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 Circulation Data Access and Tools
NASA has ocean circulation datasets that help researchers characterize the currents and flow of water within Earth's oceans. Access a range of data and data tools such as AppEEARS, Worldview, and Giovanni to make the most of ocean circulation data.
Table of contents
Ocean Circulation Datasets
| Dataset | Platforms | Instruments | Temporal Extent | Location Keywords | Spatial Extent | Data Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockall Trough Pre-SWOT Level-4 Hourly MITgcm LLC4320 Native Grid 2km Oceanographic Dataset Version 1.0 | MITgcm | Computer | 2011-09-13 to 2012-11-15 | ROCKALL TROUGH | N: 63.73713 S: 59.54496 E: -7.320777 W: -12.18558 | netCDF-4 |
| S-MODE DopplerScatt Level 2 Ocean Winds and Currents Version 1 | B-200 | DOPPLER RADAR | 2021-10-20 to 2021-11-05 | N: 38.2 S: 36.3 E: -122.1 W: -126.2 | netCDF-4 | |
| S-MODE DopplerScatt Level 2 Ocean Winds and Currents Version 2 | B-200 | DOPPLER RADAR | 2021-10-20 to 2023-04-30 | PACIFIC OCEAN | N: 38.4 S: 36 E: -122 W: -126.5 | netCDF-4 |
| S-MODE L2 Position Data from Surface Drifters Version 1 | BUOYS | DRIFTING BUOYS | 2021-10-21 to 2023-12-31 | N: 38.1 S: 36.3 E: -122.9 W: -125.4 | netCDF-4 | |
| S-MODE L2 Shipboard Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Measurements Version 1 | Ships | ADCP | 2021-10-19 to 2023-05-06 | N: 38.1 S: 36.3 E: -122.9 W: -125.4 | netCDF-4 | |
| S-MODE Lagrangian Float Observations Version 1 | BUOYS | CTD, ADCP | 2022-10-01 to 2023-05-31 | EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN | N: 38.1 S: 36.3 E: -122.9 W: -125.4 | netCDF-4 |
| S-MODE Level 3 Seaglider Observations Version 1 | SEAGLIDER | CTD | 2022-08-23 to 2023-07-07 | N: 38.1 S: 36.3 E: -122.9 W: -125.4 | netCDF-4 | |
| S-MODE Level 4 Wavegliders Version 1 | Wave Glider | CTD, ADCP, MMS, CURRENT METERS | 2022-09-20 to 2023-05-13 | N: 37.9 S: 35.7 E: -121.9 W: -125.8 | netCDF-4 | |
| S-MODE NCOM Model Output Version 1 | MODELS | 2021-09-01 to 2023-08-01 | N: 42 S: 30 E: -116 W: -130 | netCDF-4 | ||
| S-MODE Saildrone Level 1 Observations | Saildrone | ADCP | 2021-10-01 to 2022-11-30 | N: 38.1 S: 36.3 E: -122.9 W: -125.4 | netCDF-4 |
Pagination
SHOWING 10 OF 89
Featured Ocean Circulation Observation Method: SWOT
NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) platform monitors Earth’s surface water and measures how water bodies, such as lakes and rivers, change over time. SWOTS measures water surface heights using its primary instrument, the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn).
Recently released datasets from the SWOT mission provide scientists with previously unavailable measurements of Earth's surface water.
9 MIN READ
Learn how to discover, access, and use Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission data and how these data can lead to new, innovative science and applications in the world of water.
Hydrocron enables users to receive all Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) observations for a specific river ID within a specified date range.
Join us on Wed., July 30 at 2:00 p.m. EDT (-04:00 UTC) to explore SWOT hydrology data collections of rivers and lakes, and to learn how to work with SWOT hydrology data using tools provided by both NASA's PO.DAAC and the USGS.
Ocean Circulation 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 | |
| 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 | |
| Worldview | Worldview offers the capability to interactively browse over 1,200 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and download the underlying data. | Analysis, Search and Discovery, Visualization, Access, Comparison, Monitoring Natural Events |
SHOWING 4 OF 4
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