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Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

World Ocean Atlas 2018 (NCEI Accession 0176314)

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World Ocean Atlas 2018 (WOA18) is a set of objectively analyzed (one degree grid and quarter degree grid) climatological fields of in situ temperature and salinity, at standard depth levels for annual, seasonal, and monthly compositing periods for the World Ocean. WOA18 also includes associated statistical fields of observed oceanographic profile data interpolated to standard depth levels on quarter degree, one degree, and five degree grids. Temperature and salinity fields are available for six decades (1955-1964, 1965-1974, 1975-1984, 1985-1994, 1995-2004, and 2005-2017) and an average of all decades representing the period 1955-2017, as well as the "climate normal" period 1981-2010. Oxygen, nitrate, silicate, and phosphate, as well as calculated Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU), and percent oxygen saturation, are available in all-date climatologies over all available years. This accession is a product generated by the National Centers for Environmental Information's (NCEI) Ocean Climate Laboratory Team. The analyses are derived from the NCEI World Ocean Database 2018.
  • Cite as: Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Zweng, Melissa M.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Reagan, James R.; Weathers, Katharine A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V. (2018). World Ocean Atlas 2018 (NCEI Accession 0176314). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0176314. In Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Zweng, Melissa M.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Reagan, James R.; Weathers, Katharine A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V.. World Ocean Atlas 2018. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/NCEI-WOA18. Accessed [date].
gov.noaa.nodc:0176314
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  • FTP (download)
    These data are available through the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is no longer supported by most internet browsers. You may copy and paste the FTP link to the data into an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla or WinSCP).
Distribution Formats
  • netCDF (Version: netCDF-4 classic model)
    • File Specification: NODC_NetCDF_Grid_Template_v2.0, ACDD-1.3, CF-1.6
  • netCDF (Version: netCDF-4 classic model)
    • File Specification: NODC_NetCDF_Grid_Template_v2.0
Ordering Instructions Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions.
Distributor NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
+1-301-713-3277
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Time Period 1955-01-01 to 2017-12-31
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West: -180
East: 180
South: -90
North: 90
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Associated Resources
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2018-10-15
  • revision: 2019-03-19
Data Presentation Form Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
Dataset Progress Status Complete - production of the data has been completed
Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility
Data Update Frequency As needed - NCEI Accession 0176314 was revised and a new version of the archival package was published. Updates to existing archival packages may provide additional files or replace obsolete files. The latest version contains the most complete and up-to-date representation of this archival information package. All of the files received prior to this update are available in the preceding version of this accession. Please see journal.txt in the /about directory for additional details on changes made.
Purpose Oceanographic objective analyses have proven to be of great utility to the oceanographic, climate research, geophysical, and operational environmental forecasting communities. Such analyses are used as boundary and/or initial conditions in numerical ocean circulation models and atmosphere-ocean models, for verification of numerical simulations of the ocean, as a form of "sea truth" for satellite measurements such as altimetric observations of sea surface height, for computation of nutrient fluxes by Ekman transport, and for planning oceanographic expeditions among others.
Use Limitations
  • accessLevel: Public
  • Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives.
Dataset Citation
  • Cite as: Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Zweng, Melissa M.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Reagan, James R.; Weathers, Katharine A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V. (2018). World Ocean Atlas 2018 (NCEI Accession 0176314). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0176314. In Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Zweng, Melissa M.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Reagan, James R.; Weathers, Katharine A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V.. World Ocean Atlas 2018. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/NCEI-WOA18. Accessed [date].
Cited Authors
Resource Providers
Publishers
Use Constraints
  • Cite as: Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Zweng, Melissa M.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Reagan, James R.; Weathers, Katharine A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V. (2018). World Ocean Atlas 2018 (NCEI Accession 0176314). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0176314. In Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Zweng, Melissa M.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Reagan, James R.; Weathers, Katharine A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V.. World Ocean Atlas 2018. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/NCEI-WOA18. Accessed [date].
Access Constraints
  • Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
Fees
  • In most cases, electronic downloads of the data are free. However, fees may apply for custom orders, data certifications, copies of analog materials, and data distribution on physical media.
Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • 2018-10-15T23:47:29Z - NCEI Accession 0176314 v1.1 was published.
  • 2019-03-19T02:52:48Z - NCEI Accession 0176314 was revised and v2.2 was published.
    Rationale: Updates were received for this dataset. These updates were copied into the data/0-data/ directory of this accession. These updates may provide additional files or replace obsolete files. This version contains the most complete and up-to-date representation of this archival information package. All of the files received prior to this update are available in the preceding version of this accession.
Output Datasets
Last Modified: 2025-04-09T21:44:14Z
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