Jim Carton's group at University of Maryland is constructing retrospective analyses of ocean circulation for the 50-year period beginning January, 1950. The goal of this research is to create ocean analyses that can be used to study the ocean's role in climate variability. The analyses are constructed using the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) analysis package. SODA is an application of data assimilation using a forecast model based on GFDL ocean physics driven by observed historical meteorology (winds, heating, and rainfall-evaporation), assimilating historical observations of temperature, salinity, sea level, SST, and surface current. The SODA methodology is described in two papers (Carton, et al., 2000a,b). Comparisons to other ocean analyses are provided in Chepurin and Carton (1999). The full citations are provided under the publication list. The latest and greatest version available via anonymous ftp. Each version is given a version number (as of 8/31/00, version 7). The data is accessible via anonymous ftp (nimbus04.umd.edu) in unformatted ieee binary. cd to /pub/outgoing/cao. The directory contains a readme file which is intended to explain how to access the data. Versions are also available at IRI, GFDL, and several other locations.
URL: http://www.meto.umd.edu/~carton/carton/assim.html
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