dataset · Global
Sea level gridded data from satellite observations for the global ocean from 1993 to present
This dataset provides gridded daily and monthly mean global estimates of sea level anomaly based on satellite altimetry measurements. The rise in global mean sea level in recent decades has been one of the most important and well-known consequences of climate warming, putting a large fraction of the world population and economic infrastructure at greater risk of flooding. However, changes in the global average sea level mask regional variations that can be one order of magnitude larger. Therefor
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Licence: CC-BY-4.0
Evidence quality: 34.9
Listed in cds public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- sea level anomaly · absolute dynamic topography · absolute geostrophic velocity (zonal and meridional) · geostrophic velocity anomalies (zonal and meridional) · eddy kinetic energy · sea ice flag (related variable)
- Coverage docs-verified
- Global ocean · 1 January 1993 to present (with a latency of about 5 months)
- Resolution docs-verified
- 0.25° x 0.25° spatial; daily and monthly temporal
- Update frequency docs-verified
- Approximately 3 times per year, with about 5 months' delay relative to present time
- Formats docs-verified
- NetCDF-4
- Access docs-verified
- Open licence: CC-BY (CC-BY-4.0 per ENTRY metadata); no API key or OAuth listed in ENTRY; docs show Login/Register navigation
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Long-term sea level trend context for UK coastal flood risk assessments · Regional sea level anomaly background for coastal and estuarine drainage outfall studies · Approximate ocean surface current direction from geostrophic velocity fields for marine or coastal consultancy scoping
- Audience llm-inferred
- flood consultants · coastal engineers · hydrologists · climate and environmental consultants · GIS analysts
Limitations
- Constraints llm-inferred
- Data latency of about 5 months, so not suitable for near-real-time use · A number of spatial gaps are to be expected · Designed for climate and long-term monitoring rather than operational or local-scale flood modelling · Earlier versions vDT2021 and vDT2018 are no longer updated
Evidence
- https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/api/catalogue/v1/collections/satellite-sea-level-global
- https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/datasets/satellite-sea-level-global
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.