Data base system for rapid and customized access to the World Ocean Data Base.

Biases are introduced into time series extracted from summarized versions of environmental data sets, due to factors such as changes in instrumentation or measurement technique, increasing amounts of buoy data, and changes in observation platforms. Rapid access to the raw observations is needed to test for and control these biases when developing environmental time series, and for evaluating data summaries and reanalyses. We have reformatted the WODB for easy access and developed a data base extraction program. The data base allows users on their own computers to subsample the WODB and other data sets, and produce summaries for customized geographic regions in a number of formats that can be read directly into visualization and statistical analysis software packages. It is similar to the system developed at PFEL for extracting and summarizing COADS [Mendelssohn and Roy 1996].

Access to World Ocean Data Base climatologies via Live Access Server.

The common formats allow gridded data sets to be downloaded and visualized via the PFEL Live Access Server (LAS), developed at NOAA PMEL. Data can be downloaded in many formats and visualized in a variety of space-time cross-sections. The LAS is being widely used by researchers at other institutions for direct analyses of ocean variability and for model validation.

Cooperation with the NEP community.

The WODB extraction code and its products are available to colleagues within the NEP program and the oceanographic community. We have worked with the PIs of other NEP GLOBEC projects to: (a) identify what data sets they need; (b) minimize the effort of creating commonly used fields; (c) encourage collaboration among investigators by providing convenient means for sharing data, and (d) provide individual investigators with the time series or data sets they require.

Data set development of surface and subsurface quantities.

Summaries of observed data have been prepared for direct analyses of ocean variability and as model validation fields. Global 1° x 1° monthly mean surface wind stress and SST fields (from the COADS and NCEP) and subsurface ocean temperature and salinity fields at standard depths (from the WODB) have been computed. Monthly climatologies and decadal averages for 1966-75 and 1977-86 have been developed for several fields (e.g., wind stress, temperature, salinity), and animated for further analysis. Monthly climatologies and monthly fields can be viewed on the PFEL LAS.