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Description

This dataset provides monthly-averaged ocean bottom pressure and model ocean bottom pressure anomaly on the native Lat-Lon-Cap 90 (LLC90) model grid from the ECCO Version 4 Release 4 (V4r4) ocean and sea-ice state estimate. Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) ocean and sea-ice state estimates are dynamically and kinematically-consistent reconstructions of the three-dimensional time-evolving ocean, sea-ice, and surface atmospheric states. ECCO V4r4 is a free-running solution of the 1-degree global configuration of the MIT general circulation model (MITgcm) that has been fit to observations in a least-squares sense. Observational data constraints used in V4r4 include sea surface height (SSH) from satellite altimeters [ERS-1/2, TOPEX/Poseidon, GFO, ENVISAT, Jason-1,2,3, CryoSat-2, and SARAL/AltiKa]; sea surface temperature (SST) from satellite radiometers [AVHRR], sea surface salinity (SSS) from the Aquarius satellite radiometer/scatterometer, ocean bottom pressure (OBP) from the GRACE satellite gravimeter; sea ice concentration from satellite radiometers [SSM/I and SSMIS], and in-situ ocean temperature and salinity measured with conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensors and expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) from several programs [e.g., WOCE, GO-SHIP, Argo, and others] and platforms [e.g., research vessels, gliders, moorings, ice-tethered profilers, and instrumented pinnipeds]. V4r4 covers the period 1992-01-01T12:00:00 to 2018-01-01T00:00:00.

Product Summary

Platforms
MODELS ,
MITgcm
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
1 Decimal Degrees x 1 Decimal Degrees
Location
GLOBAL OCEAN
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1992-01-01 to 2018-01-01
Data Partner
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC)
Concept ID
C1991543806-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
312
Processing Level
4
Published
Science Keywords
Water Pressure ,
Ocean Pressure

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Fenty, I., & Wang, O. (2020). ECCO Ocean Bottom Pressure - Monthly Mean llc90 Grid (Version 4 release 4) [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ECL5M-OBP44 Date Accessed: 2026-03-15

Documents

Variables

The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables. Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data, user guide, and/or other product documentation.

For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor Offset
i In the Arakawa C-grid system, tracer (e.g., THETA) and 'v' variables (e.g., VVEL) have the same x coordinate on the model grid. N/A int N/A N/A 1 N/A
i_g In the Arakawa C-grid system, 'u' (e.g., UVEL) and 'g' variables (e.g., XG) have the same x coordinate on the model grid. N/A int N/A N/A 1 N/A
j In the Arakawa C-grid system, tracer (e.g., THETA) and 'u' variables (e.g., UVEL) have the same y coordinate on the model grid. N/A int N/A N/A 1 N/A
j_g In the Arakawa C-grid system, 'v' (e.g., VVEL) and 'g' variables (e.g., XG) have the same y coordinate. N/A int N/A N/A 1 N/A
OBP OBP excludes the contribution from global mean atmospheric pressure and is therefore suitable for comparisons with GRACE data products. OBP is calculated as follows. First, we calculate ocean hydrostatic bottom pressure anomaly, PHIBOT, with PHIBOT = p_b/rhoConst - gH(t), where p_b = model ocean hydrostatic bottom pressure, rhoConst = reference density (1029 kg m-3), g is acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m s-2), and H(t) is model depth at time t. Then, OBP = PHIBOT/g + corrections for i) global mean steric sea level changes related to density changes in the Boussinesq volume-conserving model (Greatbatch correction, see sterGloH) and ii) global mean atmospheric pressure variations. Use OBP for comparisons with ocean bottom pressure data products that have been corrected for global mean atmospheric pressure variations. GRACE data typically ARE corrected for global mean atmospheric pressure variations. In contrast, ocean bottom pressure gauge data typically ARE NOT corrected for global mean atmospheric pressure variations. m float 9.96921E+36 -17.899189 to 720.7012 1 N/A
OBPGMAP OBPGMAP includes the contribution from global mean atmospheric pressure and is therefore suitable for comparisons with ocean bottom pressure gauge data products. OBPGMAP is calculated as follows. First, we calculate ocean hydrostatic bottom pressure anomaly, PHIBOT, with PHIBOT = p_b/rhoConst - gH(t), where p_b = model ocean hydrostatic bottom pressure, rhoConst = reference density (1029 kg m-3), g is acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m s-2), and H(t) is model depth at time t. Then, OBPGMAP= PHIBOT/g + corrections for global mean steric sea level changes related to density changes in the Boussinesq volume-conserving model (Greatbatch correction, see sterGloH). Use OBPGMAP for comparisons with ocean bottom pressure data products that have NOT been corrected for global mean atmospheric pressure variations. GRACE data typically ARE corrected for global mean atmospheric pressure variations. In contrast, ocean bottom pressure gauge data typically ARE NOT corrected for global mean atmospheric pressure variations. m float 9.96921E+36 82.23706 to 820.854 1 N/A
PHIBOT PHIBOT = p_b / rhoConst - g H(t), where p_b = hydrostatic ocean bottom pressure, rhoConst = reference density (1029 kg m-3), g is acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m s-2), and H(t) is model depth at time t. Units: p:[kg m-1 s-2], rhoConst:[kg m-3], g:[m s-2], H(t):[m]. Note: includes atmospheric pressure loading. PHIBOT accounts for the model's time-varying grid cell thickness (z* coordinate system). PHIBOT is NOT corrected for global mean steric sea level changes related to density changes in the Boussinesq volume-conserving model (Greatbatch correction, see sterGloH), and therefore should NOT be used for comparisons with ocean bottom pressure data. Instead, see OBPGMAP and OBP. m2 s-2 float 9.96921E+36 807.75757 to 8051.8438 1 N/A
tile The ECCO V4 horizontal model grid is divided into 13 tiles of 90x90 cells for convenience. N/A int N/A N/A 1 N/A
time center time of averaging period hours since 1992-01-01T12:00:00 int N/A N/A 1 N/A
time_bnds Start and end times of averaging period. N/A int N/A N/A 1 N/A
XC nonuniform grid spacing degrees_east float N/A N/A 1 N/A
XC_bnds Bounds array follows CF conventions. XC_bnds[i,j,0] = 'southwest' corner (j-1, i-1), XC_bnds[i,j,1] = 'southeast' corner (j-1, i+1), XC_bnds[i,j,2] = 'northeast' corner (j+1, i+1), XC_bnds[i,j,3] = 'northwest' corner (j+1, i-1). Note: 'southwest', 'southeast', northwest', and 'northeast' do not correspond to geographic orientation but are used for convenience to describe the computational grid. See MITgcm dcoumentation for details. N/A float N/A N/A 1 N/A
XG Nonuniform grid spacing. Note: 'southwest' does not correspond to geographic orientation but is used for convenience to describe the computational grid. See MITgcm dcoumentation for details. degrees_east float N/A N/A 1 N/A
YC nonuniform grid spacing degrees_north float N/A N/A 1 N/A
YC_bnds Bounds array follows CF conventions. YC_bnds[i,j,0] = 'southwest' corner (j-1, i-1), YC_bnds[i,j,1] = 'southeast' corner (j-1, i+1), YC_bnds[i,j,2] = 'northeast' corner (j+1, i+1), YC_bnds[i,j,3] = 'northwest' corner (j+1, i-1). Note: 'southwest', 'southeast', northwest', and 'northeast' do not correspond to geographic orientation but are used for convenience to describe the computational grid. See MITgcm dcoumentation for details. N/A float N/A N/A 1 N/A
YG Nonuniform grid spacing. Note: 'southwest' does not correspond to geographic orientation but is used for convenience to describe the computational grid. See MITgcm dcoumentation for details. degrees_north float N/A N/A 1 N/A
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