NODC (Levitus) World Ocean Atlas 1994

Go To: Temporal Coverage | Spatial Coverage | Levels | Update Schedule | Download/Plot Data | Restrictions | Details | Caveats | File Naming | Citation | References | Original Source | Contact

One-Line Description:

  • NODC (Levitus) World Ocean Atlas Data 1994

Temporal Coverage:

  • Long term annual means, derived from data for years 1900 - 1992.
  • Long term monthly means, derived from data for years 1900 - 1992.

Spatial Coverage:

  • 0.25 degree latitude x 0.25 degree longitude global grid (720x1440).
  • 89.875N - 89.875S, 0.125E - 359.875E.
  • 1.0 degree latitude x 1.0 degree longitude global grid (180x360).
  • 89.5N - 89.5S, 0.5E - 359.5E.

Levels:

  • Depth in meters at 0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 50.0, 75.0, 100.0, 125.0, 150.0, 200.0, 250.0, 300.0, 400.0, 500.0, 600.0, 700.0, 800.0, 900.0, 1000.0, 1100.0, 1200.0, 1300.0, 1400.0, 1500.0, 1750.0, 2000.0, 2500.0, 3000.0, 3500.0, 4000.0, 4500.0, 5000.0, 5500.0.
  • Depth in meters at 0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 50.0, 75.0, 100.0, 125.0, 150.0, 200.0, 250.0, 300.0, 400.0, 500.0, 600.0, 700.0, 800.0, 900.0, 1000.0.

Update Schedule:

  • Static

Download/Plot Data:

Variable Statistic Level Download File Create Plot/Subset
Ocean Temperature (high resolution) Annual Long Term Mean Multiple otemp.hr.annltm.nc plot
Ocean Temperature Nobs (high resolution) Annual Long Term Mean Multiple otemp.hr.nobs.annltm.nc plot
Ocean Salinity (high resolution) Annual Long Term Mean Multiple salt.hr.annltm.nc plot
Ocean Salinity Nobs (high resolution) Annual Long Term Mean Multiple salt.hr.nobs.annltm.nc plot
Ocean Temperature Monthly Long Term Mean Multiple otemp.mnltm.nc plot
Ocean Temperature Nobs Monthly Long Term Mean Multiple otemp.nobs.mnltm.nc plot
Ocean Salinity Monthly Long Term Mean Multiple salt.mnltm.nc plot
Ocean Salinity Nobs Monthly Long Term Mean Multiple salt.nobs.mnltm.nc plot
Mixed Layer Depth via Potential Density Monthly Long Term Mean   mldpd.mnltm.nc plot
Mixed Layer Depth via Potential Temperature Monthly Long Term Mean   mldpt.mnltm.nc plot

Usage Restrictions:

  • None

Detailed Description:

  • The atlas contains annual and monthly long term means for temperature and salinity at multiple depths as well as mixed layer depths as monthly long term means, the last derived both from potential temperature and potential density. Nobs are included in separate files, along with a validity mask variable defined as "1" where there were four or more observations in the grid cell, and "0" otherwise. These nobs files only exist for temperature and salinity.

Caveats:

  • Incorrect data fixed and replaced: The files salt.mnltm.nc and salt.nobs.mnltm.nc, the monthly long-term mean salinity data (including number of observations), were discovered to have used the missing data flag value as real data during creation of these netCDF files. This has been corrected. If you retrieved either of these two data files before 6 February 1998, you should retrieve them again.

Related File Naming & Structure Information:

File Names:

  • var[.res][.var].time stat.nc   (In directory: /Datasets/nodc.woa94/)

Dataset Format and Size:

  • PSD standard NetCDF 2 Mbyte file for each mixed layer depth file (packed).
  • PSD standard NetCDF 30 Mbyte file for each temperature/salinity monthly file (packed).
  • PSD standard NetCDF 59 Mbyte file for each temperature/salinity nobs monthly file.
  • PSD standard NetCDF 68 Mbyte file for each temperature/salinity annual file (packed).
  • PSD standard NetCDF 137 Mbyte file for each temperature/salinity nobs annual file.

Missing Data:

  • Missing data is flagged with a value of 32767s.
  • The mask variable can be used to determine which points are ocean points and the number of valid levels.

Citation:

  • Please note: If you acquire NODC_WOA94 data products from PSD, we ask that you acknowledge us in your use of the data. This may be done by including text such as NODC_WOA94 data provided by the NOAA/OAR/ESRL PSD, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their Web site at http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/ in any documents or publications using these data. We would also appreciate receiving a copy of the relevant publications. This will help PSD to justify keeping the NODC_WOA94 data set freely available online in the future. Thank you!

References:

  • Monterey, G. I., and S. Levitus, 1997:  Climatological cycle of mixed layer depth in the world ocean.  U.S. Gov. Printing Office, NOAA NESDIS, 5pp.

Original Source:

  • National Oceanographic Data Center, NOAA, Washington, D.C.

Contact:

  • Physical Sciences Division: Data Management
    NOAA/ESRL/PSD
    325 Broadway
    Boulder, CO 80305-3328
    esrl.psd.data@noaa.gov