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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REGIONAL AIR-SEA INTERACTION (RASI) GAP WIND AND COASTAL UPWELLING EVENTS CLIMATOLOGY GULF OF PANAMA, PANAMA V1 | 1 | RASI | Computer | 1998-01-01 to 2011-12-31 |
N: 9.13 S: 3.13 E: -77.88 W: -81.88 |
netCDF-3 | |
| REGIONAL AIR-SEA INTERACTION (RASI) GAP WIND AND COASTAL UPWELLING EVENTS CLIMATOLOGY GULF OF PAPAGAYO, COSTA RICA V1 | 1 | RASI | Computer | 1998-01-01 to 2011-12-31 |
N: 12.13 S: 7 E: -85.38 W: -93 |
netCDF-3 | |
| REGIONAL AIR-SEA INTERACTION (RASI) GAP WIND AND COASTAL UPWELLING EVENTS CLIMATOLOGY GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC, MEXICO V1 | 1 | RASI | Computer | 1998-01-01 to 2011-12-31 |
N: 16.38 S: 5 E: -93.38 W: -105 |
netCDF-3 | |
| Relative Tidal Marsh Elevation Maps with Uncertainty for Conterminous USA, 2010 | 1 | MODELS | Computer | 1983-01-01 to 2010-12-31 |
N: 48.2708 S: 20.5669 E: -56.8541 W: -134.672 |
GeoTIFF | |
| Remote and In Situ Observations - San Francisco Bay and Delta Ecosystem (RIO-SFE) | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2014-05-28 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Remote sensing and field-based studies in the coastal Gulf of Alaska adjacent to the Copper River | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2010-03-27 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Remote sensing in the Rio de la Plata estuary near Punta del Tigre | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2018-01-01 to 2021-05-31 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Remote Sensing of Environmental Change in Arctic Coastal Aquatic Ecosystems | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2021-01-01 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Remote Sensing Systems Radiometer Rain Collocations with JPL RapidScat L2B Swath Grid | 1.0 | DMSP 5D-3/F15, CORIOLIS, DMSP 5D-3/F17, GPM, GCOM-W1, DMSP 5D-3/F16, ISS | SSM/I, WINDSAT, SSMIS, GMI, AMSR2, RapidScat | 2014-10-03 to 2016-02-11 |
N: 61 S: -61 E: 180 W: -180 |
12.5 Kilometers x 12.5 Kilometers | netCDF-4 |
| Remote-sensing-derived particulate organic carbon (POC) validation | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2013-08-26 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Repeat MP (MANTRA/PIRANA) Atlantic Ocean Cruises measurements | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2001-01-08 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Research on Ocean-Atmosphere Variability and Ecosystem Response in the Ross Sea (ROAVERRS) Project | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 1996-12-18 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Research vessel Lady Basten (LB) measurements in 2002 in Australia | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2002-06-06 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Resilience of Coastal Wetlands to Sea Level Rise, CONUS, 1996-2100 | 1 | MODELS | Computer | 1996-01-01 to 2100-12-31 |
N: 49.2069 S: 22.7276 E: -64.9678 W: -127.984 |
multiple | |
| Retrospective analysis of anthropogenic change in Midwest reservoirs: Integrating earth observing data with statewide reservoir monitoring programs | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2023-05-01 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Riverine Carbon Contributions to Alaskan Arctic Coastal Margins | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2017-08-15 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Rockall Trough Pre-SWOT Level-4 Hourly MITgcm LLC4320 Native Grid 2km Oceanographic Dataset Version 1.0 | 1.0 | MITgcm | Computer | 2011-09-13 to 2012-11-15 |
N: 63.73713 S: 59.54496 E: -7.320777 W: -12.18558 |
2 Kilometers x 2 Kilometers | netCDF-4 |
| Rongowai-CYGNSS Airborne Level 1 Science Data Record Version 1.0 | 1.0 | Airplane | DDMI | 2022-10-20 |
N: -34 S: -47 E: 179 W: 165 |
netCDF-4 | |
| RSS CCMP 6-Hourly 10 Meter Surface Winds Level 4 Version 3.1 | 3.1 | TRMM, DMSP 5D-3/F15, DMSP 5D-2/F8, Aqua, GCOM-W1, DMSP 5D-3/F16, QUIKSCAT, GPM, DMSP 5D-2/F14, DMSP 5D-2/F10, CORIOLIS, DMSP 5D-2/F11, DMSP 5D-3/F17, DMSP 5D-2/F13, METOP-A, METOP-B | TMI, SSM/I, AMSR-E, AMSR2, SSMIS, SEAWINDS, GMI, WINDSAT, ASCAT | 1993-01-01 to Present |
N: 80 S: -80 E: 180 W: -180 |
0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees | netCDF-4 |
| RSS CCMP Monthly 10 Meter Surface Winds Level 4 Version 3.1 | 3.1 | TRMM, DMSP 5D-3/F15, DMSP 5D-2/F8, Aqua, GCOM-W1, DMSP 5D-3/F16, QUIKSCAT, GPM, DMSP 5D-2/F14, DMSP 5D-2/F10, CORIOLIS, DMSP 5D-2/F11, DMSP 5D-3/F17, DMSP 5D-2/F13, METOP-A, METOP-B | TMI, SSM/I, AMSR-E, AMSR2, SSMIS, SEAWINDS, GMI, WINDSAT, ASCAT | 1993-01-01 to Present |
N: 80 S: -80 E: 180 W: -180 |
0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees | netCDF-4 |
| RSS MONTHLY 1-DEG MERGED WIND CLIMATOLOGY NETCDF V7R01 | 7R01 | DMSP 5D-2/F10, DMSP 5D-2/F13, CORIOLIS, DMSP 5D-2/F11, Aqua, DMSP 5D-2/F8, DMSP 5D-3/F17, DMSP 5D-2/F15, GCOM-W1, DMSP 5D-2/F14, DMSP 5D-3/F16 | SSM/I, WINDSAT, AMSR-E, SSMIS, AMSR2 | 1988-01-01 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
netCDF-4, netCDF-3 | |
| RSS SMAP Level 2C Sea Surface Salinity NRT V5.0 Validated Dataset | 5.0 | SMAP | SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER | 2022-07-28 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees | netCDF-4 |
| RSS SMAP Level 2C Sea Surface Salinity NRT V6.0 Validated Dataset | 6.0 | SMAP | SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER | 2022-07-28 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees | netCDF-4 |
| RSS SMAP Level 2C Sea Surface Salinity V6.0 Validated Dataset | 6.0 | SMAP | SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER | 2015-04-01 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
47000 Meters x 39000 Meters | netCDF-4 |
| RSS SMAP Level 3 Sea Surface Salinity Standard Mapped Image 8-Day Running Mean V4.0 Validated Dataset | 4.0 | SMAP | SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER | 2015-03-27 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees | netCDF-4 |
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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