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Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

World Ocean Atlas 2023 (NCEI Accession 0270533)

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World Ocean Atlas 2023 (WOA23) 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 seven decades (1955-1964, 1965-1974, 1975-1984, 1985-1994, 1995-2004, 2005-2014, and 2015-2022), for three thirty year "climate normal" periods (1971-2000, 1981-2010, and 1991-2020), and for an average of the seven individual decades (1955-2022). Oxygen fields (as well as AOU and percent oxygen saturation) are available using all quality controlled bottle, CTD, and profiling float data from 1965-2022 as well as a thirty year "climate normal" using bottle and CTD data for 1971-2000. Nutrient fields are available using all quality controlled bottle data from the entire sampling period between 1965-2022. 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 2023.
  • Cite as: Reagan, James R.; Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Bouchard, Courtney; Cross, Scott L.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Wang, Zhankun; Dukhovskoy, Dmitry (2023). World Ocean Atlas 2023 (NCEI Accession 0270533). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0270533. In Reagan, James R.; Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Bouchard, Courtney; Cross, Scott L.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Wang, Zhankun; Dukhovskoy, Dmitry. World Ocean Atlas 2023. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/va26-hv25. Accessed [date].
gov.noaa.nodc:0270533
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Distribution Formats
  • netCDF (Version: netCDF-4 classic)
    • File Specification: NODC_NetCDF_Grid_Template_v2.0, CF-1.6, ACDD-1.3
Ordering Instructions Contact NCEI for other distribution options and instructions.
Distributor NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information(link is external)
+1-301-713-3277
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information(link is external)
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Time Period 1955-01-01 to 2022-12-31
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West: -180
East: 180
South: -90
North: 90
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Associated Resources
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2023-09-28
  • revision: 2024-06-15
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
Supplemental Information
The full release of WOA23 published in February 2024, replaced a preliminary version made available in October 2022 (NCEI accession 0270533 v1.1). The changes between NCEI Accession 0270533 version 2.2 and version 1.1 include:

1. Full release of temperature and salinity climatologies spanning seven individual decades (1955-1964...2015-2022), three climate normals (1971-2000, 1981-2010, 1991-2020), and a seven-decade average for the 1955-2022 time period.
2. The 1991-2020 climate normal for temperature and salinity that was released in the previous version has been updated in this most recent version.
3. Full release of oxygen, and related calculated parameters Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU) and percent oxygen saturation, climatogies. An all-data climatology that spans years 1965-2022 and a 1971-2000 climate normal climatology were included in this release.
4. Full release of inorganic nutrient climatologies which includes phosphate, silicate, and nitrate. These climatologies span the years 1965-2022.

The changes between NCEI accession 0270533 version 3.3 and 2.2 made in May 2024 include:

1. Updates to the oxygen, and related calculated parameters Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU) and percent oxygen saturation, climatogies. The update only impacts the all-data climatologies. The update consisted of making a small change to the profiling float O2 data adjustment.
2. The World Ocean Atlas Volume 3 (O2, AOU, and O2Sat) documentation was updated. The update includes explaining how and why a small change to the profiling float O2 data adjustment was made and updated text/figures reflecting the updated all-data climatologies. The Errata on page 13 of the WOA23 Volume 3 document provides additional information on the changes made to the O2 (and related calculated parameters) climatologies.
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: Reagan, James R.; Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Bouchard, Courtney; Cross, Scott L.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Wang, Zhankun; Dukhovskoy, Dmitry (2023). World Ocean Atlas 2023 (NCEI Accession 0270533). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0270533. In Reagan, James R.; Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Bouchard, Courtney; Cross, Scott L.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Wang, Zhankun; Dukhovskoy, Dmitry. World Ocean Atlas 2023. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/va26-hv25. Accessed [date].
Cited Authors
Resource Providers
Publishers
Use Constraints
  • Cite as: Reagan, James R.; Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Bouchard, Courtney; Cross, Scott L.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Wang, Zhankun; Dukhovskoy, Dmitry (2023). World Ocean Atlas 2023 (NCEI Accession 0270533). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0270533. In Reagan, James R.; Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Baranova, Olga K.; Bouchard, Courtney; Cross, Scott L.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Paver, Christopher R.; Seidov, Dan; Wang, Zhankun; Dukhovskoy, Dmitry. World Ocean Atlas 2023. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/va26-hv25. 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
  • 2023-09-28T00:17:44Z - NCEI Accession 0270533 v1.1 was published.
  • 2024-02-15T04:09:10Z - NCEI Accession 0270533 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.
  • 2024-06-15T01:39:33Z - NCEI Accession 0270533 was revised and v3.3 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: 2024-06-15T06:30:11Z
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