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.
Sub-categories
Climate datasets

Years of record
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Argo is an array of over 4100 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 TemperatureExperts contributing reviews
- Scanderbeg, Megan | Purkey, Sarah | Willis, Josh

Years of record
- N/A
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is comprised of a series of northward surface currents and southward currents at depth in the Atlantic Basin. It is a…
Main variables and Earth System components
Ocean-
Formats
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Timestep
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Domain
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Collections
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Experts contributing reviews
- Lankhorst, Matthias

Years of record
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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 TemperatureExperts contributing reviews
- Atkinson, Chris

Years of record
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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 dataExperts contributing reviews
- Killick, Rachel

Years of record
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The Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) ocean temperature analysis features global coverage of the oceans, at 1° x1° horizontal resolution on 41 vertical levels from 1-…
Main variables and Earth System components
Ocean Ocean Heat Content Sea Level Sub Surface TemperatureExperts contributing reviews
- Cheng, Lijing

Years of record
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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 phosphate potential temperature silicate SST - sea surface temperature Sub Surface Salinity Sub Surface Temperature Sub-surface data-
Timestep
- Climatology, Monthly, Seasonal
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Domain
- Global
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Collections
- Diagnostic Data Sets, NCAR-DOE-CESM, oceandiagnostics
Experts contributing reviews
- Mishonov, Alexey

Years of record
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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…
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Formats
- ascii
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Timestep
- Sub-daily
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Domain
- Arctic, Atlantic Ocean, Southern Ocean
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Collections
- Carbon cycle
Experts contributing reviews
- N/A

Years of record
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In each of the world’s tropical ocean basins, year-to-year climate variability is primarily governed by fluctuations in the zonal sea surface temperature (SST) gradient and…
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Formats
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Timestep
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Domain
- Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean
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Collections
- N/A
Experts contributing reviews
- Amaya, Dillon

Years of record
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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…
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Timestep
- Monthly, Decadal
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Collections
- Climate Analysis Section (CAS) Data Catalog
Experts contributing reviews
- Trenberth, Kevin | Zhang, Rong