CONTENTS OF WORLD OCEAN ATLAS 2001 CD-ROMS

DATA CD-ROMs

The DATA CD-ROMS (WOA01-01 through WOA01-03) contain objectively analyzed fields (one-degree grid) and statistics (unanalyzed) for one-degree squares and five-degree squares at standard depth levels (Table 1) for all ocean variables, and for the 0 - 200 meter layer for the plankton biomass values.

Table 1. Standard depth levels and corresponding depths (meters).
 

Depth	Level	Depth	Level	Depth	Level
0	1	300	12	1400	23
10	2	400	13	1500	24
20	3	500	14	1750	25
30	4	600	15	2000	26
50	5	700	16	2500	27
75	6	800	17	3000	28
100	7	900	18	3500	29
125	8	1000	19	4000	30
150	9	1100	20	4500	31
200	10	1200	21	5000	32
250	11	1300	22	5500	33

The maximum depth for which objective analyses and statistics were computed for each variable and for each climatological compositing periods is shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Availability of objective analyses and statistics by climatological compositing
periods for each ocean variable, and the maximum depth for which objective analyses
and statistics were computed. A dash character "-" indicates these products were not
computed for the specified variable and climatological time period.
 

Variable	Annual	Seasonal	Monthly
Temperature	5500	5500	1500
Salinity	5500	5500	1500
Dissolved oxygen	5500	5500	1500
Apparent oxygen utilization	5500	5500	1500
Percent oxygen saturation	5500	5500	1500
Phosphate	5500	500	500
Nitrate	5500	500	500
Silicate	5500	500	500
Chlorophyll	100	surface	-
Total Plankton Biomass: All biomass types1 Calculated Carbon Mass	0-2002 0-2002	- 0-2002	- -

¹ Includes Displacement Volume, Settled Volume, Wet Mass, Dry Mass, and Ash-free Dry Mass.
² Plankton Biomass is a mean of net tows covering 0 - 200 meters.

Objectively analyzed fields (one-degree grid) and difference from the annual mean fields are available for all the variables listed in Table 2. The statistics (for one-degree and five degree squares) for all variables listed in Table 2 (except plankton biomass) include:

• number of observations;

• arithmetic mean;

• standard deviation about the arithmetic mean;

• standard error of the mean.

In addition to the above statistics and objective analyses, additional fields were computed and are available. These include:

• the number of grid points which contain data within the radius of influence surrounding each grid box by one-degree squares (grid point fields);
• annual and seasonal fields of unanalyzed means minus objectively analyzed means by one-degree squares for each one-degree square that contains data (interpolation error);
• land-sea mask used in the analysis at standard depth levels;
• definition of basins used in the analysis at standard depth levels.

The available fields for plankton biomass include:

• annual and seasonal number of observations by one-degree square in the 0 - 200 meter layer;

• annual and seasonal fields of the unanalyzed means by one-degree in the 0 - 200 meter layer;

FIGURES DVDs

The DVD section of this product contains PDF images of the fields described in the previous section:

• annual, seasonal, and monthly global data statistics of observed, unanalyzed data for one-degree and five-degree squares at standard depth levels (see Table 1). The following statistics for each grid box are included: 1) number of observations, 2) arithmetic mean, 3) standard deviation, 4) standard error of the mean, 5) "interpolation error" of the objectively analyzed fields defined as fields of unanalyzed means minus objectively analyzed means of one-degree squares at standard depth levels.

• annual, seasonal, and monthly objectively analyzed mean fields by one-degree squares at standard depth levels.

• seasonal and monthly objectively analyzed fields minus annual mean objectively analyzed fields by one-degree squares at standard depth levels.

For the purpose of this product, the seasons are defined based on the Northern Hemisphere as Winter (January-March), Spring (April-June), Summer (July-September), and Fall (October-December). Table 2 lists the maximum depths and available fields for each variable in WOA01.