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.

Dataset	Geographic Region	Temporal Extent	Data Format	Potential Application Areas	Related Subtopics
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L2A Global Geolocated Photon Data V006	Global	2018-10-13 to Present	HDF5	Sea ice freeboard determination Shallow bathymetry mapping	sea ice
CYGNSS Level 1 Science Data Record Version 3.2	Tropics	2018-08-01 to Present	NetCDF-4	Ocean surface roughness mapping Wind speed estimation over oceans Coastal wind field monitoring Ocean surface process studies	ocean winds, sea surface topography
GHRSST Level 4 MUR Global Foundation Sea Surface Temperature Analysis (v4.1)	Global	2002-05-31 to Present	NetCDF-4	Ocean circulation studies Marine ecosystem monitoring Coral bleaching risk assessment	ocean circulation, ocean temperature, sea surface temperature
GLIMS Glacier Database, Version 1	Global	1850-01-01 to Present	WMS WFS GML ASCII Shapefile KML	Global glacier inventory and monitoring Sea level rise contribution studies	sea surface topography
JPL GRACE and GRACE-FO Mascon Ocean, Ice, and Hydrology Equivalent Water Height Coastal Resolution Improvement (CRI) Filtered Release 06.3 Version 04	Global	2002-04-04 to Present	NetCDF-4	Sea level contribution assessment Ocean mass redistribution studies	sea surface topography
MERRA-2 tavg1_2d_flx_Nx: 2d,1-Hourly,Time-Averaged,Single-Level,Assimilation,Surface Flux Diagnostics 0.625 x 0.5 degree V5.12.4	Global	1980-01-01 to 2025-04-01	NetCDF	Surface energy balance studies and monitoring Heat flux quantification between surface and atmosphere Hydrological cycle component analysis	ocean heat budget, ocean waves
NASA MEASURES Precipitation Ensemble based on SSM/I DMSP F13 NASA PPS L1C V06 Tbs 1-orbit L2 Swath 12x12km V1	Global	1995-05-03 to 2009-11-20	NetCDF	Ocean Surface Wind Speed	ocean winds
Near-Real-Time DMSP SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations, Version 2	Arctic, Antarctica, Polar, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere	2021-11-01 to Present	NetCDF-4 PNG	Sea ice edge position tracking	sea ice
PACE OCI Level-2 Regional Ocean Biogeochemical Properties, Near Real-time (NRT) Data, version 3.0	Global	2024-03-05 to Present	NetCDF-4	Carbon cycle research in oceans Ocean acidification impact assessment	ocean chemistry, water quality
PACE OCI Level-2 Regional Apparent Optical Properties - Near Real-time (NRT) Data, version 2.0	Global	2024-03-05 to Present	HDF5 NetCDF-4	Ocean ecosystem health monitoring Harmful algal bloom detection Coastal water quality assessment Marine protected area monitoring Water clarity mapping Underwater light field characterization Coral reef health assessment	water quality
PACE OCI Level-3 Global Mapped Chlorophyll (CHL) - NRT Data, version 3.0	Global	2024-03-05 to Present	NetCDF-4	Global ocean primary productivity monitoring Harmful algal bloom tracking Carbon cycling in oceans	ocean chemistry, ocean optics, water quality
RSS SMAP Level 2C Sea Surface Salinity V6.0 Validated Dataset	Global	2015-04-01 to Present	NetCDF-4
RSS SSMIS OCEAN PRODUCT GRIDS 3-DAY AVERAGE FROM DMSP F17 NETCDF V7	Global	2006-12-12 to Present	NetCDF-4	Medium-range maritime operations planning Reduced noise assessment of ocean parameters Ocean current pattern analysis Marine heatwave tracking and monitoring Sea ice edge mapping in polar regions	ocean circulation, ocean winds, sea surface temperature
RSS SSMIS OCEAN PRODUCT GRIDS DAILY FROM DMSP F16 NETCDF V7	Global	2003-10-26 to Present	NetCDF-4	Daily ocean surface wind speed monitoring Sea surface temperature tracking across global oceans Ocean heat content estimation Maritime operations planning based on ocean conditions	ocean temperature, ocean winds, sea surface temperature
Sea Ice Concentrations from Nimbus-7 SMMR and DMSP SSM/I-SSMIS Passive Microwave Data, Version 2	Polar	1978-10-26 to Present	NetCDF-4 PNG	Long-term sea ice trend analysis	sea ice
SENTINEL-1A_SLC	Global	2014-04-03 to Present		Interferometric analysis for surface deformation detection Coherence-based change detection Polarimetric analysis for target characterization High-precision infrastructure monitoring Development of advanced SAR processing algorithms Time-series analysis for subtle change detection	coastal processes, ocean waves, ocean winds, sea ice
SENTINEL-1B_DUAL_POL_GRD_HIGH_RES	Global	2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24		Ship detection and maritime surveillance Oil spill detection and monitoring in marine environments	coastal processes, ocean waves, ocean winds, sea ice
SENTINEL-1B_SLC	Global	2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24		High-resolution deformation mapping with interferometry Precise infrastructure stability monitoring Coherence analysis for subtle change detection Polarimetric target characterization Glacier velocity measurement and ice monitoring	coastal processes, ocean waves, ocean winds, sea ice

Ocean Datasets

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Dataset	Platforms	Instruments	Temporal Extent	Location Keywords	Data Format
ASTER L2 Surface Temperature V003	Terra	ASTER	2000-03-04 to 2025-12-15	GLOBAL	HDF-EOS2, GeoTIFF
Atlantic Meridional Transect (AMT) cruises	Water-based Platforms, In Situ Ocean-based Platforms		1995-01-01 to Present
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Along Track Coastal and Nearshore Bathymetry V001	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-14 to Present	GLOBAL OCEAN	HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Ocean Surface Height V006	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-13 to 2025-03-02	GLOBAL OCEAN	HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Ocean Surface Height V007	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-13 to Present	GLOBAL OCEAN	HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Daily and Monthly Gridded Polar Sea Surface Height Anomaly V003	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-14 to 2025-02-28	GLOBAL OCEAN	HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Daily and Monthly Gridded Polar Sea Surface Height Anomaly V004	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-14 to Present	POLAR	HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Monthly 3-Month Gridded Dynamic Ocean Topography V001	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-13 to 2025-02-28	GLOBAL OCEAN	HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Monthly 3-Month Gridded Dynamic Ocean Topography V002	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-13 to Present	GLOBAL OCEAN	HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Monthly Gridded Dynamic Ocean Topography V003	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-13 to 2025-03-01	GLOBAL OCEAN	HDF5

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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.

Discover more from SWOT

Potential of SWOT for Sea Ice Monitoring Unveiled

Researchers explore using SWOT data to derive two-dimensional estimates of sea ice thickness.

Earthdata grapic identifier on patterned background

SWOT Swath Visualizer

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.

global sea surface height data collected by SWOT

Facing the Challenges of Using High-Resolution Sea Surface Height Observations From SWOT

SWOT presents opportunities and challenges in characterizing sea surface height anomalies.

Ocean Data Tools

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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
Earthdata Search	Earthdata Search enables data discovery, search, comparison, visualization, and access across NASA’s Earth science data holdings.	Search and Discovery, Access, Cataloging, Cloud Computing, Downloading
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

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Frequently Asked Questions

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