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Full catalog/TELLUS_GRFO_L3_CSR_RL06.3_OCN_v04
TELLUS_GRFO_L3_CSR_RL06.3_OCN_v04·vRL06.3v04·dataset

Changing weight of water pressing on the seafloor (GRACE-FO)

CSR TELLUS GRACE-FO Level-3 Monthly Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomaly Release 6.3 version 04
ocean NASA POCLOUD Level 3 netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Monthly maps of how the weight of water pressing down on the seafloor changes, expressed as the equivalent thickness of water, relative to a baseline average.

How it's made. Derived from the GRACE-FO mission's measurements of tiny shifts in Earth's gravity, processed by the Center for Space Research with corrections applied for known effects.

How & where you'd use it. Reveals how ocean and atmosphere processes redistribute mass across the seafloor, helping scientists study ocean circulation and changes in the planet's water and mass over time.

What's measured

OCEANS › OCEAN PRESSURE › WATER PRESSURE › OCEAN BOTTOM PRESSURE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2018-05-22 → ongoing
  • Measured byGRACE-FO (GRACE-FO MWI, GRACE-FO LRI, GRACE-FO ACC, GRACE-FO SCA)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -89.5, 180, 89.5
  • 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

This data set is produced by the Center for Space Research (CSR) GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On) program and derives the ocean bottom pressure (OBP) anomaly given as equivalent water thickness. These monthly grids are derived from GRACE-FO time-variable gravity observations during the specified timespan, and relative to the specified time-mean reference period. This quantity represents sea floor pressure changes due to the integral effect of ocean and atmosphere processes, including global mean ocean bottom pressure changes (mean ocean mass and mean atmosphere mass over the global oceans). A glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) correction has been applied, and standard corrections for geocenter (degree-1), C20 (degree-20) and C30 (degree-30) are incorporated. Post-processing filters have been applied to reduce correlated errors. Data grids are provided in ASCII/netCDF/GeoTIFF formats. GRACE-FO was launched on 22 May 2018, and extends the original GRACE mission (2002 – 2017) and expands its legacy of scientific achievements in tracking earth surface mass changes. Version 04 (v04) of the ocean bottom pressure data uses updated and consistent C20 and Geocenter corrections (i.e., Technical Notes TN-14 and TN-13), as well as an ellipsoidal correction to account for the non-spherical shape of the Earth when mapping gravity anomalies to surface mass change. Additionally, this release 06.3 is an updated version of the Level 3 products in coordination with the release of the analogous Level 2 products used to generate them. It differs from RL06.1 only in the Level-1B accelerometer transplant data that is used for the GF2 (GRACE-FO 2) satellite; see respective L-2 data descriptions. RL06.3 uses the ACX2-L1B data products. All GRACE-FO RL06.3 Level-3 fields are fully compatible with the GRACE RL06 data.

Get the data

tellus_grfo_l3_csr_rl06.3_ocn_v04_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="TELLUS_GRFO_L3_CSR_RL06.3_OCN_v04",
    version="RL06.3v04",
    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.