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Description

This dataset provides monthly-averaged ocean velocity 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
C1991543732-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
312
Processing Level
4
Published
Science Keywords
Ocean Currents ,
Ocean Circulation

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 Velocity - Monthly Mean llc90 Grid (Version 4 release 4) [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ECL5M-OVE44 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
k grid index in z for tracer variables N/A int N/A N/A 1 N/A
k_l First index corresponds to the top surface of the uppermost tracer grid cell. The use of 'l' in the variable name follows the MITgcm convention for ocean variables in which the lower (l) face of a tracer grid cell on the logical grid corresponds to the top face of the grid cell on the physical grid. N/A int N/A N/A 1 N/A
k_p1 Includes top of uppermost model tracer cell (k_p1=0) and bottom of lowermost tracer cell (k_p1=51). N/A int N/A N/A 1 N/A
k_u First index corresponds to the bottom surface of the uppermost tracer grid cell. The use of 'u' in the variable name follows the MITgcm convention for ocean variables in which the upper (u) face of a tracer grid cell on the logical grid corresponds to the bottom face of the grid cell on the physical grid. N/A int N/A N/A 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
UVEL Horizontal velocity in the +x direction at the 'u' face of the tracer cell on the native model grid. Note: in the Arakawa-C grid, horizontal velocities are staggered relative to the tracer cells with indexing such that +UVEL(i_g,j,k) corresponds to +x fluxes through the 'u' face of the tracer cell at (i,j,k). Do NOT use UVEL for volume flux calculations because the model's grid cell thicknesses vary with time (z* coordinates); use UVELMASS instead. Also, the model +x direction does not necessarily correspond to the geographical east-west direction because the x and y axes of the model's curvilinear lat-lon-cap (llc) grid have arbitrary orientations which vary within and across tiles. See EVEL and NVEL for zonal and meridional velocity. m s-1 float 9.96921E+36 -12.937312 to 17.762943 1 N/A
VVEL Horizontal velocity in the +y direction at the 'v' face of the tracer cell on the native model grid. Note: in the Arakawa-C grid, horizontal velocities are staggered relative to the tracer cells with indexing such that +VVEL(i,j_g,k) corresponds to +y fluxes through the 'v' face of the tracer cell at (i,j,k). Do NOT use VVEL for volume flux calculations because the model's grid cell thicknesses vary with time (z* coordinates); use VVELMASS instead. Also, the model +y direction does not necessarily correspond to the geographical north-south direction because the x and y axes of the model's curvilinear lat-lon-cap (llc) grid have arbitrary orientations which vary within and across tiles. See EVEL and NVEL for zonal and meridional velocity. m s-1 float 9.96921E+36 -12.608346 to 14.75696 1 N/A
WVEL Vertical velocity in the +z direction at the top 'w' face of the tracer cell on the native model grid. Note: in the Arakawa-C grid, vertical velocities are staggered relative to the tracer cells with indexing such that +WVEL(i,j,k_l) corresponds to upward +z motion through the top 'w' face of the tracer cell at (i,j,k). WVEL is identical to WVELMASS. m s-1 float 9.96921E+36 -0.012012796 to 0.0057065235 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
Z Non-uniform vertical spacing. m float N/A N/A 1 N/A
Zl First element is 0m, the depth of the top face of the first tracer grid cell (ocean surface). Last element is the depth of the top face of the deepest grid cell. The use of 'l' in the variable name follows the MITgcm convention for ocean variables in which the lower (l) face of a tracer grid cell on the logical grid corresponds to the top face of the grid cell on the physical grid. In other words, the logical vertical grid of MITgcm ocean variables is inverted relative to the physical vertical grid. m float N/A N/A 1 N/A
Zp1 Contains one element more than the number of vertical layers. First element is 0m, the depth of the upper interface of the surface grid cell. Last element is the depth of the lower interface of the deepest grid cell. m float N/A N/A 1 N/A
Zu First element is -10m, the depth of the bottom face of the first tracer grid cell. Last element is the depth of the bottom face of the deepest grid cell. The use of 'u' in the variable name follows the MITgcm convention for ocean variables in which the upper (u) face of a tracer grid cell on the logical grid corresponds to the bottom face of the grid cell on the physical grid. In other words, the logical vertical grid of MITgcm ocean variables is inverted relative to the physical vertical grid. m float N/A N/A 1 N/A
Z_bnds One pair of depths for each vertical level. N/A float N/A N/A 1 N/A
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