WOC products#


  • BFN-QG

    For over 25 years, satellite altimetry has provided invaluable information about the ocean dynamics at many scales. Gridded Sea Surface Height (SSH) maps allow to estimate the mesoscale geostrophic circulation in the ocean. However, conventional interpolation techniques rely on static optimal interpolation schemes, hence limiting the estimation of non-linear dynamics at scales not well sampled by altimetry (i.e., below 150-200km at mid latitudes). To overcome this limitation in the resolution of small-scale SSH structures (and thus small-scale geostrophic currents), a Back-and-Forth Nudging algorithm combined with a Quasi-Geostrophic model, a technique called BFN-QG, has been implemented within the theme 1 of the ESA World Ocean Circulation (WOC) project. The performances have been evaluated within Observing System Experiments (OSEs) that use independent data (such as independent SSH, Sea Surface Temperature and drifter data) as ground-truth. By comparing the mapping performances to the ones obtained by operational products, the BFN-QG improves the mapping of short, energetic mesoscale structures and associated geostrophic currents both in space and time. In particular, the BFN-QG improves (i) the spatial effective resolution of the SSH maps by a factor of 20%, (ii) the zonal and (especially) the meridional geostrophic currents and (iii) the prediction of Lagrangian transport for lead times up to 10 days.

    More information on the BFN-QG products here !


  • dADR-SR

    This product is based on an updated version of the SSTSSH-NAtl2D product below.


  • Omega 3D

    This dataset provides a 3D reconstruction of the quasi-geostrophic horizontal and vertical currents, as well as of temperature and salinity, over 75 unevenly spaced vertical levels (denser close to the surface), between the surface and 1500 m depth, over North Atlantic basin. The diagnostic model si based on the solution of a diabatic version of the Omega equation.

    More information on the Omega 3D current products here !


  • SSTSSH-NAtl2D

    This dataset provides a level 4 (L4) gap free reconstruction of 2D ocean surface currents obtained through the combination of altimeter-derived geostrophic currents and satellite sea surface temperature (SST) L4 data. This WOC product uses the standard Altimeter-derived geostrophic currents (Copernicus operational product, ¼°) as background information and extracts additional dynamical information from the spatial and temporal gradients of a higher-resolution (HR) satellite-derived SST field (Copernicus OSTIA product, remapped onto a 1/10° grid). In particular, the patterns found in the HR satellite SST enable to compute correction factors that are assigned to the background geostrophic currents provided by the Altimeter system.

    More information on the SSTSSH-NAtl2D current products here !


  • Global Inertial

    This dataset provides Level 4 total current including geostrophy and a data-driven approach for Ekman and near-inertial current, based on a convolution between drifter observation and wind history, to fit empirically a complex and time-lag dependant transfert function between ERA5 wind stress and current

    More information on the Global Inertial products here !