We are in the process of migrating all NASA Earth science data sites into Earthdata from now until end of 2026. Not all NASA Earth science data and resources will appear here until then. Thank you for your patience as we make this transition.
Read about the Web Unification Project
Ocean Data Access and Tools
NASA data span the geophysical parameters that characterize the global ocean and the physical processes operating within its depths and at its surface. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.
Ocean Datasets
| Dataset Sort descending | Version | Platforms | Instruments | Temporal Extent | Spatial Extent | Spatial Resolution | Data Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NASA-SSH PDO Sea Surface Height Indicator | 1 | TOPEX/POSEIDON, JASON-1, OSTM/JASON-2, JASON-3, Sentinel-6A | SSALT, NRA, TMR, POSEIDON-2, JASON-1 Microwave Radiometer, POSEIDON-3, AMR, POSEIDON-3B, AMR-2, Poseidon-4 Radar Altimeter, AMR-C | 1993-01-04 |
N: 66 S: -66 E: 180 W: -180 |
ASCII | |
| NASA-SSH Simple Gridded Sea Surface Height from Standardized Reference Missions Only Version 1 | 1 | TOPEX/POSEIDON, JASON-1, OSTM/JASON-2, JASON-3, Sentinel-6A | SSALT, NRA, TMR, POSEIDON-2, JASON-1 Microwave Radiometer, POSEIDON-3, AMR, POSEIDON-3B, AMR-2, Poseidon-4 Radar Altimeter, AMR-C | 1992-10-25 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
0.5 Decimal Degrees x 0.5 Decimal Degrees | netCDF-4 |
| National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2000-02-22 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP) Front Resolving Observational Network with Telemetry (FRONT) site | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2000-12-08 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 1996-02-22 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| National Oceanographic Partnership Program ARGO profiling floats | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2011-12-17 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| National Science Foundation (NSF)-Blue Water Zone (BWZ) measurements | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2004-02-15 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| Naval Research Lab measurements off the coast of Louisiana | 0 | BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships | 2016-03-17 to Present |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
|||
| NCEP/DOE Reanalysis II in HDF-EOS5, for GSSTF2c, 1x1 deg Daily grid V2c (GSSTF_NCEP) at GES DISC | 2c | NCEP-GFS | NOT APPLICABLE | 1987-07-01 to 2009-01-01 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
||
| NCEP/DOE Reanalysis II in HDF-EOS5, for GSSTF2c, 1x1 deg Monthly grid V2c (GSSTFM_NCEP) at GES DISC | 2c | NCEP-GFS | NOT APPLICABLE | 1987-07-01 to 2008-12-31 |
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 |
SHOWING 10 OF 2180
Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Platform
SWOT provides detailed surface topography and monitors water body changes over time. The platform enables high-resolution ocean monitoring at 15-150 km spatial scales, tracking ocean currents, coastal dynamics, storm surges, and regional sea level changes. On land, SWOT measures water storage changes in lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and wetlands, supporting river discharge estimates for water resource assessment.
Researchers explore using SWOT data to derive two-dimensional estimates of sea ice thickness.
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Swath Visualizer provides a visualization of two instruments’ coverage of Earth's surface: the Ka-band Radar Interferometer and altimeter.
SWOT presents opportunities and challenges in characterizing sea surface height anomalies.
Ocean Data Tools
| Tool Sort descending | Description | Services | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AppEEARS | The The Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) offers users a simple and efficient way to perform data access and transformation processes. | Search and Discovery, Subsetting, Customization, Downloading, Visualization | |
| CASEI | The Catalog of Archived Suborbital Earth Science Investigations (CASEI) is a comprehensive inventory of contextual information for NASA's Earth Science airborne and field campaigns. | Search and Discovery, Cataloging | |
| CyAN File Search | The CyAN File Search tool allows users to choose an area over the continental United States and Alaska to retrieve cyanobacteria datasets archived by the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) project. | Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization | |
| CyFi Explorer | CyFi Explorer enables users to view corresponding Sentinel-2 satellite imagery for each cyanobacteria estimate, and estimate cyanobacteria density. | Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization | |
| Giovanni | Giovanni is a web application for accessing, visualizing, and analyzing Earth science remote sensing data without downloading the data. | Search and Discovery, Analysis, Access, Visualization, Downloading, Subsetting | |
| Hydrocron | Hydrocron is an API that repackages hydrology datasets from SWOT into formats that make time-series analysis easier. | Subsetting, Visualization | |
| Ocean Color Level 3 and 4 Browser | The Ocean Color Level 3 and 4 Browser allows users to view, download, or order global composites at various spatial and temporal scales (level 3) or get results from analyses of lower-level data (level 4). | Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization | |
| Panoply | Panoply is a cross-platform application that plots geo-referenced and other arrays from netCDF, HDF, GRIB, and other datasets. | Visualization, Customization, Reformatting, Subsetting, Comparison | |
| SeaBASS | SeaBASS is public archive of ocean and atmosphere data captured in situ. The archive is maintained by NASA's Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG). | Downloading | |
| SeaDAS | Sea, earth, atmosphere Data Analysis System (SeaDAS) is a comprehensive image analysis package for the processing, display, analysis, and quality control of ocean color data. | Analysis, Visualization, Processing |
SHOWING 10 OF 13
Frequently Asked Questions
Earthdata Forum
Our online forum provides a space for users to browse thousands of FAQs about research needs, data, and data applications. You can also submit new questions for our experts to answer.
Submit Questions to Earthdata Forumand View Expert Responses