Monthly climatologies covering the world ocean southward to about 50°S were prepared by G. Meehl and archived at NCAR. They represent a 5°x5° latitude/longitude dataset of long-period ocean current speed and direction based on pilot charts summarizing ship drift data. The digital data is available for January, April, July, and October, representing the four seasons.
Use Cases
- Validate ocean circulation model outputs against observed current speed and direction climatologies.
- Analyze seasonal patterns in global surface currents using the January, April, July, and October data points.
- Study long-term mean ocean current behavior derived from the NAVOCEANO shipdrift file.
- Correlate wind-driven ocean surface currents with the ship drift measurements underlying the pilot charts.
Strengths
- Provides global coverage southward to about 50°S.
- Data is structured on a consistent 5°x5° latitude/longitude grid.
- Represents long-period means derived from extensive ship drift summaries.
Limitations
- Data is temporally stale, with one chart updated around 1984 and the dataset last updated in 1978.
- Only four months (January, April, July, October) are available, limiting intra-seasonal analysis.
- Spatial resolution is coarse at 5°x5°, which may not capture finer-scale current features.
Provenance
- Source
- National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), based on U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) pilot charts.
- Collection Method
- Derived from summaries of ship drift data, where drift is attributed to wind and ocean currents.
- Time Range
- Long-period means, with one chart updated around 1984.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Near global, covering the world ocean southward to about 50°S.