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    • NCEI Standard Product: World Ocean Database (WOD)

    Metadata Updated: February 1, 2024

    The World Ocean Database (WOD) is the world's largest publicly available uniform format quality controlled ocean profile dataset. Ocean profile data are sets of measurements of an ocean variable vs. depth at a single geographic ___location within a short (minutes to hours) temporal period in some portion of the water column from the surface to the bottom. To be considered a profile for the WOD, there must be more than a single depth/variable pair. Multiple profiles at the same ___location from the same set of instruments is an oceanographic cast. Ocean variables in the WOD include temperature, salinity, oxygen, nutrients, tracers, and biological variables such as plankton and chlorophyll. Quality control procedures are documented and performed on each cast and the results are included as flags on each measurement. The WOD contains the data on the originally measured depth levels (observed) and also interpolated to standard depth levels to present a more uniform set of iso-surfaces for oceanographic and climate work.

    The source of the WOD is more than 20,000 separate archived datasets contributed by institutions, project, government agencies, and individual investigators from the United States and around the world. Each dataset is available in its original form in the National Centers for Environmental Information data archives. All datasets are converted to the same standard format, checked for duplication within the WOD, and assigned quality flags based on objective tests. Additional subjective flags are set upon calculation of ocean climatological mean fields which make up the World Ocean Atlas (WOA) series.

    The WOD consists of periodic major releases and quarterly updates to those releases. Each major release is associated with a concurrent release of a WOA release, and contains final quality control flags used in the WOA, which includes manual as well as automated steps. Each quarterly update release includes additional historical and recent data and preliminary quality control. The latest major release was WOD 2018 (WOD18), which includes nearly 16 million oceanographic casts, from the second voyage of Captain Cook (1772) to the modern Argo floats (end of 2017).

    The WOD presents data in netCDF ragged array format following the Climate and Forecast (CF) conventions for ease of use mindful of space limitations.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date 2023-10-17T23:37:42Z
    Metadata Created Date May 21, 2021
    Metadata Updated Date February 1, 2024
    Reference Date(s) July 21, 2016 (publication), October 17, 2023 (revision)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Series
    Metadata Date 2023-10-17T23:37:42Z
    Metadata Created Date May 21, 2021
    Metadata Updated Date February 1, 2024
    Reference Date(s) July 21, 2016 (publication), October 17, 2023 (revision)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:NCEI-WOD
    Access Constraints Cite as: Boyer, Tim P.; Antonov, John I.; Baranova, Olga K.; Coleman, Carla; García, Hernán E.; Grodsky, Alexandra; Johnson, Daphne R.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; O'Brien, Todd D.; Paver, Christopher R.; Reagan, James R.; Seidov, Dan; Smolyar, Igor V.; Zweng, Melissa M. (2016). NCEI Standard Product: World Ocean Database (WOD). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/NCEI-WOD. Accessed [date]., When using temperature, please also cite: Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Antonov, John I.; Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Baranova, Olga K.; Zweng, Melissa M.; Paver, Christopher R.; Reagan, James R.; Johnson, Daphne R.; Hamilton, Melanie; Seidov, Dan (2013). World Ocean Atlas 2013, Volume 1: Temperature. S. Levitus, Ed., A. Mishonov, Technical Ed.; NOAA Atlas NESDIS 73, 40 pp., When using salinity, please also cite: Zweng, Melissa M.; Reagan, James R.; Antonov, John I.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Boyer, Tim P.; García, Hernán E.; Baranova, Olga K.; Johnson, Daphne R.; Seidov, Dan; Biddle, Mathew M. (2013). World Ocean Atlas 2013, Volume 2: Salinity. S. Levitus, Ed., A. Mishonov, Technical Ed., NOAA Atlas NESDIS 74, 39 pp., When using oxygen, please also cite: García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Boyer, Tim P.; Antonov, John I.; Mishonov, Alexey V.; Baranova, Olga K.; Zweng, Melissa M.; Reagan, James R.; Johnson, Daphne R. (2013). World Ocean Atlas 2013 Volume 3: Dissolved Oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization, and Oxygen Saturation. S. Levitus, Ed., A. Mishonov, Technical Ed., NOAA Atlas NESDIS 75, 29 pp., When using nutrients, please also cite: García, Hernán E.; Locarnini, Ricardo A.; Boyer, Tim P.; Antonov, John I.; Baranova, Olga K.; Zweng, Melissa M.; Reagan, James R.; Johnson, Daphne R. (2013). World Ocean Atlas 2013 Volume 4: Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, silicate). S. Levitus, Ed., A. Mishonov, Technical Ed., NOAA Atlas NESDIS 76, 25 pp., 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.
    Bbox East Long 180
    Bbox North Lat 90
    Bbox South Lat -90
    Bbox West Long -180
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:NCEI-WOD
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id 8b01af11-fb42-4fbf-8182-be167ed8495a
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, -90.0], [180.0, -90.0], [180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, 90.0], [-180.0, -90.0]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 1772-12-15
    Temporal Extent End 2023-07-10

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