Earth Data School
About
Full catalog/OSCAR_L4_OC_INTERIM_V2.0
OSCAR_L4_OC_INTERIM_V2.0·v2.0·dataset

Which way ocean surface currents flow (OSCAR)

Ocean Surface Current Analyses Real-time (OSCAR) Surface Currents - Interim 0.25 Degree (Version 2.0)
ocean NASA POCLOUD Level 4 active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Estimates of which way and how fast the water moves at the ocean's surface, given as daily current speed and direction on a worldwide map. The values represent an average over roughly the top 30 meters of the ocean.

How it's made. It is a calculated product: a simplified physics model combines satellite measurements of sea surface height, winds, and sea surface temperature to work out the currents, on a 0.25-degree grid from 1993 onward.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for tracking how heat, nutrients, pollution, or debris drift across the ocean, and for studying climate patterns. This is the 'interim' version, available about a month after the fact.

What's measured

OCEANS › OCEAN CIRCULATION › OCEAN CURRENTS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2020-01-01 → ongoing
  • Measured byNOAA-14 (AVHRR-2) · JASON-1 (JASON-1 Microwave Radiometer, POSEIDON-2) · TOPEX/POSEIDON (ALT (TOPEX), TMR, SSALT) · NOAA-17 (AVHRR-3) · GRACE (GRACE-FO ACC, GRACE-FO KBR, GRACE SCA) · OSTM/JASON-2 (AMR, POSEIDON-3) · DMSP 5D-2/F10 (SSM/I) · DMSP 5D-2/F11 (SSM/I) · ERS-2 (ERS-2 Altimeter) · GFO (GFO Altimeter) · NOAA-16 (AVHRR-3) · NOAA-19 (AVHRR-3) · ENVISAT (RA-2) · QUIKSCAT (SEAWINDS) · DMSP 5D-2/F14 (SSM/I) · ERS-1 (ERS-1 ALTIMETER) · DMSP 5D-2/F13 (SSM/I) · NOAA-20 (AVHRR-3) · METOP-A (AVHRR-3) · JASON-3 (POSEIDON-3B)
  • Processing levelLevel 4
  • Spatial extent-180, -89.75, 180, 89.75
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Watch sea-surface temperature and marine heatwaves
  • Spot algal blooms and ocean-colour shifts
  • Support fisheries and coastal monitoring
Official description

Ocean Surface Current Analyses Real-time (OSCAR) is a global surface current database and NASA funded research project. OSCAR ocean mixed layer velocities are calculated from satellite-sensed sea surface height gradients, ocean vector winds, and sea surface temperature gradients using a simplified physical model for geostrophy, Ekman, and thermal wind dynamics. Daily averaged surface currents are provided on a global 0.25 x 0.25 degree grid as an average over an assumed well-mixed top 30 m of the ocean from 1993 to present day. OSCAR currents are provided at three quality levels: final, interim and nrt with a respective latency of each of approximately 1 year, 1 month, and 2 days. OSCAR is generated by Earth & Space Research (ESR) https://www.esr.org/research/oscar/. More details on the source datasets, file structure, and methodology can be found in oscarv2guide.pdf.

Get the data

oscar_l4_oc_interim_v2.0_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="OSCAR_L4_OC_INTERIM_V2.0",
    version="2.0",
    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.