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
World Ocean Atlas 2013 (WOA13) World Ocean Atlas 2013 (WOA13)

  • Years of record

  • to

The World Ocean Atlas (WOA) is a set of climatological mean, gridded fields of oceanographic variables based on in-situ measurements from a wide variety of sources. …

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean Dissolved Oxygen SST - sea surface temperature Sub Surface Salinity Sub Surface Temperature Sub-surface data phosphate potential temperature silicate
Argo Ocean Temperature and Salinity Profiles Argo Ocean Temperature and Salinity Profiles

  • Years of record

  • to

Argo is an array of over 3600 profiling floats distributed almost uniformly across the global oceans. First deployed in 2000, Argo floats provide temperature and…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean Salinity Sub Surface Salinity Sub Surface Temperature

    • Timestep

    • Monthly, Weekly

    • Collections

    • N/A
EN4 subsurface temperature and salinity for the global oceans EN4 subsurface temperature and salinity for the global oceans

  • Years of record

  • to

EN4 is a subsurface temperature and salinity dataset for the global oceans, spanning 1900 to present at a monthly timestep. It includes two types of data products: (1) a…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean potential temperature Sub Surface Salinity Sub Surface Temperature Sub-surface data

    • Timestep

    • Monthly

    • Collections

    • N/A
HadIOD: Met Office-Hadley Centre Integrated Ocean Database HadIOD: Met Office-Hadley Centre Integrated Ocean Database

  • Years of record

  • to

HadIOD (Met Office Hadley Centre Integrated Ocean Database) is a global database of in situ ocean temperature and salinity observations, spanning 1850-present on a daily…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean Salinity SST - sea surface temperature Sub Surface Temperature

    • Timestep

    • Daily, Monthly

    • Collections

    • N/A
World Ocean Atlas (WOA09) World Ocean Atlas (WOA09)

  • Years of record

  • N/A

World Ocean Atlas 2009 (WOA09) is a set of objectively analyzed (1 degree grid) climatological fields of in situ temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, Apparent Oxygen…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean Dissolved Oxygen SST - sea surface temperature Salinity Sub Surface Salinity Sub Surface Temperature oxygen saturation phosphate silicate

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
GODAS: NCEP Global Ocean Data Assimilation System GODAS: NCEP Global Ocean Data Assimilation System

  • Years of record

  • to

GODAS is a real-time ocean analysis and a reanalysis. It is used for monitoring, retrospective analysis as well as for providing oceanic initial conditions for the CFS. Both…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean 3D Velocity SST - sea surface temperature Salinity heat flux isothermal layer depth mixed layer depth potential temperature salt flux sea surface height

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
X-ray image illustrating the annual density bands in corals. (Image credit: USGS via Allison Lawman)) Coral geochemical records: An overview of their use as climate proxies and of available databases

  • Years of record

  • N/A

Coral records are one of the main types of high-resolution (annual to sub-annual) paleoclimate proxies, providing timeseries of environmental conditions reaching hundreds to…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Evaporation Evaporation-Precipitation Precipitation Ocean Salinity SST - sea surface temperature
Tropical Moored Buoy System: TAO, TRITON, PIRATA, RAMA (TOGA) Tropical Moored Buoy System: TAO, TRITON, PIRATA, RAMA (TOGA)

  • Years of record

  • to

The Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere program (TOGA) is a component of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) aimed specifically at the prediction of climate phenomena…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Air Temperature Precipitation Radiation Relative Humidity Sea Level Pressure Wind Ocean Absolute Dynamic Topography (ADT) Ocean Heat Content SST - sea surface temperature Salinity Sub Surface Salinity Sub Surface Temperature u, v current components

    • Timestep

    • Sub-daily, Daily, Monthly, Weekly

    • Collections

    • N/A

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
CMCC Global Ocean Reanalysis System (C-GLORS) CMCC Global Ocean Reanalysis System (C-GLORS)

  • Years of record

  • to

"The CMCC Global Ocean Physical Reanalysis System (C-GLORS) is used  to simulate the state of the ocean in the last decades. It consists of a variational data…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean Ocean Heat Content SST - sea surface temperature Salinity Sub Surface Salinity Sub Surface Temperature mixed layer depth sea surface height u, v current components

    • Timestep

    • Daily, Monthly, Weekly

    • Collections

    • N/A
ORAS4: ECMWF Ocean Reanalysis and derived ocean heat content ORAS4: ECMWF Ocean Reanalysis and derived ocean heat content

  • Years of record

  • to

ECMWF's current ocean reanalysis uses a sophisticated data assimilation methodology which includes a model bias correction. The ocean model used is forced by atmospheric…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean Ocean Heat Content Salinity Sea Level potential temperature u, v current components

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV)

  • Years of record

  • to

The Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) has been identified as a coherent mode of natural variability occurring in the North Atlantic Ocean with an estimated period of…

Main variables and Earth System components

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
Ocean heat content for 10-1500m depth based on Argo Ocean heat content for 10-1500m depth based on Argo

  • Years of record

  • to

A regularly updated monthly timeseries of ocean heat content, based on Argo profiles, is integrated over 10-1500m depth and the latitudes 60°S-60°N. Coverage begins in 2005…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean Ocean Heat Content

    • Timestep

    • Monthly

    • Collections

    • N/A
RAPID: monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N RAPID: monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N

  • Years of record

  • to

"The Rapid Climate Change programme (RAPID) explores what causes rapid switches in climate, with a main (but not exclusive) focus on the Atlantic Ocean's thermohaline…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean Salinity Sub Surface Temperature heat flux streamfunction

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
SODA: Simple Ocean Data Assimilation SODA: Simple Ocean Data Assimilation

  • Years of record

  • to

The Simple Ocean Data Assimilation, or SODA, analysis is an ocean reanalysis data set consisting of gridded variables for the global ocean, as well as several derived fields…

Main variables and Earth System components

Wind Stress Ocean 3D Velocity potential temperature Salinity sea surface height SST - sea surface temperature u, v current components

    • Timestep

    • Monthly

    • Collections

    • N/A

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
CERA-20C: ECMWF's Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Reanalysis of the 20th Century CERA-20C: ECMWF's Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Reanalysis of the 20th Century

  • Years of record

  • to

The CERA-20C is a global, coupled reanalysis spanning 1901-2010 with a focus on low-frequency climate variability.  Similar to ERA-20C, the surface observations…

Main variables and Earth System components

Atmosphere Multiple variables Cryosphere Sea Ice Concentration Ocean

    • Timestep

    • Sub-daily, Daily, Monthly

    • Collections

    • N/A
CARINA: Carbon in the North Altantic CARINA: Carbon in the North Altantic

  • Years of record

  • to

The CARINA (CARbon dioxide IN the Atlantic Ocean) data synthesis project is an international collaborative effort of the EU IP CARBOOCEAN, and US partners. It has produced a…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean CO2: CarbonDioxide

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A
PACIFICA: PACIFic ocean Interior CArbon PACIFICA: PACIFic ocean Interior CArbon

  • Years of record

  • to

PACIFICA (PACIFic ocean Interior CArbon) was an international collaborative project for the data synthesis of ocean interior carbon and its related parameters in the Pacific…

Main variables and Earth System components

Ocean CO2: CarbonDioxide nitrate

  • Experts contributing reviews

  • N/A