Oceanography Databases

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Argo: Observing the Ocean in Real Time
A Global Array of Profiling Floats to Understand & Forecast Climate
"Argo is a global array of 3,000 free-drifting profiling floats that will measure the temperature and salinity of the upper 2000 m of the ocean. This will allow continuous monitoring of the climate state of the ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours after collection...part of the Global Climate Observing System/Global Ocean Ocean Observing System (GCOS/GOOS) and part of the Climate Variability and Predictability Experiment (CLIVAR) and the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE)."

Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS)
"OBIS will assess and integrate biological, physical, and chemical oceanographic data from multiple sources, generate testable hypotheses about the origins and maintenance of marine biodiversity, and facilitate research on the roles of of species in ecosystem function. Users of OBIS, including researchers, students, and environmental managers, will gain a dynamic view of the multi-dimensional oceanic world."

Database on Introductions of Aquatic Species
"The FAO database on introductions of aquatic species was initiated by R. Welcomme in the early 1980's. It considered primarily only freshwater species of fish and formed the basis for the 1988 FAO Fisheries Technical Paper no. 294. The database has been expanded to include additional taxa, such as molluscs and crustaceans, and marine species. In the mid 1990's a questionnaire was sent to national experts to gather additional information on introductions and transfers of aquatic species in their countries...The database, which contains now about 3,150 records."

DINOFLAJ - Dinoflagellate Classification Database
"...is a database system containing a current classification of fossil and living dinoflagellates down to generic rank, and an index of fossil dinoflagellates at generic, specific, and infraspecific ranks. Dinoflagellates are single-celled organisms that have two distinctive flagella during at least part of their life cycle and/or a special type of nucleus called a dinokaryon. They are probably best known as a principal cause of "red tides" and paralytic shellfish poisoning...The limited, free version contains the complete reference list, the suprageneric classification, the glossary, and a sample of the genera and species information."
Geological Society Canada

Marine Geology & Geophysics
"...compiles and maintains extensive databases in both coastal and open ocean areas. Key data types include bathymetry and gridded relief, trackline geophysics (gravity, magnetics, seismic reflection), sediment thickness, data from ocean drilling and seafloor sediment and rock samples, digital coastlines, and data from the Great Lakes. In addition to operating the collocated World Data Center for Marine Geology & Geophysics, Boulder, part of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) World Data Center system, NGDC also operates the International Hydrographic Organization Data Center for Digital Bathymetry (IHO DCDB) on behalf of the Member Nations of the International Hydrographic Organization."
National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Center for Marine Geology & Geophysics, Boulder

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Databases - see

National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
"...an information and referral center supporting polar and cryospheric research. We distribute snow and ice data. We also maintain information about snow cover, avalanches, glaciers, ice sheets, freshwater ice, sea ice, ground ice, permafrost, atmospheric ice, paleoglaciology, and ice cores. We also publish several periodicals and maintain a collection of monographs, technical reports, and journals."

Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) - see Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) above.

Ocean Surface Topography
Includes data from TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1.
Sections include: Overview ; Science ; Technology ; Missions ; Newsroom ; Education ; Gallery.
NASA - Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)
"The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) Index is defined as the leading principal component of North Pacific monthly sea surface temperature variability (poleward of 20N for the 1900-93 period). Digital values of our PDO index are available from Nate Mantua's anonymous ftp directory...Nate updates the PDO index every two or three months."
See also PDO in the News.
- Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington

Physical Oceanography - Distributed Active Archive Center [PO.DAAC]
"...is responsible for archiving and distributing data relevant to the physical state of the ocean. Most of the products available at the PO.DAAC were obtained from satellites and are intended for use in oceanographic and interdisciplinary scientific research."

SeaWiFS Project
"The purpose of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project is to provide quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties to the Earth science community. Subtle changes in ocean color signify various types and quantities of marine phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants), the knowledge of which has both scientific and practical applications. The SeaWiFS Project will develop and operate a research data system that will process, calibrate, validate, archive and distribute data received from an Earth-orbiting ocean color sensor."
- Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - See our separate page.

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