All ECCO Products

How are fields provided?

Fields from the latest global ECCO state estimates (Version 4 and onwards) are available on regular latitude/longitude grids and on the curvilinear grid of the ocean model (so-called native grid format). Native grids differ between solutions, reflecting different model resolutions and approaches of discretizing the spherical ocean into locally orthogonal curvilinear grids.

For exact closed-budget analyses, we recommend using fields on the native grid because flux quantities are not perfectly preserved during the process of mapping from native grids to regular latitude/longitude grids.

Citation

As a condition of using these products, you must cite the dataset and the associated journal reference or product synopsis document. Journal references or product synopsis documents can be found on the product page. Please use the following citation format for ECCO data products:

ECCO Consortium. [Product Release Year]. [Product Name]. Dataset accessed [YYYY-MM-DD] from [url/or ftp site of data access].

How to get help

For questions or comments about these data products, please contact us via ecco-support@mit.edu.

Core Product

ECCO Central Estimate

Our Flagship product, ECCO Central Estimates have the best overall agreement to observations. Central Estimate products are constructed using the adjoint method to optimize model initial conditions, atmospheric forcing, and subgrid-scale mixing parameters. We recommended ECCO Central Estimates for most research applications.

Other ECCO Products

ECCO High-resolution LLC Nature Runs

These simulations are high-resolution (1/12 to 1/48 degree) short-duration global solutions that are not constrained to observations. We recommend using them for process studies. Click here to see an overview of these products.

ECCO2 (Legacy Product)

ECCO2 state estimates are eddy-permitting simulations at 18-30 km horizontal resolution on the cube-sphere grid. ECCO2 products were fit to observations using a combination of the Green’s Functions and the adjoint method.

ECCO Kalman Filter/Smoother (ECCO-KFS)

ECCO-KFS estimates are produced using the Kalman Filter Smoother. Near real-time.

Arctic Subpolar gyre State Estimate (ASTE)

ASTE has been produced by fitting the MITgcm to about one billion satellite and in-situ ocean and sea ice observations in the Arctic and subpolar North Atlantic, including Ice-Tethered Profilers (ITPs) and Argo floats capturing subsurface hydrography, as well as fixed moorings at important Arctic Mediterranean gateways, including those in Bering, Davis, Fram Straits, and over the Greenland-Iceland-Scotland Ridge. ASTE uses the adjoint-based data assimilation framework developed by the ECCO consortium. It is developed at UT Austin with funding from NSF.

Biogeochemical Southern Ocean State Estimate (B-SOSE)

B-SOSE, is a coupled biogeochemical-sea ice-ocean state estimate. It is the latest product of a numerical model constrained by least squares to fit observations of the ocean state (i.e., SOSE), which is accomplished iteratively through the adjoint method. B-SOSE is produced as part of the SOCCOM project, with funding from NSF.

Regional Ocean State Estimation at Scripps

Scripps Institution of Oceanography contributes to the development and production of regional ocean state estimation using the methodology developed by ECCO. The goal is to produce a model-observations synthesis, with consistent dynamics and closed budgets for all tracers, to be used for scientific analysis. In addition to B-SOSE (above), regional products include the following:

• California Current System State Estimate (CASE) – A general circulation model, the MITgcm, is least squares fit to all available ocean observations in the region of the California Current System. This is accomplished iteratively through the adjoint method. The result is a physically realistic estimate of the ocean state. Both short-term and long-term state estimates are produced.

Product Name	Release Date	Estimation Period	Domain and Resolution	Vertical Levels
CASE-STSE		January 2011 - June 1016	28°N-40°N/130°-114°W, 1/16°	72
CASE-LTSE		2007 - 2010	28°N-40°N/130°-114°W, 1/16°	72

• Tropical Pacific Ocean State Estimate (TPOSE) – TPOSE is a synthesis of observations of the tropical Pacific. It is produced by constraining a regional setup of the MITgcm to fit data from Argo floats, moorings, and satellites through the adjoint method (4D-Var), resulting in a physically-realistic estimate of the ocean state.

Product Name	Release Date	Estimation Period	Domain and Resolution	Vertical Levels
TPOSE.6	July 2024	2012-2016	26°S-30°N/104°E- 68°W, 1/6°	66
TPOSE.3	September 2021	2010-2019	26°S-30°N/104°E- 68°W, 1/3°	51

• Gulf of Mexico State Estimate (GoM) – Regional setups of the MITgcm are constrained to fit data from the global observing system (satellite derived altimetry and sea surface temperature) and regional observations from moorings, PIES, and spray glider. Data assimilation is accomplished iteratively through the adjoint method, resulting in a physically-realistic estimate of the ocean state.

Product Name	Release Date	Estimation Period	Domain and Resolution	Vertical Levels
GoM		2009-2016	8.5°N-31°N/262°-287.5°E, 5 km in the GoM basin to 10 km near boundaries	80

• Northwest Pacific State Estimate (NWPac) – Regional setups of the MITgcm are constrained to fit data from the global observing system (satellite derived altimetry and sea surface temperature) and regional observations from moorings, PIES, and spray glider. Data assimilation is accomplished iteratively through the adjoint method, resulting in a physically-realistic estimate of the ocean state.

Product Name	Release Date	Estimation Period	Domain and Resolution	Vertical Levels
NWPac		2009-2016	8.5°N-31°N/262°-287.5°E, 5 km in the GoM basin to 10 km near boundaries	80