Ocean

Oceanic variables include sea surface temperature, salinity, currents, air-sea heat fluxes, ocean heat content, and much more. Overview pages summarize and compare selected datasets of a given variable.

To find a specific dataset or variable, jump to the search box below or click your desired variable from among the blue sub-category buttons.

To see only the datasets with expert-written commentaries, select the "Datasets with guidance" button when using the search box.

Climate datasets

Has expert guidance
Tide gauge sea level data Tide gauge sea level data

  • Years of record

  • to

The global sea level record from tide gauges is an important indicator of the evolution and impact of global climate change.  Tide gauge data also capture a variety of…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean Sea Level

    • Formats

    • N/A

    • Timestep

    • Sub-daily, Daily, Monthly, Annual

    • Collections

    • N/A
GRACE: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment: Surface mass, total water storage, and derived variables GRACE: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment: Surface mass, total water storage, and derived variables

  • Years of record

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The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) refers to a pair of NASA satellites that has flown in low-Earth orbit since 2002. The satellites use a precise microwave…

Main variables and Earth System components

Cryosphere Glaciers Ice Sheet Mass Land Groundwater surface water Water Storage Ocean Bottom pressure
ICOADS Surface Marine Weather Observations ICOADS Surface Marine Weather Observations

  • Years of record

  • N/A

ICOADS (International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set) is the most comprehensive archive of global marine surface climate observations available. Variables include…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Budget Cloud Properties Latent & sensible heat flux Sea Level Pressure Specific Humidity Wind Ocean SST - sea surface temperature
Southern Ocean State Estimate (SOSE) Southern Ocean State Estimate (SOSE)

  • Years of record

  • to

The Southern Ocean State Estimate (SOSE) is a model-generated best fit to Southern Ocean observations.  As such, it provides a quantitatively useful climatology of the…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean 3D Velocity Bottom pressure SST - sea surface temperature Salinity Sub Surface Temperature mixed layer depth sea surface height u, v current components Wind Stress