Northeast Pacific Ocean Current Climatology (1993-2020)

1993 to 2020 monthly-mean ocean current climatology for the Northeast Pacific, derived from hourly model simulations. The data provides high-resolution (1/36-degree) current fields for the months of April through September.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal patterns in ocean current velocity and direction for the April-September period across the Northeast Pacific.
• Validate regional ocean circulation models using the 1/36-degree resolution climatological fields derived from 28 years of simulated data.
• Study long-term climatological means of ocean currents to establish baselines for climate change impact assessments in the region.

Strengths

• Derived from 28 years of hourly ocean current simulations (1993-2020), providing a long-term climatological baseline.
• High spatial resolution of 1/36-degree for detailed regional analysis of the Northeast Pacific.
• Climatology focuses on the biologically active months of April through September.

Limitations

• Data is a climatological mean, not a time series of individual events, limiting analysis of interannual variability.
• Coverage is limited to the Northeast Pacific region and the months of April to September.
• Data is model-simulated (synthetic), not directly observed, which may introduce model biases.

Provenance

Source

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Derived from hourly ocean currents simulated using the high-resolution Northeast Pacific Ocean Model (NEPOM).

Time Range

1993 to 2020

Freshness

Dataset was last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Northeast Pacific Ocean