Skip to main content
Skip to site search

World Ocean Atlas 2018

browse graphicPreview graphic
World Ocean Atlas 2018 (WOA18) is a set of objectively analyzed (one degree grid and quarter degree grid) climatological fields of in situ temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU), percent oxygen saturation, phosphate, silicate, and nitrate at standard depth levels for annual, seasonal, and monthly compositing periods for the World Ocean. Quarter degree fields are for temperature and salinity only. It 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) an average of all decades representing the period 1955-2017, as well as a thirty year "climate normal" period 1981-2010. Oxygen fields (as well as AOU and percent oxygen saturation) are available using all quality controlled data 1960-2017, nutrient fields using all quality controlled data from the entire sampling period 1878-2017. 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.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V. (2018). 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].
  • Please refer to Credit tab for full citation information.
gov.noaa.nodc:NCEI-WOA18
XML
Download Data
  • THREDDS (download)
    These data are available through a variety of services via a THREDDS (Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services) Data Server (TDS). Depending on the dataset, the TDS can provide WMS, WCS, DAP, HTTP, and other data access and metadata services as well. For more information on the TDS, see http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/thredds/current/tds/.
  • 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).
  • HTTPS (download)
    Navigate directly to the URL for data access and direct download.
Order Data
Distribution Formats
  • netCDF (Version: netCDF-4 classic)
    • File Specification: NODC_NetCDF_Grid_Template_v2.0, CF-1.6, ACDD-1.3
Ordering InstructionsContact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions.
DistributorNOAA 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 Period1955-01-01 to 2017-12-31
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
N: 90
S: -90
E: 180
W: -180
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2018-10-15
  • revision: 2019-08-28
Data Presentation Form Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
Dataset Progress StatusComplete - production of the data has been completed
Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility
Data Update Frequency As needed
Supplemental Information
This final version of WOA18, published in July 2019, is replacing a prereleased version made available in September 2018. The changes between the versions include:

1. For the first time, the animal-mounted pinniped temperature profiles (APB) have been added, improving coverage in high latitude areas.
2. A different Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) correction (Cheng et al., 2014) has been employed.
3. A double XBT correction has been detected in pre-release version and fixed in final version.
4. All temperature and salinity climatological fields were re-calculated to account for these adjustments.
PurposeOceanographic 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.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V. (2018). 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].
  • When using temperature, please also cite: Locarnini, R. A., A. V. Mishonov, O. K. Baranova, T. P. Boyer, M. M. Zweng, H. E. García, J. R. Reagan, D. Seidov, K. Weathers, C. R. Paver, and I. Smolyar, 2019. World Ocean Atlas 2018, Volume 1: Temperature. A. Mishonov Technical Ed.; NOAA Atlas NESDIS 81, 52 pp.
  • When using salinity, please also cite: Zweng, M. M., J. R. Reagan, D. Seidov, T. P. Boyer, R. A. Locarnini, H. E. García, A. V. Mishonov, O. K. Baranova, K. Weathers, C. R. Paver, and I. Smolyar, 2019. World Ocean Atlas 2018, Volume 2: Salinity. A. Mishonov Technical Ed.; NOAA Atlas NESDIS 82, 50 pp.
  • When using oxygen, please also cite: García, H. E., K. Weathers, C. R. Paver, I. Smolyar, T. P. Boyer, R. A. Locarnini, M. M. Zweng, A. V. Mishonov, O. K. Baranova, D. Seidov, and J. R. Reagan, 2019. World Ocean Atlas 2018, Volume 3: Dissolved Oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization, and Oxygen Saturation. A. Mishonov Technical Ed.; NOAA Atlas NESDIS 83, 38 pp.
  • When using nutrients, please also cite: García, H. E., K. Weathers, C. R. Paver, I. Smolyar, T. P. Boyer, R. A. Locarnini, M. M. Zweng, A. V. Mishonov, O. K. Baranova, D. Seidov, and J. R. Reagan, 2019. World Ocean Atlas 2018, Volume 4: Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients (phosphate, nitrate and nitrate+nitrite, silicate). A. Mishonov Technical Ed.; NOAA Atlas NESDIS 84, 35 pp.
Cited Authors
Resource Providers
Points of Contact
Publishers
Theme keywordsNODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS WMO_CategoryCode
  • oceanography
Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords Originator Keywords
  • Oceans > Ocean Nutrients > Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients > Nitrate
  • Oceans > Ocean Nutrients > Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients > Phosphate
  • Oceans > Ocean Nutrients > Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients > Silicate
  • Oceans > Ocean Oxygen > Dissolved Oxygen
  • Oceans > Ocean Salinity
  • Oceans > Ocean Temperature > Water Temperature
Data Center keywordsNODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
Place keywordsNODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords
KeywordsNCEI ACCESSION NUMBER
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.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V. (2018). 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].
  • When using temperature, please also cite: Locarnini, R. A., A. V. Mishonov, O. K. Baranova, T. P. Boyer, M. M. Zweng, H. E. García, J. R. Reagan, D. Seidov, K. Weathers, C. R. Paver, and I. Smolyar, 2019. World Ocean Atlas 2018, Volume 1: Temperature. A. Mishonov Technical Ed.; NOAA Atlas NESDIS 81, 52 pp.
  • When using salinity, please also cite: Zweng, M. M., J. R. Reagan, D. Seidov, T. P. Boyer, R. A. Locarnini, H. E. García, A. V. Mishonov, O. K. Baranova, K. Weathers, C. R. Paver, and I. Smolyar, 2019. World Ocean Atlas 2018, Volume 2: Salinity. A. Mishonov Technical Ed.; NOAA Atlas NESDIS 82, 50 pp.
  • When using oxygen, please also cite: García, H. E., K. Weathers, C. R. Paver, I. Smolyar, T. P. Boyer, R. A. Locarnini, M. M. Zweng, A. V. Mishonov, O. K. Baranova, D. Seidov, and J. R. Reagan, 2019. World Ocean Atlas 2018, Volume 3: Dissolved Oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization, and Oxygen Saturation. A. Mishonov Technical Ed.; NOAA Atlas NESDIS 83, 38 pp.
  • When using nutrients, please also cite: García, H. E., K. Weathers, C. R. Paver, I. Smolyar, T. P. Boyer, R. A. Locarnini, M. M. Zweng, A. V. Mishonov, O. K. Baranova, D. Seidov, and J. R. Reagan, 2019. World Ocean Atlas 2018, Volume 4: Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients (phosphate, nitrate and nitrate+nitrite, silicate). A. Mishonov Technical Ed.; NOAA Atlas NESDIS 84, 35 pp.
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: series
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.
  • 2019-08-28T08:17:39Z - NCEI Accession 0192181 v1.1 was published.
Last Modified: 2024-09-06T14:03:57Z
For questions about the information on this page, please email: ncei.info@noaa.gov