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Description

This dataset contains daily-averaged dynamic sea surface height interpolated to a regular 0.5-degree grid from the ECCO Version 4 revision 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
0.5 Decimal Degrees x 0.5 Decimal Degrees
Geographic Region
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
C1990404813-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
9497
Processing Level
4
Published
Science Keywords
Sea Surface Height

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 Sea Surface Height - Daily Mean 0.5 Degree (Version 4 release 4) [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ECG5D-SSH44 Date Accessed: 2025-12-14

Documents

Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
latitude uniform grid spacing from -89.75 to 89.75 by 0.5 degrees_north float N/A N/A 1
latitude_bnds latitude bounds grid cells N/A float N/A N/A 1
longitude uniform grid spacing from -179.75 to 179.75 by 0.5 degrees_east float N/A N/A 1
longitude_bnds longitude bounds grid cells N/A float N/A N/A 1
SSH Dynamic sea surface height anomaly above the geoid, suitable for comparisons with altimetry sea surface height data products that apply the inverse barometer (IB) correction. Note: SSH is calculated by correcting model sea level anomaly ETAN for three effects: a) global mean steric sea level changes related to density changes in the Boussinesq volume-conserving model (Greatbatch correction, see sterGloH), b) the inverted barometer (IB) effect (see SSHIBC) and c) sea level displacement due to sea-ice and snow pressure loading (see sIceLoad). SSH can be compared with the similarly-named SSH variable in previous ECCO products that did not include atmospheric pressure loading (e.g., Version 4 Release 3). Use SSHNOIBC for comparisons with altimetry data products that do NOT apply the IB correction. m float 9.96921E+36 -24.861555 to 22.875383 1
SSHIBC Not an SSH itself, but a correction to model sea level anomaly (ETAN) required to account for the static part of sea surface displacement by atmosphere pressure loading: SSH = SSHNOIBC - SSHIBC. Note: Use SSH for model-data comparisons with altimetry data products that DO apply the IB correction and SSHNOIBC for comparisons with altimetry data products that do NOT apply the IB correction. m float 9.96921E+36 -5.228679 to 8.955588 1
SSHNOIBC Sea surface height anomaly above the geoid without the inverse barometer (IB) correction, suitable for comparisons with altimetry sea surface height data products that do NOT apply the inverse barometer (IB) correction. Note: SSHNOIBC is calculated by correcting model sea level anomaly ETAN for two effects: a) global mean steric sea level changes related to density changes in the Boussinesq volume-conserving model (Greatbatch correction, see sterGloH), b) sea level displacement due to sea-ice and snow pressure loading (see sIceLoad). In ECCO Version 4 Release 4 the model is forced with atmospheric pressure loading. SSHNOIBC does not correct for the static part of the effect of atmosphere pressure loading on sea surface height (the so-called inverse barometer (IB) correction). Use SSH for comparisons with altimetry data products that DO apply the IB correction. m float 9.96921E+36 -24.510471 to 22.390522 1
time center time of averaging period hours since 1992-01-01T12:00:00 int N/A N/A 1
time_bnds Start and end times of averaging period. N/A int N/A N/A 1
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