ECCO V4r4: Daily Ocean Temperature and Salinity on LLC90 Grid, 1992-2017

1992-01-01 to 2018-01-01 daily-averaged ocean potential temperature and salinity data on the native Lat-Lon-Cap 90 (LLC90) model grid. This dataset is part of the ECCO Version 4 Release 4 ocean and sea-ice state estimate, a dynamically consistent reconstruction produced by NASA. The model solution is constrained by multiple satellite and in-situ observations including altimetry, sea surface temperature, and salinity measurements.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating ocean general circulation models based on the dynamically consistent ECCO state estimate.
• Analyzing long-term trends in ocean heat content based on daily potential temperature fields.
• Studying ocean salinity distribution and its role in density-driven circulation based on daily salinity fields.
• Assimilating observational data into climate models based on the described constraint sources like satellite altimetry and Argo floats.

Strengths

• Covers a 26-year time range from 1992 to 2018.
• Integrates multiple observational constraints including satellite altimeters, radiometers, gravimeters, and in-situ programs like Argo.
• Provides data on a native high-resolution model grid (LLC90) for direct model comparison.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified; the last update date is 2026-03-13, but the data coverage ends in 2018.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Free-running solution of a 1-degree MITgcm configuration, fit to observations in a least-squares sense.

Time Range

1992-01-01T12:00:00 to 2018-01-01T00:00:00

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:04:20.710582; data coverage ends 2018-01-01.

Geography

Global ocean