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Full catalog/OCEAN_MASS_TELLUS_MASCON_CRI_TIME_SERIES_RL06.3_V4
OCEAN_MASS_TELLUS_MASCON_CRI_TIME_SERIES_RL06.3_V4·vRL06.3Mv04·dataset

How much the ocean's water mass changes over time (GRACE)

Tellus Level-4 Ocean Mass Anomaly Time Series from JPL GRACE/GRACE-FO Mascon CRI Filtered Release 06.3 version 04
atmosphere NASA POCLOUD Level 4 ASCII
In plain English

What it measures. A running record of how the total mass of water in the global ocean changes over time, capturing sea-level changes caused by water actually being added or removed rather than by warming and expansion.

How it's made. Derived from the GRACE and GRACE-FO satellites, which detect tiny shifts in Earth's gravity, and provided as a simple table of values over time.

How & where you'd use it. Helps researchers separate the part of sea-level rise driven by melting ice and added water from the part driven by ocean warming.

What's measured

CLIMATE INDICATORS › ATMOSPHERIC/OCEAN INDICATORS › SEA LEVEL RISEOCEANS › SEA SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY › SEA LEVEL › SEA LEVEL ANOMALY

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2002-04-01 → ongoing
  • Measured byGRACE-FO (GRACE-FO MWI) · GRACE (GRACE INTERFEROMETER)
  • Processing levelLevel 4
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsASCII
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

This dataset is a time series of mass variability averaged over all of the global ocean. It provides the non-steric or mass only sea level changes over time. The mass variability are derived from JPL GRACE Mascon Ocean, Ice, and Hydrology Equivalent Water Height CRI Filtered RL06.1Mv04 dataset, which can be found at https://doi.org/10.5067/TEMSC-3JC634. A more detailed description on the Mascon solution, including the mathematical derivation, implementation of geophysical constraints, and solution validation, please see Watkins et al., 2015, doi: 10.1002/2014JB011547. The mass variability is provided as an ASCII table.

Get the data

ocean_mass_tellus_mascon_cri_time_series_rl06.3_v4_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="OCEAN_MASS_TELLUS_MASCON_CRI_TIME_SERIES_RL06.3_V4",
    version="RL06.3Mv04",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from POCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.