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Description

This dataset contains monthly-averaged ocean and sea-ice surface stress 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
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
C1990404796-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
312
Processing Level
4
Published
Science Keywords
Wind Stress

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 and Sea-Ice Surface Stress - Monthly Mean 0.5 Degree (Version 4 release 4) [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ECG5M-STR44 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
EXFtaue Zonal (east-west) component of wind stress. Note: EXFtaue is the zonal wind stress applied to the ocean and sea-ice. When sea-ice is present, the total zonal stress applied to the ocean surface is NOT EXFtaue, but a combination of the wind stress in the open water fraction (EXFtaue) and a stress from sea-ice in the ice-covered fraction (see oceTAUE). EXFtaue is calculated by interpolating the model's x and y components of wind stress (EXFtaux and EXFtauy) to tracer cell centers and then finding the zonal component of the interpolated vectors. It is NOT recommended to use EXFtaue and EXFtaun for momentum budget calculations because interpolating EXFtaux and EXFtauy from the model grid to the lat-lon grid introduces errors. For momentum fluxes to the ocean surface see oceTAUx and oceTAUy. N m-2 float 9.96921E+36 -75.45976 to 66.26148 1 N/A
EXFtaun Meridional (north-south) component of wind stress. Note: EXFtaun is the stress applied to the ocean and sea-ice. When sea-ice is present, the total meridional stress applied to the ocean surface is NOT EXFtaun, but a combination of the wind stress in the open water fraction (EXFtaun) and a stress from sea-ice in the ice-covered fraction (see oceTAUN). EXFtaun is calculated by interpolating the model's x and y components of wind stress (EXFtaux and EXFtauy) to tracer cell centers and then determining the meridional component of the interpolated vectors. It is NOT recommended to use EXFtaue and EXFtaun for momentum budget calculations because interpolating EXFtaux and EXFtauy from the model grid to the lat-lon grid introduces errors. For momentum fluxes to the ocean surface see oceTAUx and oceTAUy. N m-2 float 9.96921E+36 -82.73749 to 154.34361 1 N/A
latitude uniform grid spacing from -89.75 to 89.75 by 0.5 degrees_north float N/A N/A 1 N/A
latitude_bnds latitude bounds grid cells N/A float N/A N/A 1 N/A
longitude uniform grid spacing from -179.75 to 179.75 by 0.5 degrees_east float N/A N/A 1 N/A
longitude_bnds longitude bounds grid cells N/A float N/A N/A 1 N/A
oceTAUE Zonal (east-west) component of ocean surface stress due to wind and sea-ice. Note: oceTAUE is calculated by interpolating the model's x and y components of ocean surface stress (oceTAUX and oceTAUY) to tracer cell centers and then finding the zonal component of the interpolated vectors. N m-2 float 9.96921E+36 -75.89108 to 58.705616 1 N/A
oceTAUN Meridional (north-south) component of ocean surface stress due to wind and sea-ice. Note: oceTAUN is calculated by interpolating the model's x and y components of ocean surface stress (oceTAUX and oceTAUY) to tracer cell centers and then finding the meridional component of the interpolated vectors. N m-2 float 9.96921E+36 -78.09064 to 75.20025 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
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