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.

Visit Ocean Learning Resources to better understand the metadata for each data collection.

Ocean Datasets

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Dataset Sort descending	Version	Platform	Instrument	Temporal Extent	Spatial Extent	Spatial Resolution	Data Format
Moorea Coral Reef Long-Term Ecological Research site (MCR LTER)	0	BUOYS, MOORINGS, Water-based Platforms, AUVS, ROVS, Ships		2014-07-19 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Multi-Mission Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Salinity Global Dataset V1	1.0	SMAP, SAC-D, SMOS	SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, AQUARIUS_SCATTEROMETER	2011-08-24	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
Multi-Mission Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Salinity Global Dataset V2	2.0	SMAP, SAC-D, SMOS	SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, AQUARIUS_SCATTEROMETER	2011-08-24	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
Multi-Mission Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Salinity Global Monthly Dataset V1	1.0	SMAP, SAC-D, SMOS	SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, AQUARIUS_SCATTEROMETER	2011-09-01	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
Multi-Mission Optimally Interpolated Sea Surface Salinity Global Monthly Dataset V2	2.0	SMAP, SAC-D, SMOS	SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, AQUARIUS_SCATTEROMETER	2011-08-01	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.25 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
MWOW 6-Hourly Global Ocean Wind Level 3 Version 0.1	0.1	METOP-B, METOP-C, IRS E06, SMAP, SWOT	ASCAT, SCAT-3, SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, KaRIn	2023-01-01 to 2027-08-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.125 Decimal Degrees x 0.125 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
MWOW 6-Hourly Global Ocean Wind Level 3 Version 0.2	0.2	METOP-B, METOP-C, IRS E06, SMAP, SWOT	ASCAT, SCAT-3, SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, KaRIn	2023-01-01 to 2027-08-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.125 Decimal Degrees x 0.125 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
MWOW 6-Hourly Global Ocean Wind with Expanded Platform Inputs Level 3 Version 0.1	0.1	METOP-B, METOP-C, IRS E06, SMAP, SWOT, HY2-B, HY2-C	ASCAT, SCAT-3, SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, KaRIn, SCATTEROMETERS	2023-01-01 to 2027-08-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.125 Decimal Degrees x 0.125 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
MWOW 6-Hourly Global Ocean Wind with Expanded Platform Inputs Level 3 Version 0.2	0.2	METOP-B, METOP-C, IRS E06, SMAP, SWOT, HY2-B, HY2-C	ASCAT, SCAT-3, SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, KaRIn, SCATTEROMETERS	2023-01-01 to 2027-08-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.015625 Decimal Degrees x 0.015625 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
MWOW 6-Hourly High Resolution Global Ocean Wind Level 3 Version 0.1	0.1	METOP-B, METOP-C, IRS E06, SMAP, SWOT	ASCAT, SCAT-3, SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, KaRIn	2023-01-01 to 2027-08-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.015625 Decimal Degrees x 0.015625 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
MWOW 6-Hourly High Resolution Global Ocean Wind Level 3 Version 0.2	0.2	METOP-B, METOP-C, IRS E06, SMAP, SWOT	ASCAT, SCAT-3, SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, KaRIn	2023-01-01 to 2027-08-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.015625 Decimal Degrees x 0.015625 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
MWOW 6-Hourly High Resolution Global Ocean Wind with Expanded Platform Inputs Level 3 Version 0.1	0.1	METOP-B, METOP-C, IRS E06, SMAP, SWOT, HY2-B, HY2-C	ASCAT, SCAT-3, SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, KaRIn, SCATTEROMETERS	2023-01-01 to 2027-08-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.015625 Decimal Degrees x 0.015625 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
MWOW 6-Hourly High Resolution Global Ocean Wind with Expanded Platform Inputs Level 3 Version 0.2	0.2	METOP-B, METOP-C, IRS E06, SMAP, SWOT, HY2-B, HY2-C	ASCAT, SCAT-3, SMAP L-BAND RADIOMETER, KaRIn, SCATTEROMETERS	2023-01-01 to 2027-08-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	0.015625 Decimal Degrees x 0.015625 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
NAAMES C-130 Aerosol and Cloud Remote Sensing Data, Version 1	1	C-130	RSP, 4STAR, HSRL	2015-11-04 to 2018-03-25	N: 90 S: 25 E: 180 W: -180		ICARTT, HDF5, PNG, KML
NAAMES C-130 Ocean Remote Sensing Data, Version 1	1	C-130	GCAS	2015-11-04 to 2017-09-20	N: 90 S: 0 E: 180 W: -180		HDF4, JPEG, KML
NAAMES R/V Atlantis Miscellaneous Data, Version 1	1	R/V Atlantis	THERMOSALINOGRAPHS	2015-01-01 to 2018-09-24	N: 90 S: 0 E: 179 W: -180		NetCDF-4, ASCII, ICARTT, GIF, KML, PDF, PNG, JPEG
NARSTO EPA Supersite (SS) Pittsburgh Particulate Matter (PM) Composition Data	1	LABORATORY	SPECTROPHOTOMETERS, ICP-MS, ION CHROMATOGRAPHS	2001-06-29 to 2002-09-29			ASCII
NASA Energy and Water cycle Study (NEWS) Annual Climatology of the 1st decade of the 21st Century V1.0 (NEWS_WEB_ACLIM) at GES DISC	1.0	OBSERVATION BASED	NOT APPLICABLE	1998-01-01 to 2010-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
NASA Energy and Water cycle Study (NEWS) Monthly Climatology of the 1st decade of the 21st Century V1.0 (NEWS_WEB_MCLIM) at GES DISC	1.0	OBSERVATION BASED	NOT APPLICABLE	1998-01-01 to 2010-12-31	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
NASA Ocean Biogeochemical Model assimilating satellite chlorophyll data global daily VR2017 (NOBM_DAY) at GES DISC	R2017	NOBM	NOT APPLICABLE	1998-01-01 to 2015-12-31	N: 72 S: -84 E: 180 W: -180	1.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.67 Decimal Degrees
NASA Ocean Biogeochemical Model assimilating satellite chlorophyll data global monthly VR2017 (NOBM_MON) at GES DISC	R2017	NOBM	NOT APPLICABLE	1998-01-01 to 2015-12-31	N: 72 S: -84 E: 180 W: -180	1.25 Decimal Degrees x 0.67 Decimal Degrees
NASA-SSH Along-Track Sea Surface Height from Standardized Reference Missions 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	10 Kilometers x 10 Kilometers	netCDF-4
NASA-SSH Along-Track Sea Surface Height from Standardized Reference Missions Version 1.1	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	10 Kilometers x 10 Kilometers	netCDF-4
NASA-SSH ENSO 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 Global Mean Sea Level from Simple Gridded Sea Surface Height	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

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.

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

View All 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

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