NASA CIOSS Project: Sea Surface Height and Currents for the US West Coast, 1992-2011

17 years of daily sea surface height anomalies and geostrophic current velocities for the US west coast, from 35.25°N to 48.5°N. This NASA data product combines satellite altimeter observations from AVISO with tide gauge measurements to enhance coverage within 0.75 degrees of the coastline. The dataset is annually updated and derived using a method published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal ocean circulation based on derived zonal and meridional geostrophic velocities.
• Analyzing sea level rise trends based on Sea Surface Height Anomaly (SSHA) time series.
• Developing spatial interpolation methods for blending satellite and in-situ (tide gauge) data sources.
• Validating hydrodynamic models against observed current and sea surface height data for the US west coast.

Strengths

• Long temporal coverage spanning from October 14, 1992 through January 19, 2011.
• Enhanced coastal data coverage achieved by merging satellite altimetry with tide gauge observations.
• Methodology is documented in a peer-reviewed publication (Saraceno et al., 2008, J. Geophys. Res.).
• Data is annually updated, suggesting ongoing maintenance.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset's spatial coverage is limited to the US west coast (35.25°N-48.5°N, 227.75°E-248.5°E).
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

NASA CIOSS Project, likely via AVISO and tide gauge networks.

Collection Method

Derived from AVISO quarter-degree DT UPD MSLA version 3.0 grids combined with tide gauge observations interpolated near the coast.

Time Range

October 14, 1992 to January 19, -2011

Freshness

Annually updated.

Geography

US west coast, 35.25°N-48.5°N latitude and 227.75°E-248.5°E longitude.