ECCO V4r4b: Daily Mean Sea Surface Height on a 0.5-Degree Grid, 1992-2017

Daily-averaged dynamic sea surface height data interpolated to a regular 0.5-degree grid. The dataset is a dynamically consistent ocean state estimate from the ECCO V4r4b model, produced by NASA, covering the period from 1992-01-01 to 2018-01-01. It assimilates observations from multiple satellite altimeters and in-situ instruments.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean circulation patterns based on dynamic sea surface height.
• Analyzing long-term sea-level trends based on the 26-year time series.
• Calibrating satellite altimeter data against a dynamically consistent model estimate.
• Studying ocean-atmosphere interactions using the assimilated sea surface temperature and salinity constraints.

Strengths

• Covers a 26-year period from 1992 to 2018.
• Assimilates data from over 10 distinct satellite missions and in-situ programs.
• Provides data on a regular 0.5-degree global grid.
• Represents a dynamically and kinematically consistent reconstruction of ocean state.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data freshness should be verified as the last metadata update is listed as 2026-03 13.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Free-running solution of the MITgcm model, fit to observations in a least-squares sense.

Time Range

1992-01-01 to 2018-01-01

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 02:54:58.093098; data coverage ends in 2018.

Geography

Global ocean coverage