\033[0m")
+    return all(result)
+
+
+def get_all_filenames(directory):
+    """
+    Get a list of all file names in a directory.
+    """
+    return [p.name for p in Path(directory).rglob("*")]
+
+
+def check_file_exists(directory, prefix, stepnum: int = 4):
+    """
+    This is needed because step 4 produces files with different names even when using the same input data.
+    """
+    # Get a list of all files in the directory
+    files = get_all_filenames(targetdirs[str(stepnum)] / directory)
+    # Check if there is a file with the specified prefix
+    file_exists = any(file.startswith(prefix) for file in files)
+    return file_exists
+
+
+def delete_pdf_files(directory):
+    files = [file for file in Path(directory).iterdir() if file.suffix == ".pdf"]
+    delete_files(files)
+
+
+def delete_files(file_paths):
+    for file_path in file_paths:
+        delete_file(file_path)
+
+
+def delete_file(file_path):
+    path = Path(file_path)
+    if path.exists():
+        path.unlink()
+
+
+def getoutputdir(script):
+    outputdir = script.index("--output-dir") + 1
+    return script[outputdir]
+
+
+def extract_tarball(outputdir, tarball_path):
+    tar = tarfile.open(Path(tarball_path))
+    tar.extractall(Path(outputdir), filter="data")
+    tar.close()
+
+
+def create_script(script_name, track_name="SH_20190502_05180312"):
+    head = ["python"]
+    tail = [
+        "--track-name",
+        track_name,
+        "--batch-key",
+        "SH_testSLsinglefile2",
+        "--verbose",
+        "--output-dir",
+    ]
+    base_path = "src/icesat2_tracks/analysis_db/"
+    return head + [f"{base_path}{script_name}.py"] + tail
+
+
+def run_test(script, paths, delete_paths=True, suppress_output=True):
+    # configuration
+    outputdir = getoutputdir(script)
+
+    # update paths to check
+    paths = [Path(outputdir, pth) for pth in paths]
+
+    if delete_paths:
+        delete_files(paths)
+
+    kwargs = {"check": True}
+    if suppress_output:
+        kwargs["stdout"] = subprocess.DEVNULL
+        kwargs["stderr"] = subprocess.DEVNULL
+
+    # run the script
+    subprocess.run(script, **kwargs)
+
+    # run the tests
+    result = checkpaths(paths)
+
+    return result
+
+
+def makepathlist(dir, files):
+    return [Path(dir, f) for f in files]
+
+
+# The `scriptx` variables are the scripts to be tested. The `pathsx` variables are the paths to the files that should be produced by the scripts. The scripts are run and the paths are checked to see whether the expected files were produced. If the files were produced, the test passes. If not, the test fails.
+
+# Script 1 is different from the others because it doesn't have any input data and uses a different track name.
+script1 = create_script(
+    script_name="B01_SL_load_single_file", track_name="20190502052058_05180312_005_01"
+)
+paths1 = [
+    "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312/B01_track.png.png",
+    "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312/B01b_ATL06_corrected.png.png",
+    "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312/B01b_beam_statistics.png.png",
+    "work/SH_testSLsinglefile2/A01b_ID/A01b_ID_SH_20190502_05180312.json",
+    "work/SH_testSLsinglefile2/B01_regrid/SH_20190502_05180312_B01_binned.h5",
+]
+
+script_names_2_to_7 = [
+    "B02_make_spectra_gFT",
+    "B03_plot_spectra_ov",
+    "A02c_IOWAGA_thredds_prior",
+    "B04_angle",
+    "B05_define_angle",
+    "B06_correct_separate_var",
+]
+
+script2, script3, script4, script5, script6, script7 = [
+    create_script(name) for name in script_names_2_to_7
+]
+
+# Define the paths for the second script
+_root = "work/SH_testSLsinglefile2/B02_spectra/"
+_paths2 = [
+    "B02_SH_20190502_05180312_params.h5",
+    "B02_SH_20190502_05180312_gFT_x.nc",
+    "B02_SH_20190502_05180312_gFT_k.nc",
+    "B02_SH_20190502_05180312_FFT.nc",
+]
+paths2 = makepathlist(_root, _paths2)
+
+# Define the paths for the third script
+_root = "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312"
+_paths3 = [
+    "B03_specs_L25000.0.png",
+    "B03_specs_coord_check.png",
+    "B03_success.json",
+]
+paths3 = makepathlist(_root, _paths3)
+
+
+paths4 = [
+    "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312/A02_SH_2_hindcast_data.pdf",
+    "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312/A02_SH_2_hindcast_prior.pdf",
+]  # deterministic paths
+dir4, prefix4 = (
+    "work/SH_testSLsinglefile2/A02_prior/",
+    "A02_SH_20190502_05180312_hindcast",
+)  # stochastic paths
+
+# Define the paths for the fifth script
+_plotroot = "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312"
+_plotnames = [
+    "B04_success.json",
+    "B04_prior_angle.png",
+    "B04_marginal_distributions.pdf",
+    "B04_data_avail.pdf",
+]
+_workroot = "work/SH_testSLsinglefile2/B04_angle"
+_worknames = [
+    "B04_SH_20190502_05180312_res_table.h5",
+    "B04_SH_20190502_05180312_marginals.nc",
+]
+paths5 = makepathlist(_plotroot, _plotnames) + makepathlist(_workroot, _worknames)
+
+# Define the paths for the sixth script
+base_path = "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312"
+paths6 = [
+    f"{base_path}/B05_angle/B05_weighted_marginals_x{i}.pdf"
+    for i in range(612, 788, 25)
+]
+other_files = [
+    f"{base_path}/B05_dir_ov.pdf",
+    f"{base_path}/B05_success.json",
+    "work/SH_testSLsinglefile2/B04_angle/B05_SH_20190502_05180312_angle_pdf.nc",
+]
+paths6.extend(other_files)
+
+
+# Paths for the seventh script
+root_plots = "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312/"
+root_work = "work/SH_testSLsinglefile2/"
+b06_correction = f"{root_plots}B06_correction/"
+b06_corrected_separated = f"{root_work}B06_corrected_separated/"
+
+b06_correction_files = [
+    "B06_angle_def.png",
+    "SH_20190502_05180312_B06_atten_ov.pdf",
+    "SH_20190502_05180312_B06_atten_ov.png",
+    "SH_20190502_05180312_B06_atten_ov_simple.pdf",
+    "SH_20190502_05180312_B06_atten_ov_simple.png",
+]
+
+b06_corrected_separated_files = [
+    "B06_SH_20190502_05180312_B06_corrected_resid.h5",
+    "B06_SH_20190502_05180312_binned_resid.h5",
+    "B06_SH_20190502_05180312_gFT_k_corrected.nc",
+    "B06_SH_20190502_05180312_gFT_x_corrected.nc",
+]
+
+paths7 = [f"{b06_correction}{file}" for file in b06_correction_files]
+paths7.extend(
+    f"{b06_corrected_separated}{file}" for file in b06_corrected_separated_files
+)
+paths7.append(f"{root_plots}B06_success.json")
+
+# These are the scripts to be tested and appended with the target directories for each step
+scripts = [script1, script2, script3, script4, script5, script6, script7]
+
+targetdirs = (
+    dict()
+)  # to be populated in setup_module with the target dirs for each step
+__outdir = []  # to be populated in setup_module with the temp dir for all steps
+
+
+def setup_module():
+    """
+    Set up the module for testing.
+
+    This function makes a temporary directory with subdirectories with the required input data for each step.
+
+    ```shell
+    $ tree -L 1 tests/tempdir
+    tests/tempdir
+    ├── step1
+    ├── step2
+    ├── step3
+    ├── step4
+    └── step5
+
+    5 directories, 0 files
+    ```
+
+    When running in parallel using the `xdist` plugin, each worker will have its own copy of all the input data. This is necessary because the tests are run in parallel and the input data is modified by the tests. This way, the teardown function can delete the temporary directory for each worker without affecting the other workers.
+    """
+
+    homedir = Path(__file__).parent
+    input_data_dir = homedir / "testdata"
+    timestamp = datetime.now().strftime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S")
+    _outdir = mkdtemp(dir=homedir, suffix=timestamp)  # temp dir for all steps
+    __outdir.append(_outdir)
+
+    # make temp dirs for each step in _outdir
+    # the one for step1 with no input data
+    tmpstep1 = Path(_outdir) / "step1"
+    tmpstep1.mkdir()
+    script1.append(tmpstep1)
+
+    # make temp dirs for steps 2,... with input data
+    for tarball in input_data_dir.glob("*.tar.gz"):
+        source_script, for_step_num = tarball.stem.split("-for-step-")
+        for_step_num = for_step_num.split(".")[0]
+        target_output_dir = Path(_outdir) / f"step{for_step_num}"
+        targetdirs[for_step_num] = target_output_dir
+        extract_tarball(target_output_dir, tarball)
+
+        # Extracted files are in targetdir/script_name. Move them to its parent targetdir. Delete the script_name dir.
+        parent = target_output_dir / "work"
+
+        # Rename and update parent to targetdir / script_name
+        new_parent = Path(target_output_dir, source_script)
+        parent.rename(new_parent)
+
+        for child in new_parent.iterdir():
+            if child.is_dir():
+                shutil.move(str(child), Path(child.parent).parent)
+        shutil.rmtree(new_parent)
+
+    # add the target dirs to the scripts
+    for i, script in enumerate(scripts[1:], start=2):
+        script.append(targetdirs[str(i)])
+
+    # throw in tmpstep1 in targetdirs to clean up later
+    targetdirs["1"] = tmpstep1
+
+
+def teardown_module():
+    """
+    Clean up after testing is complete.
+    """
+    shutil.rmtree(__outdir[-1])
+
+
+def test_step1():
+    # Step 1: B01_SL_load_single_file.py ~ 2 minutes
+    assert run_test(script1, paths1, delete_paths=False)  # passing
+
+
+def test_step2():
+    # Step 2: B02_make_spectra_gFT.py ~ 2 min
+    assert run_test(script2, paths2)  # passing
+
+
+def check_B03_freq_reconst_x():
+    # The script3 produces plots in the `<output-dir>/plots/SH/<batch-key>/SH_<track-name>/B03_spectra` directory.
+
+    # ```shell
+    # (.venv) $ tree <output-dir>/plots/SH/<batch-key>/SH_<track-name>/B03_spectra
+    # <output-dir>/plots/SH/<batch-key>/SH_<track-name>/B03_spectra
+    # ├── B03_freq_reconst_x28.pdf
+    # ├── B03_freq_reconst_x47.pdf
+    # ├── B03_freq_reconst_x56.pdf
+    # ├── B03_freq_reconst_x66.pdf
+    # └── B03_freq_reconst_x75.pdf
+
+    # 0 directories, 5 files
+    # ```
+
+    # File names in this directory all have the `B03_freq_reconst_x` prefix but with different numbers at the end. The numbers are not deterministic, so we can't check for specific file names. Instead, we can check that there are 5 pdf files in the directory.
+
+    outputdir = getoutputdir(script3)
+    directory = Path(
+        outputdir, "plots/SH/SH_testSLsinglefile2/SH_20190502_05180312/B03_spectra/"
+    )
+    files = get_all_filenames(directory)
+
+    # Check there are 5 pdf files
+    return len([f for f in files if f.endswith("pdf")]) == 5
+
+
+def test_step3():
+    # Step 3: B03_plot_spectra_ov.py ~ 11 sec
+    # This script has stochastic behavior, so the files produced don't always have the same names but the count of pdf files is constant for the test input data.
+    t1 = run_test(script3, paths3)
+    assert t1
+    t2 = check_B03_freq_reconst_x()
+    assert t2
+
+
+def test_step4():
+    # Step 4: A02c_IOWAGA_thredds_prior.py ~ 23 sec
+    # check deterministic paths
+    t1 = run_test(script4, paths4)
+    assert t1
+    # check stochastic paths
+    t2 = check_file_exists(dir4, prefix4)
+    assert t2
+
+
+def test_step5():
+    # Step 5: B04_angle.py ~ 9 min
+    assert run_test(script5, paths5)
+
+
+def test_step6():
+    # Step 5: B05_define_angle.py ~
+    assert run_test(script6, paths6)
+
+
+def test_step7():
+    # Step 7: B06_correct_separate_var.py ~
+    assert run_test(script7, paths7)
diff --git a/tests/testdata/A02c_IOWAGA_thredds_prior-for-step-5.tar.gz b/tests/testdata/A02c_IOWAGA_thredds_prior-for-step-5.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..765a34a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testdata/A02c_IOWAGA_thredds_prior-for-step-5.tar.gz
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
+oid sha256:e2f85180db57be8762c874e0a6956523af8815d01d96f5186b01819d4835b087
+size 28942200
diff --git a/tests/testdata/B01_SL_load_single_file-for-step-2.tar.gz b/tests/testdata/B01_SL_load_single_file-for-step-2.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b6b48cce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testdata/B01_SL_load_single_file-for-step-2.tar.gz
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
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+size 11682469
diff --git a/tests/testdata/B02_make_spectra_gFT-for-step-3.tar.gz b/tests/testdata/B02_make_spectra_gFT-for-step-3.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6b5041f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testdata/B02_make_spectra_gFT-for-step-3.tar.gz
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
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diff --git a/tests/testdata/B03_plot_spectra_ov-for-step-4.tar.gz b/tests/testdata/B03_plot_spectra_ov-for-step-4.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a168e8e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testdata/B03_plot_spectra_ov-for-step-4.tar.gz
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
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