Global Sea Surface Height Anomaly Time Series from Satellite Altimeters

NASA's standardized dataset provides along-track sea surface height anomaly observations from radar altimeter satellites including TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason series, and Sentinel-6. Data collection began in October 1992 and continues to the present, with new releases approximately weekly. The dataset is produced by NASA and features quality-controlled, mission-referenced observations parsed into daily files.

Use Cases

• Analyze long-term sea level rise trends using the sea surface height anomaly time series starting from 1992.
• Study regional ocean dynamics by filtering observations using the provided basin flag variable for specific ocean basins or lakes.
• Validate ocean circulation models by comparing simulated sea surface height against the 1 Hz along-track observational data.
• Assess the impact of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on sea surface height by examining anomaly patterns in the Pacific basin.
• Perform quality-controlled analyses by applying the included flag variable to select only valid sea surface height observations.

Strengths

• Time series spans over 30 years, from October 1992 to the present.
• Observations are collected at approximately 1 Hz (once per second) along satellite tracks.
• Data from multiple satellite missions (TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason series, Sentinel-6) are referenced to a common baseline.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column details, and total data volume are not provided in the description.
• The dataset's spatial coverage is limited to the ground tracks of the specific altimeter satellites used.
• Data has a latency of a few weeks from real-time observation.

Provenance

Source

NASA, produced via the POCLOUD organization.

Collection Method

Observations measured by radar altimeter satellites (TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason series, Sentinel-6) in a reference mission orbit.

Time Range

October 1992 to present.

Freshness

New data is released approximately once per week.

Geography

Global coverage along satellite ground tracks over oceans and major lakes.