WOA13 provides objectively analyzed climatological fields for temperature, salinity, and nutrients across the World Ocean. The dataset includes six decadal averages from 1955-2012 for temperature and salinity, with nutrient and oxygen data spanning 1878-2012. It was produced by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information using quality-controlled in situ profile data.
Use Cases
- Modeling global ocean temperature trends based on six decadal averages from 1955-2012
- Analyzing spatial patterns of marine nutrients like phosphate and silicate for biogeochemical studies
- Studying ocean salinity and dissolved oxygen climatologies for climate change research
- Creating baseline maps for oceanographic variables on 1/4 to 5-degree grids
Strengths
- Includes six decadal time slices (1955-1964 through 2005-2012) for temperature and salinity
- Nutrient and oxygen data cover a long historical period from 1878 to 2012
- Provides data on multiple variables: temperature, salinity, oxygen, and nutrients
- Offers objectively analyzed fields on multiple grid resolutions (1/4, 1, and 5 degrees)
Limitations
- Last updated 2012-12-31 00:00:00; freshness should be verified
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
- High-resolution 1/4 degree grids are available only for temperature and salinity
Provenance
- Source
- NOAA_NCEI
- Collection Method
- Objectively analyzed climatological fields derived from quality-controlled in situ oceanographic profile data.
- Time Range
- Temperature/Salinity: 1955-2012 (by decade); Nutrients/Oxygen: 1878-2012
- Freshness
- 2012-12-31
- Geography
- World Ocean