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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.
Ocean Circulation Datasets
| Dataset | Platforms | Instruments | Temporal Extent | Location Keywords | Spatial Extent | Data Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SENTINEL-1A_METADATA_OCN | Sentinel-1A | C-SAR | 2014-04-03 to Present | N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 | ||
| SENTINEL-1A_OCN | Sentinel-1A | C-SAR | 2014-04-03 to Present | N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 | ||
| SENTINEL-1B_METADATA_OCN | Sentinel-1B | C-SAR | 2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24 | N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 | ||
| SENTINEL-1B_OCN | Sentinel-1B | C-SAR | 2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24 | N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 | ||
| Sentinel-1C Ocean Product | Sentinel-1C | C-SAR | 2025-03-28 to Present | N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 | SAFE | |
| Sentinel-1C Ocean Product Metadata | Sentinel-1C | C-SAR | 2025-03-28 to Present | N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180 | XML | |
| SMODE L2 WAVEGLIDERS TEMP SALINITY V1 | Wave Glider | CTD, ADCP, MMS, CURRENT METERS | 2021-10-28 to 2023-05-14 | N: 38.2 S: 36.3 E: -122.1 W: -126.2 | netCDF-4 | |
| SMODE L3 WAVEGLIDERS TEMP SALINITY V1 | Wave Glider | CTD, ADCP, MMS, CURRENT METERS | 2022-09-20 to 2023-05-13 | N: 38.2 S: 36.3 E: -122.1 W: -126.2 | netCDF-4 | |
| Southern Ocean Pre-SWOT Level-4 Hourly MITgcm LLC4320 Native Grid 2km Oceanographic Dataset Version 1.0 | MITgcm | Computer | 2011-09-13 to 2012-11-15 | SOUTHERN OCEAN | N: -53 S: -57.5 E: 158 W: 148 | netCDF-4 |
| SPURS-1 shipboard Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler data for N. Atlantic Endeavor and Knorr cruises | R/V Sarmiento, R/V Endeavor, R/V Knorr | ADCP | 2012-09-06 to 2013-10-13 | NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN | N: 42 S: 20 E: -28 W: -73 | netCDF-4 |
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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 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
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