SLA: Global Sea Level Anomalies from Multi-Satellite Altimetry

Global along-track sea surface height anomalies computed with respect to a seven-year mean, produced by SCIOPS. The data are available in near-real time and delayed time, with homogeneous 'Ref' series and improved-sampling 'Upd' series. Regional products with enhanced quality are also available for specific local areas.

Use Cases

• Study mesoscale ocean circulation based on sea surface height anomalies.
• Analyze seasonal and interannual climate variability like El Niño based on global sea level data.
• Support operational oceanography and forecasting based on near-real time satellite products.
• Improve regional ocean models based on higher-quality local area datasets.

Strengths

• Data is global and homogeneous across multiple satellite missions.
• Available in both near-real time and delayed time for different application needs.
• Offers two distinct product series ('Ref' and 'Upd') with different sampling and error characteristics.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The 'Upd' series quality is not homogeneous over time, as noted in the description.

Provenance

Source

SCIOPS, via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Derived from along-track measurements by multiple altimeter satellites including Topex/Poseidon, Jason-1, ERS, Envisat, and GFO.

Time Range

Temporal coverage is implied by the seven-year mean reference but specific dates are not provided.

Freshness

Data is produced in near-real time, but the last update date for the catalog entry is unknown.

Geography

Global coverage, with additional regional products for specific local areas.