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NCEI CD-ROM & DVD Products

The summary below lists the CD-ROM and DVD data products currently available from the NCEI. Most NCEI CD-ROMs and DVDs can be ordered online from the NOAA National Data Centers' Online Store.
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CD-ROM and DVD Titles

The dates in parentheses are the release dates of the products.

World Ocean Database/Atlas Series

International Ocean Atlas Series

Other Titles

World Ocean Database/Atlas Series

World Ocean Database 2009 on DVD (2 DVD set) (January 2010)
World Ocean Database 2009 is an update of World Ocean Database 2005. It expands on the older version by including new variables, data types, and additional historical, as well as modern, observations. It contains all data from earliest observation through our collection as of Dec. 31, 2009. The 2009 database, updated from the 2005 edition, is significantly larger providing approximately 9.1 million temperature profiles and 3.5 million salinity reports. The 2009 database also captures 29 categories of scientific information from the oceans, including oxygen levels and chemical tracers, plus information on gases and isotopes that can be used to trace the movement of ocean currents. An online version of the World Ocean Database is updated quarterly.

Disc 1 contains:

  • OSD, Ocean Station Data
  • Low & High-resolution CTD/XCTD, Conductivity-Temperature-Depth data
  • Plankton data

Disc 2 contains:

  • MBT, Mechanical / Digital / Micro Bathythermograph data
  • XBT, Expendable Bathythermograph data
  • SUR, Surface-only data
  • APB, Autonomous Pinniped data
  • MRB, Moored buoy data
  • PFL, Profiling float data
  • DRB, Drifting buoy data
  • UOR, Undulating Oceanographic Recorder data
  • GLD, Glider data

This DVD contains six directories named:

  • CODES (contains codes associated with the secondary header, biological header, and taxa data);
  • DATA (contains yearly sorted data, dating from 1773 though 2009);
  • DOC (contains the documentation);
  • ODV (contains the Ocean Data View software for viewing the WOD09 data, developed by Dr. Reiner Schiltzer, AWI. This software will decompress selected files and offers users several options for viewing the WOD09 data. ODV works on PCs only);
  • PROGRAMS (contains source code and executables for programs which are examples of how to read the data and can be used to reformat the data into comma-delimited or space-delimited forms);
  • UTILS (contains the gzip utility for uncompressing WOD09 data files).

World Ocean Atlas 2009 (1 DVD)

World Ocean Atlas 2009 (WOA09) is a set of objectively analyzed (1° 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. It also includes associated statistical fields of observed oceanographic profile data interpolated to standard depth levels on both 1° and 5° grids.


World Ocean Database 2005 (1 DVD)
The World Ocean Database 2005 (WOD05) DVD is an update to WOD01 and contains data, documentation, programs, and utilities for this product. The data include 7.9 million temperature profiles, and 2.7 million salinity profiles, plus data for 27 other in situ measurements, including oxygen, nutrients and chemical tracers, chlorophyll, carbon variables, and plankton. An online version of World Ocean Database 2005, World Ocean Atlas 2005 and World Ocean Atlas 2005 Figures are also available.

Data on the DVD are organized by instrument type. Within each instrument directory, the data are stored by year. Data are stored in ASCII format, and gzip compressed. Utilities are provided under the directory UTILS for both UNIX and DOS operating systems.

This DVD contains six directories named:

  • CODES (contains codes associated with the secondary header, biological header, and taxa data);
  • DATA (contains yearly sorted data, dating from 1773 though 2005);
  • DOC (contains the documentation);
  • ODV (contains the Ocean Data View software for viewing the WOD05 data, developed by Dr. Reiner Schiltzer, AWI. This software will decompress selected files and offers users several options for viewing the WOD05 data. ODV works on PCs only);
  • PROGRAMS (contains source code and executables for programs which are examples of how to read the data and can be used to reformat the data into comma-delimited or space-delimited forms);
  • UTILS (contains the gzip utility for uncompressing WOD05 data files).

World Ocean Atlas 2005 (1 disc)

The WOA05 contains data files of objectively analyzed climatologies and related statistical fields of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU), percent oxygen saturation, phosphate, nitrate, and silicate for the world ocean. The data are available in two different ASCII formats (native gridded format and comma seperated value format) on the DVD.

Field Name One-degree field calculated Five-degree field calculated
Objectively analyzed climatology •
Statistical mean • •
Number of observations • •
Seasonal or monthly climatology minus annual climatology •
Standard deviation from statistical mean • •
Standard error of the statistical mean • •
Statistical mean minus objectively analyzed climatology •
Number of mean values within radius of influence •

The data used to generate these statistics are available on DVD as the World Ocean Database 2005 (WOD05). An online version of the World Ocean Atlas is also available at: http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/WOA05/pr_woa05.html.


World Ocean Atlas 2005 Figures(3 discs)

World Ocean Atlas 2005 Figures (WOA05F) contains a collection of "JPEG" and high resolution "PDF" images of objectively analyzed fields and statistics generated from the World Ocean Atlas 2005. The ocean variables included in the atlas are:

  • Disc 1: Temperature and Salinity
  • Disc 2: Oxygen (dissolved oxygen, apparent oxygen utilization, and percent oxygen saturation)
  • Disc 3: Dissolved inorganic nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, and silicate)

World Ocean Atlas 2001 (3 discs)
The World Ocean Atlas 2001 (WOA01) is an update of World Ocean Atlas 1998. WOA01 expands on WOA98 with the addition of the monthly nutrients fields and the introduction of annual and seasonal zooplankton biomass fields. The WOA01 consists of three CD-ROMs containing global data statistics at standand depth levels by one-degree and five-degree squares of several commonly measured ocean variables, as well as objectively analyzed fields (on a one-degree grid) of these variables.

  • Disc 1: Temperature & Salinity
  • Disc 2: Oxygen (dissolved oxygen, apparent oxygen utilization (AOU), and percent oxygen saturation)
  • Disc 3: Nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, and silicate), Chlorophyll & Zooplankton

As with previous works, ocean profile data from 'observed' depth levels are vertically interpolated to standand depth levels. These products are in ASCII format, compressed. Extraction utilities are provided. An online version of World Ocean Atlas 2001 is also available. To order the CD-ROMs, click on Order WOA01 CDs below. These data were compiled using World Ocean Database 2001 (see below).


World Ocean Atlas 2001 Figures (3 DVDs)
World Ocean Atlas 2001 Figures (WOA01F) contains a collection of "jpg" and "pdf" images of objectively analyzed fields and statistics generated from the World Ocean Atlas 2001. The ocean variables included in the atlas are: temperature, salinity, oxygen (dissolved oxygen, apparent oxygen utilization, and percent oxygen saturation), dissolved inorganic nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, and silicate), chlorophyll at standard depth levels, and plankton biomass sampled from 0 - 200 meters.

  • Disc 1: Temperature & Salinity
  • Disc 2: Oxygen (dissolved oxygen, apparent oxygen utilization (AOU), and percent oxygen saturation)
  • Disc 3: Nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, and silicate), Chlorophyll & Zooplankton

The data used to generate these statistics are available on CD-ROM as the World Ocean Database 2001 (WOD01). The computed values from which these images were generated are available on CD-ROM as the World Ocean Atlas 2001 (WOA01).


World Ocean Database 2001 (8 discs)
World Ocean Database 2001 (WOD01) is comprised of 8 CD-ROMs and contains in situ profile data such as temperature, salinity, nutrients, oxygen, chlorophyll, plankton biomass data and more. It is an update to the World Ocean Database 1998, plus it contains some new parameters.

Some changes since WOD98:

  • addition and specification of data from undulating oceanographic recorders, profiling floats, drifting buoys, moored buoys, surface only data, and autonomous pinniped bathythermograph data.
  • addition of carbon variables to the database.
  • submittor defined data quality flags received as part of data submissions are now kept in the database.
  • modifications to the format.

    • To help visualize the data files, the CD-ROMs come with Ocean Data View © software developed by R. Schlitzer, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany. To order the CD-ROM set, click the online store link below.

World Ocean Atlas 1998 Figures (4 discs)
The World Ocean Atlas 1998 Figures (WOA98F) CD-ROM set consists of gif images of objectively analyzed fields of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, derived oxygen variables (Apparent Oxygen Utilization (AOU) and oxygen saturation), nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, and silicate) and chlorophyll along with figures of various statistics for these variables. Each CD-ROM contains an HTML front-end for easy searching of the images with an Internet browser.


World Ocean Atlas 1998 (3 discs)
The World Ocean Atlas 1998 (WOA98) consists of 3 CD-ROMs containing objectively analyzed fields of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, derived oxygen variables (Apparent Oxygen Utilization and oxygen saturation), nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, silicate) and chlorophyll along with fields of various statistics. The World Ocean Database 1998 (WOD98) 5 disc CD-ROM set contains observed and standard level flagged data used to generate the WOA98 fields.

The data on each WOA98 CD-ROM consists of statistics of observed (vertically interpolated) data (unanalyzed) for one-degree squares and five-degree squares at standard depth levels. The following statistics for each grid square are included: 1) number of observations, 2) mean, 3) standard deviation, 4)standard error of the mean.

The objectively analyzed fields and associated statistics for temperature, salinity, oxygen, nutrients, and chlorophyll are on three CD-ROMs as shown below:

  • WOA98-01 annual, seasonal, monthly fields for temperature and salinity,
  • WOA98-02 annual, seasonal, monthly fields for oxygen and the derived variables Apparent Oxygen Utilization and % oxygen saturation
  • WOA98-03 annual and seasonal fields for phosphate, nitrate, silicate, and chlorophyll

There are four types of directories within each CD-ROM:  masks, programs, utils, and variable data directories (variable data directories are identified by the variable name, e.g., temperature, salinity, etc.). README files are available on each CD-ROM in HTML, Word Perfect 8, and text formats.


World Ocean Database 1998 (5 discs)
Version 2.0 of WOD98 was released January 2000. Since the first release of WOD98, the staff of the Ocean Climate Laboratory have performed additional quality control on the database. Version 2.0 also includes Ocean Data View (ODV) software developed by R. Schlitzer. (ODV software will uncompress selected data files and offers users several options for viewing the WOD98 data.) The Ocean Climate Laboratory (OCL) of NOAA's National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) has completed the first major phase of a project to update previous releases of global oceanographic data. World Ocean Database 1998 (WOD98) expands on World Ocean Atlas 1994 (WOA94) by including the additional variables nitrite, pH, alkalinity, chlorophyll, and plankton, as well as all available metadata and meteorology. WOD98 is an International Year of the Ocean product. The World Ocean Database 1998 (WOD98) is comprised of five CD-ROMs containing profile and plankton/biomass data in compressed format. WOD98-01 through WOD98-04 contain observed level data, WOD98-05 contains all the standard level data.


World Ocean Atlas 1994 (10 discs, plus one correction disc)
The Ocean Climate Laboratory (OCL) produces scientifically quality controlled databases of the world ocean. Work to date includes quality control of historical in situ temperature, salinity, oxygen, phosphate, nitrate, and silicate data and the preparation of one-degree latitude-longitude mean fields for each of these parameters. Specifically, this project has produced four ocean atlases describing the global distributions of these parameters and two technical reports (TR-79 and TR-81) in the NOAA Technical Reports section in NODC Publications, describing the quality control and processing procedures.

Observed and standard level profile data (along with quality control flags) used in the production of these atlases were made available in a World Ocean Atlas 1994 CD-ROM series (referred to herein as WOA94). In addition, the series contains the objectively analyzed one-degree latitude-longitude mean fields for each of the measured parameters, and two derived parameters (Apparent Oxygen Utilization and Oxygen Saturation), and five-degree square statistics of standard level values.

NOTE:These CD-ROMs have been replaced by a newer version of the World Ocean Atlas and World Ocean Database. Replacement files for the World Ocean Atlas 1994 climatological monthly mean temperature fields (0-1000m) are available. These fields have additional quality control to eliminate some unrealistic features in the original fields. The WOA94 temperature files and monthly fields are online in the NODC anonymous ftp area

International Ocean Atlas Series

Climatic Atlas of the North Pacific Seas 2009 on CD
International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 12 (Publication/CD-ROM)
This Atlas contains monthly climatic charts of temperature, salinity, and oxygen at the sea surface and at standard depth levels for the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and Sea of Japan. Annual climatic cycles of temperature, salinity, and oxygen at various depths, as well as seasonal graphics of vertical variability of these parameters, are given for different areas of these seas. Temporal series of annual anomalies of temperature, salinity, and oxygen for 54 years (1950-2003) were developed for every sea.

Climatic Atlas of the Sea of Azov 2008 on CD
International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 11 (Publication/CD-ROM)
This Atlas is an update to Volume 10 (seen below), and contains a printed publication and accompanying CD-ROM with oceanographic data collected in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait during 1891-2006 by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Ministry of Fisheries, and the Hydro-Meteorological Service of Russia. The old version from 2006 remains below.


Climatic Atlas of the Sea of Azov 2006 on CD
International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 10 (Publication/CD-ROM)
This Atlas and accompanying CD-ROM contains oceanographic data collected by the Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Fisheries, and the Hydrometeorological Service of Russia in the Sea of Azov and the adjacent part of the Black Sea during 1913-2004. The monthly data distribution plots are provided for each year. The monthly climatic maps of temperature and salinity at the sea surface and depth levels of 5 and 10 meters, are computed using objective analysis. Intra-annual variability of temperature and salinity of the Sea of Azov is discussed with respect to the quality control of the primary data. The Atlas also includes, in electronic format, selected copies of rare books and articles about the history of the Sea of Azov exploration and climate studies as well as photos, which provide information about the people and environment of this region.


Climatic Atlas of the Arctic Seas 2004, Part I
International Ocean Atlas Series: Voume 9 (Publication/CD-ROM)
This Atlas presents primary data on meteorology, oceanography, and hydrobiology from the Barents, Kara, Laptev, and White Seas, which were collected during the period 1810-2001. The electronic (DVD) version allows one to quantitatively access information for oceanographic variables as well as plankton, benthos, fish, sea birds, and marine mammals. The data is divided into one-degree squares with monthly climatic characteristics calculated for every square, which were used to plot monthly climatological charts of temperature and salinity. The Atlas also includes, in electronic format, selected copies of rare books and articles on the history of Arctic exploration and climate studies as well as photos and drawings, which provide information about the people and nature of the northern polar latitudes throughout the past two centuries.

The publication is also available online in English and Russian at:
ftp://ftp.nodc.noaa.gov/pub/data.nodc/woa/PUBLICATIONS/english58.pdf


36-Year Time Series (1963-1998) of Zooplankton, Temperature and Salinity in the White Sea
 International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 7 (Publication/CD-ROM)
The present study is based on marine physical and biological observations since 1961. The data on zooplankton has been collected since 1963 in the vicinity of the White Sea Biological Station of the Zoological Institute, RAS, (Chupe Inlet of Kandalaksha Bay, Cape Kartesh). Temperature and salinity measurements have been conducted since 1961. The study describes the seasonal and long-term dynamic of hydrological parameters and plankton abundance, giving special consideration to long-term trends. The plankton effects of extreme hydrological conditions are estimated and the anomalies of plankton seasonal dynamics during cold and warm, high- and low-salinity years are shown. The influence of long-term salinity-and-temperature variations on the plankton community is examined. The temperature optima of dominant plankton species are determined according to the long-term dynamics of their abundance.


Zooplankton of the Arctic Seas 2002
International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 6 (1 disc)
Physical and biological data for the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions extending from the Barents Sea to the Northwest Pacific, sampled during 25 scientific cruises for the period 1903-1956. All primary data are presented on this CD-ROM in a common format, along with maps of the station locations and a listing of zooplankton taxa collected during these cruises. All taxonomic descriptions have been reviewed against the ITIS taxonomic database and other literature sources.


If you are looking for RUSSIAN MARINE EXPEDITIONARY INVESTIGATIONS OF THE WORLD OCEAN pdf (8.4 KB) International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 5, it only exists online in .pdf format. It is not on CD-ROM.


 Atlas of Temperature Salinity Frequency Distributions
International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 4 (2 discs)
Presented is a collection of plots of Temperature and Salinity relative frequency distributions and statistics for 5-degree squares at all standard depth levels in the Atlantic Ocean based on WORLD OCEAN DATABASE 1998 data. The area is limited to 80N and 30S.

Volume 1 / CD1 of the Atlas contains seasonal distributions for the upper (0 m - 400 m) ocean.

Volume 2 / CD2 contains annual distributions for the depth from 500 m to 5500 m.


Hydrochemical Atlas of the Sea of Okhotsk 2001
International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 3 (1 disc)
Presented in this CD-ROM is a spatial distribution of Temperature, Salinity, Oxygen, Nitrate, Ammonia Nitrogen, Organic Nitrogen, Phosphate, Organic Phosphate, and Silicate data from the Sea of Okhotsk during the 1990 - 1997 period for the months of June - August.


Biological Atlas of the Arctic Seas 2000: Plankton of the Barents and Kara Seas
International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 2 (1 disc)
Presented in this CD-ROM are physical and biological data for the region extending from the Barents Sea to the Kara Sea during 158 scientific cruises for the period 1913-1999. Maps with the temporal distribution of physical and biological variables of the Barents and Kara Seas are presented, with proposed quality control criteria for phytoplankton and zooplankton data. Multiple tables of Arctic Seas species are presented, containing ecological and geographic characteristics for each species, and images of live cells for the dominant phytoplankton species. No longer available on CD-ROM. Please see the online version.


Climatic Atlas of the Barents Sea
International Ocean Atlas Series: Volume 1 (1 disc)
The time and space distribution of 74,256 ocean stations (temperature, salinity, and oxygen) occupied in the Barents Sea during 1898-1993 is presented on this CD-ROM . These data are recorded in a format designed for use in electronic spreadsheets and/or databases. Monthly maps defining the station distribution over the Barents Sea are given for every year. Monthly mean fields of temperature and salinity distribution for the depths 0, 30, 50, 100, and 200 meters, with a grid distance of 10'x30' are plotted using objective analysis techniques. A description of the summer and winter seasons is given in terms of the spatial-temporal variability of thermohaline characteristics of the Barents Sea.

Other Titles


WOCE Global Data Version 3.0, 2002 (2 DVD discs)
The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) was a part of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) which used resources from nearly 30 countries to make unprecedented in-situ and satellite observations of the global ocean between 1990-1998, and to observe poorly-understood but important physical processes. The Scientific Steering Group (SSG) of WOCE oversaw the scientific development and the International Project Office (IPO) the implementation of the Experiment. [contains the version 2.0 data]


NOAA Marine Environmental Buoy Data (7 discs)
This CD-ROM set contains the historic archive of meteorological and oceanographic data collected by moored buoys and C-MAN stations operated by the NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). The files are sent to the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) for permanent archiving and distribution in NODC's F291 format.

To reduce costs, the buoy data files on the CD-ROMs have been compressed. This set consists of 7 discs containing 16.5 gigabytes of data from the early 1970's through December 1997, with online Internet links to updated data, information, and time series plots available on the NODC website. The data files and inventories on the discs can be viewed with an Internet browser.

Principal measured parameters reported by both moored buoys and C-MAN stations include air temperature and pressure, wind speed and direction, wind gust, and sea surface temperature. The buoys (and a few C-MAN stations located on offshore platforms) also report wave data, which usually includes wave height, wave period, and wave spectra. Since the late 1980s, some buoys have reported directional wave spectra. The data and information files are recorded in ASCII format.

Disc 1 - Upper North Atlantic Buoys
Disc 2 - Mid and Lower North Atlantic Buoys
Disc 3 - Gulf of Mexico Buoys
Disc 4 - Great Lakes Buoys
Disc 5 - Lower Eastern US Coast Pacific Buoys
Disc 6 - Upper Eastern US Coast Pacific Buoys
Disc 7 - Alaska, Hawaii, and other Pacific Buoys


Latex CD-ROM Project (5 LATEX discs)
The National Oceanographic Data Center produced a set of LATEX CD-ROMs in cooperation with Texas A&M University (TAMU). The Louisiana - Texas Shelf Physical Oceanography Program (LATEX) was sponsored by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior. One of its three study units, the Texas-Louisiana Shelf Circulation; Transport Processes Study was conducted by Texas A&M University from April 1992 - December 1994. The study area encompassed the Texas-Louisiana continental shelf offshore of approximately the 10 meter isobath from the Mississippi River to the Rio Grande. The major field components were moored current meter measurements, drifting buoys, hydrography, acoustic Doppler current profiling, meteorological buoys, and MiniSpec directional wave instruments and SeaData non-directional wave instruments. The LATEX data sets have been formally submitted to NODC for archiving and distribution.

The LATEX data has been subjected to extensive quality control and quality assurance procedures by TAMU. Several project reports have been compiled for the different data types. The CD-ROMs will contain the data as ASCII text files which includes a metadata file that fully describes the format of each data file. Also included on each CD-ROM are the LATEX Shelf Data Reports in Adobe's portable document format (.pdf). Adobe readers for each computer platform (PC, Mac, UNIX) will be included on the CD-ROMs to read the reports. They can also be viewed with the latest Internet browsers capable of reading pdf files. The data reports provide extensive documentation on the collection and processing of the respective data sets, as well as figures, tables, and other data products.

CD-ROM 1 contains moored current meter and meteorological buoy data, CTD data, inverted echo sounder (IES), expendable bathythermograph (XBT), and expendable sound velocity profiler (XSV) data . Meteorological and current meter data reports are included on this disc.

CD-ROMs 2 - 4 contain MiniSpec directional wave data and SeaData non-directional wave data from five sites. This is burst data from which all wave information can be derived. The wave data project reports are also included on this disc.

CD-ROM 5 contains nine ADCP data sets collected during the hydrography cruises on the NW Gulf of Mexico Shelf, and approximately 1650 CTD casts and associated bottle data. It also has other ancillary data sets such as drifter data, nutrients and pigment data. Final data project reports are included on this disc.


Atlas of Surface Marine Data 1994 (9 discs)
A set of nine CD-ROMs has been produced to accompany the Atlas of Surface Marine Data, 1994. Each CD-ROM contains monthly mean objectively analyzed climatologies and monthly mean anomalies covering the period 1945-1989. In addition, a number of observations, standard deviation, and interannual standard deviation files are included. Data is stored in binary files using Unidata's Network Common Data Format (NetCDF). This free software, subroutines to read the data, and testing programs are all included on the CD-ROMs.

There is an errata page to this product, as well as a description of the new products.

  • More details

    • Geosat Altimeter Data: Enhanced JGM-3 Geophysical Data Records from the Geodetic and Exact Repeat Missions (10 discs)

    This June 1997 release of satellite altimeter data collected by the U.S. Navy's Geosat mission represents a significant improvement over previous versions. The ten CD ROMs contain geophysical data records (GDRs) which span both the Geodetic Mission (GM: 3/85 - 9/86) and Exact Repeat Mission (ERM: 11/86 - 12/89). The GDRs incorporate a new 10-cm satellite orbit computed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center using the JGM-3 gravity model. In addition, the overall accuracy of the data is increased by new geophysical corrections (CSR 3.0 tides; model troposphere from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis; IRI95 ionosphere; a new sea state bias based on wind, wave and satellite attitude; and corrections for clock drift and timing bias).

    The GDRs are stored in daily files using the same 78-byte, integer binary format as previous releases of the Geosat GDRs.

    CD#1 (first GM) and CD#5 (first ERM) contain documentation, tabular data, "high-precision" corrections, figures, and the CD-ROM handbook which can be viewed using standard Web browsers.


    Geosat Global Wind/Wave Data (1 disc)
    This CD-ROM holds global wind/wave data derived from altimeter data collected during the Geodetic Mission of the U.S. Navy Geodetic Satellite (Geosat). The data span the period from March 31, 1985 through September 30, 1986. Although the complete data set from the Geosat Geodetic Mission was classified, in 1988 the Navy released the radar backscatter (from which wind speed is derived) and the significant wave height data. This disc holds these data and includes two wind speed fields that were computed using different algorithms. The README file on this disc also provides three additional wind speed algorithms proposed since 1988 and a bibliography that includes references to papers that discuss the algorithm used to compute significant wave height.


    Geosat Altimeter Crossover Differences from the Geodetic Mission (8 discs)
    The first 18 months of Geosat operations (April 1985 to September 1986) were referred to as the Geodetic Mission. Except for data south of 30 S that has been de-classified and released by the Navy, data from the Geosat Geodetic Mission were collected for military use and are classified. The altimeter crossover differences from the Geodetic Mission are unclassified, however, and are contained on this set of eight CD-ROMs in the form of crossover difference records (XDRs). Although only the 18-month Geodetic Mission data are classified, XDRs were constructed for the first 2.5 years of the Geosat mission, that is, data from the Geodetic Mission plus the first year of the Exact Repeat Mission. This was done to minimize the effect of the 5-week data gap (October 1 to November 8, 1986) between the two missions.

    The GEOSAT Altimeter Crossover Difference data are organized by geographic region (see map). The data are in a binary Hewlett-Packard format, but each disc contains a module that enables the data to be converted to binary VAX format. The Geosat altimeter crossover difference records are documented in a NOAA handbook, a copy of which is provided with each order. [Note: Foreign requesters must follow special procedures when ordering Geosat data. Please contact NODC for further information].


    Gulf of Mexico Hydrographic and Marine Mammal Data (1 disc)
    This CD-ROM was produced in cooperation with the Texas A&M University (TAMU), Department of Oceanography. It includes hydrographic and marine mammal sighting data for the Gulf of Mexico. The marine mammal data is from the GulfCet Program sponsored by the U.S. Minerals Management Service and headquartered at the TAMU Galveston Campus.

    The files on this CD-ROM are divided into two data groups: TAMU-GULFCET and TAMU-OCEANOGRAPHY. The TAMU-GULFCET hydrographic data were collected in 1992-1993 by researchers from the Texas Institute of Oceanography and TAMU-Galveston during the course of a field program to study the distribution and abundance of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) in the north-central and western Gulf of Mexico. The GULFCET/MAMMALS files contain cetacean sighting data from eight seasonal aerial surveys, four spring ship surveys conducted by the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, and seven TAMU ship surveys.The TAMU-OCEANOGRAPHY hydrographic data were collected over a broader area of the Gulf of Mexico during the period 1987-1995. The data have been drawn together from 46 cruises over the 9-year period and consist of CTD, XBT, and bottle data as well as some processed data parameters such as dynamic height and splined XBT data.


    NSWC Moored ADCP Data 1994-1995 (1 disc)
    This database contains Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) data collected during 1994-1995 on the eastern shelf of Florida. The data were collected at ten-minute intervals by a bottom mounted 300-KHz ADCP unit (from RD Instruments, San Diego, CA) which was set offshore Ft. Lauderdale, Florida at a depth of 140 meters. The instrument is positioned at approximately 26 degrees 04.0' N by 80 degrees 03.5'W. This unit is supported by the United States Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), which receives data directly from the ADCP by way of a submerged cable. Following negotiations in 1993, a cooperative effort was established between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the NSWC to forward the ADCP data collected by NSWC to the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) in Miami, Florida. Since April 1994, AOML has been receiving the data from NSWC.

    This CD-ROM contains six subdirectories: BINARY, ASC, FLT, PLOTS, PGMS, and README. The BINARY subdirectory contains the original ADCP files as received from NSWC. The ASC subdirectory contains corresponding processed ADCP files in an ASCII format. The FLT subdirectory contains the ADCP data in a format processed to give north- south and east-west velocities at each bin depth. The PLOTS subdirectory contains the velocities found in the flat files projected as color Hovmueller plots in GIF format. The README subdirectory contains the documentation files, and the PGMS subdirectory contains sample FORTRAN programs that can be used to analyze the data.


    Taxonomic Code Version 8.0 on CD-ROM

    Note: This CD-ROM is no longer available, however you can still obtain the data files from our Ocean Archive System. Please see the ITIS link first, as the most recent data is included there. If you want the older NODC codes from CD-ROM Version 8.0 or Version 7.0, please download it from: Taxonomic Code CDs Version 7 and 8: Accession 50418 in the Ocean Archive System.

    Up to 1996, while it was in active use, the NODC Taxonomic Code was the largest, most flexible, and widely used of the various coding schemes which adapted the Linnean system of biological nomenclature to modern methods of data storage and retrieval. It was based on a system of code numbers that reflected taxonomic relationships. Over the years, the problems and shortcomings created by this approach became more apparent. At the same time, relational database management systems were developed that enabled efficient searches and retrievals to be conducted without the need for taxonomic information to be built into the code. Therefore, in 1996, NODC released the final version (#8) of the NODC Taxonomic Code on CD-ROM. This CD-ROM, now out of date, provided the old NODC codes along with their new ITIS Taxonomic Serial Numbers to facilitate the transition to a new Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). From that point in time, the NODC code was frozen and ITIS assumed responsibility for assigning new TSN codes, and verifying accepted scientific names and synonyms. ITIS is supported by a partnership of U.S. and international organizations, including NOAA/NODC. ITIS contains nearly 300,000 entries for terrestrial, marine, and freshwater species from all biological kingdoms. While it focuses on North American species (driven by the priorities of the current ITIS partners), it also includes worldwide treatment of selected groups of fishes, birds, reptiles, molluscs, corals, and other groups. ITIS is continually seeking new partnerships, and expanding its coverage.

  • Archived Version

Ocean Current Drifter Data (2 discs)

Surface Current (Ship Drift): The surface current (Ship Drift) file contains over 4 million surface current observations, almost all obtained by the ship drift method. Date, data source, position, and current direction and speed are recorded for each observation. With the exception of about 5,100 observations taken using the Geomagnetic Electrokinetograph (GEK), these are not instrument-measured current data. Rather, they are indirect determinations of ocean surface currents based on the ship drift method. In this method, the difference between a ship's dead-reckoned position (determined from its previous position determined from a navigational fix) is ascribed solely to the effect of surface currents. These data are contained on disc 1 of this set.

In addition to the data files, disc 2 of this set provides surface current data summaries in the NODC Surface Current (Ship Drift) Long Summary format. These data are summarized by Modified Canadian ten-degree square, one-degree square, and month for all years. A Postscript file showing the Modified Canadian ten-degree square numbers is also included on disc 2 of this set.

Subsurface Float Trajectories: The Subsurface Float Data Set consists primarily of SOFAR (Sound Fixing and Ranging) and RAFOS (SOFAR spelled backwards) float trajectories. These floats are ballasted for a target depth and acoustically tracked. Some ALACE (Autonomous Lagrangian Circulation Explorer) float trajectories are included with this float data set. ALACE is a subsurface float that cycles vertically from a depth where it is neutrally buoyant to the surface where it is located by, and relays data to, satellites.

The Subsurface Float data has approximately 475 float trajectories and 432 float-years of data. Float depths range from a few hundred meters to several thousand with most observations falling in the 700 m to 2000 m depth range. Most of the trajectories are located in the North Atlantic Ocean and were obtained as part of a variety of experiments during the years 1972-1992.


Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP)-St. Croix Estuary Region (1985-1992) (1 disc)
The St. Croix Estuary (Gulf of Main, Canada, Maine) 1985-1992 CD-ROM shows changes in land cover for this region over the 7-year interval from 1985 to 1992. The St. Croix Estuary was the second release in this series of CD-ROM data sets. Historically valuable as a habitat for salmon, this area is now threatened by changes from the large Maine and Canadian forestry industries. Understanding where and how these changes are occurring is important for sound resource management decisions.

This data set is based on an analysis of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes of the St. Croix Estuary/Gulf of Maine area. GeoVu display software is included on the CD-ROM and will operate on any IBM-PC/AT or compatible personal computer with MS Windows (Version 3.1) and a compatible CD-ROM reader. (NOTE: currently only CD-R one-offs are available.)


Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP)-Chesapeake Bay Region (1984-1989) (1 disc)
This Chesapeake Bay Region (1984-1989) CD-ROM shows changes in land cover for this region over the 5-year interval from 1984 to 1988-89. The data set is the result of a multi-year effort that has focused on the Chesapeake Bay as a prototype for the Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) of the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program's Estuarine Habitat Studies Program. The Coastal Ocean Program has additional information on C-CAP. The CD-ROM was produced cooperatively by the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, National Geophysical Data Center, and National Oceanographic Data Center.

This Chesapeake Bay data set constitutes one of the largest change detection efforts ever attempted, covering an area of approximately 30,000 square miles with a source data resolution of 30 meters by 30 meters. Its greatest value is in its synoptic coverage and consistent classification over such a large area. The data set is based on an analysis of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes of the Chesapeake Bay area. GeoVu display software is included on the CD-ROM and will operate on any IBM-PC/AT or compatible personal computer with MS Windows (Version 3.1) and a compatible CD-ROM reader. (NOTE: currently only CD-R one-offs are available.)


Sea Level Data (1 disc)
This CD-ROM, created by the NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), is divided into two main directories. One directory of the disc contains Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) sea level data, the file formats, and associated documentation. The other main directory contains the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) data, documentation, and a few related data sets.

The TOGA sea level data is managed by the University of Hawaii Sea Level Center in cooperation with the NODC Liaison Officer, Pat Caldwell, through the Joint Archive for Sea Level. It is a well-documented archive of hourly, daily, and monthly sea level values in standardized formats from 289 sea level stations in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. These data are collected in support of the TOGA project and are primarily in the tropical ocean areas of TOGA interest (30 deg. N - 30 deg. S latitude). This CD-ROM contains the TOGA sea level holdings as of July 1994, as well as quality assessments and an inventory list of all sites, latitudes, longitudes, and time spans. The PSMSL is based at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Bidston Observatory, United Kingdom and contains monthly and annual mean values of sea level from approximately 1500 tide and gauge stations around the world. Other related data sets are also included such as the IAPSO Tidal Constants dataset and the Revised Local Reference annual mean values. This CD-ROM contains the PSMSL data holdings as of August 1994.


Oceanographic Station Profile Time Series (1 disc)
The National Oceanographic Data Center and the World Data Center-A for Oceanography have compiled from the NODC Oceanographic Station Data File a set of oceanographic data having repetitive samples along ocean sections or at fixed stations for long time periods. These oceanographic station time-series include temperature, salinity, density, and nutrient data. The total time-series data set contains: 27 North Pacific sections; 56 North Atlantic sections; sections along coastal California from the California Cooperative Fisheries Investigations (CALCOFI); 19 sections from other ocean regions; and data from the 10 Ocean Weather Stations.

The CD-ROM contains both data and inventory files. Each inventory file is sorted by NODC Reference Number. The data on this disc are stored as ASCII records in the NODC Oceanographic Station Data (SD2) format.

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