World Ocean Annual Mean Geostrophic Velocity on the Marine Geoid

15,481 data pairs of (u, v) geostrophic velocity calculated at depths corresponding to the marine geoid. The dataset is derived from the EIGEN-6C4 gravity field model and the World Ocean Atlas 2013, with a 1-degree spatial resolution. It was produced by NOAA NCEI and last updated in December 2013.

Use Cases

• Modeling global ocean circulation patterns based on geostrophic velocity data.
• Studying the relationship between the marine geoid and ocean currents.
• Validating oceanographic models using the derived absolute geostrophic currents.
• Analyzing ocean dynamics outside the equatorial zone (5°S–5°N) where geostrophic balance exists.

Strengths

• Contains 15,481 (u, v) data pairs for analysis.
• Derived from two established sources: the EIGEN-6C4 gravity model and World Ocean Atlas 2013.
• Has a defined spatial resolution of 1 degree.

Limitations

• Last updated 2013-12-31 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data excludes the equatorial zone (5°S–5°N) due to the breakdown of geostrophic balance.

Provenance

Source

NOAA NCEI, using EIGEN-6C4 (GFZ Potsdam/GRGS Toulouse) and World Ocean Atlas 2013.

Collection Method

Calculated by combining a static global gravity field model with oceanographic data using the P-vector method.

Freshness

2013-12-31

Geography

Global oceans, excluding 5°S–5°N.