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Ocean Data Access and Tools
NASA data span the geophysical parameters that characterize the global ocean and the physical processes operating within its depths and at its surface. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.
Ocean Datasets
| Dataset Sort descending | Version | Platform | Instrument | Temporal Extent | Spatial Extent | Spatial Resolution | Data Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADEOS-I OCTS Level-3 Global Binned Remote-Sensing Reflectance (RRS) Data, version 2022.0 | 2022.0 | ADEOS-I | OCTS | 1996-10-31 to 1997-06-30 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
netCDF-4 | |
| ADEOS-I OCTS Level-3 Global Mapped Chlorophyll (CHL) Data, version 2022.0 | 2022.0 | ADEOS-I | OCTS | 1996-10-31 to 1997-06-30 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
netCDF-4 | |
| ADEOS-I OCTS Level-3 Global Mapped Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient of Downwelling Irradiance (KD) Data, version 2022.0 | 2022.0 | ADEOS-I | OCTS | 1996-10-31 to 1997-06-30 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
netCDF-4 | |
| ADEOS-I OCTS Level-3 Global Mapped Inherent Optical Properties (IOP) Data, version 2022.0 | 2022.0 | ADEOS-I | OCTS | 1996-10-31 to 1997-06-30 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
netCDF-4 | |
| ADEOS-I OCTS Level-3 Global Mapped Particulate Inorganic Carbon (PIC) Data, version 2022.0 | 2022.0 | ADEOS-I | OCTS | 1996-10-31 to 1997-06-30 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
netCDF-4 | |
| ADEOS-I OCTS Level-3 Global Mapped Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) Data, version 2022.0 | 2022.0 | ADEOS-I | OCTS | 1996-10-31 to 1997-06-30 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
netCDF-4 | |
| ADEOS-I OCTS Level-3 Global Mapped Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR) Data, version 2022.0 | 2022.0 | ADEOS-I | OCTS | 1996-10-31 to 1997-06-30 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
netCDF-4 | |
| ADEOS-I OCTS Level-3 Global Mapped Remote-Sensing Reflectance (RRS) Data, version 2022.0 | 2022.0 | ADEOS-I | OCTS | 1996-10-31 to 1997-06-30 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
netCDF-4 | |
| Advanced Optical Properties Experiment (AOPEX) Program | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2004-07-31 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE) | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 1997-06-20 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE) - Asia | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2001-03-15 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE) for the in-land Chesapeake Bay region | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2002-04-16 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2006-06-25 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Airborne asSessment of Hyperspectral Aerosol optical depth and water-leaving Reflectance Product Performance for PACE | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2023-12-31 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| AIRS/Aqua L1B Calibration subset V005 (AIRXBCAL) at GES DISC | 005 | Aqua | AIRS | 2002-08-31 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
||
| AIRS/Aqua L2 Near Real Time (NRT) Standard Physical Retrieval (AIRS-only) V006 (AIRS2RET_NRT) at GES DISC | 006 | Aqua | AIRS | 2016-10-15 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
50 Kilometers x 50 Kilometers | |
| AIRS/Aqua L2 Near Real Time (NRT) Support Retrieval (AIRS-only) V006 (AIRS2SUP_NRT) at GES DISC | 006 | Aqua | AIRS | 2016-10-15 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
50 Kilometers x 50 Kilometers | |
| AIRS/Aqua L2 Standard Physical Retrieval (AIRS+AMSU) V006 (AIRX2RET) at GES DISC | 006 | Aqua | AIRS, AMSU-A | 2002-08-30 to 2016-09-24 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
50 Kilometers x 50 Kilometers | |
| AIRS/Aqua L2 Standard Physical Retrieval (AIRS+AMSU+HSB) V006 (AIRH2RET) at GES DISC | 006 | Aqua | AIRS, AMSU-A, HSB | 2002-08-30 to 2003-02-05 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
50 Kilometers x 50 Kilometers | |
| AIRS/Aqua L2 Standard Physical Retrieval (AIRS-only) V006 (AIRS2RET) at GES DISC | 006 | Aqua | AIRS | 2002-08-30 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
50 Kilometers x 50 Kilometers | |
| AIRS/Aqua L2 Support Retrieval (AIRS+AMSU) V006 (AIRX2SUP) at GES DISC | 006 | Aqua | AIRS, AMSU-A | 2002-08-30 to 2016-09-25 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
50 Kilometers x 50 Kilometers | |
| AIRS/Aqua L2 Support Retrieval (AIRS+AMSU+HSB) V006 (AIRH2SUP) at GES DISC | 006 | Aqua | AIRS, AMSU-A, HSB | 2002-08-30 to 2003-02-05 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
50 Kilometers x 50 Kilometers | |
| AIRS/Aqua L2 Support Retrieval (AIRS-only) V006 (AIRS2SUP) at GES DISC | 006 | Aqua | AIRS | 2002-08-30 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
50 Kilometers x 50 Kilometers | |
| AIRS/Aqua L3 8-day Standard Physical Retrieval (AIRS+AMSU) 1 degree x 1 degree V006 (AIRX3ST8) at GES DISC | 006 | Aqua | AIRS, AMSU-A | 2002-09-01 to 2016-10-01 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
1 Decimal Degrees x 1 Decimal Degrees | |
| AIRS/Aqua L3 8-day Standard Physical Retrieval (AIRS+AMSU+HSB) 1 degree x 1 degree V006 (AIRH3ST8) at GES DISC | 006 | 2002-09-01 to 2003-02-08 | 1 Decimal Degrees x 1 Decimal Degrees |
Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Platform
SWOT provides detailed surface topography and monitors water body changes over time. The platform enables high-resolution ocean monitoring at 15-150 km spatial scales, tracking ocean currents, coastal dynamics, storm surges, and regional sea level changes. On land, SWOT measures water storage changes in lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and wetlands, supporting river discharge estimates for water resource assessment.
Researchers explore using SWOT data to derive two-dimensional estimates of sea ice thickness.
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Swath Visualizer provides a visualization of two instruments’ coverage of Earth's surface: the Ka-band Radar Interferometer and altimeter.
SWOT presents opportunities and challenges in characterizing sea surface height anomalies.
Ocean Data Tools
| Tool Sort descending | Description | Services | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AppEEARS | The The Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) offers users a simple and efficient way to perform data access and transformation processes. | Search and Discovery, Subsetting, Customization, Downloading, Visualization | |
| CASEI | The Catalog of Archived Suborbital Earth Science Investigations (CASEI) is a comprehensive inventory of contextual information for NASA's Earth Science airborne and field campaigns. | Search and Discovery, Cataloging | |
| CyAN File Search | The CyAN File Search tool allows users to choose an area over the continental United States and Alaska to retrieve cyanobacteria datasets archived by the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) project. | Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization | |
| CyFi Explorer | CyFi Explorer enables users to view corresponding Sentinel-2 satellite imagery for each cyanobacteria estimate, and estimate cyanobacteria density. | Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization | |
| Giovanni | Giovanni is a web application for accessing, visualizing, and analyzing Earth science remote sensing data without downloading the data. | Search and Discovery, Analysis, Access, Visualization, Downloading, Subsetting | |
| Hydrocron | Hydrocron is an API that repackages hydrology datasets from SWOT into formats that make time-series analysis easier. | Subsetting, Visualization | |
| Ocean Color Level 3 and 4 Browser | The Ocean Color Level 3 and 4 Browser allows users to view, download, or order global composites at various spatial and temporal scales (level 3) or get results from analyses of lower-level data (level 4). | Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization | |
| Panoply | Panoply is a cross-platform application that plots geo-referenced and other arrays from netCDF, HDF, GRIB, and other datasets. | Visualization, Customization, Reformatting, Subsetting, Comparison | |
| SeaBASS | SeaBASS is public archive of ocean and atmosphere data captured in situ. The archive is maintained by NASA's Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG). | Downloading | |
| SeaDAS | Sea, earth, atmosphere Data Analysis System (SeaDAS) is a comprehensive image analysis package for the processing, display, analysis, and quality control of ocean color data. | Analysis, Visualization, Processing |
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