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Mediterranean Sea Pre-SWOT Level-4 Hourly MITgcm LLC4320 Native Grid 2km Oceanographic Dataset Version 1.0

Published by NASA/JPL/PODAAC | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Catalog Last Checked: June 23, 2026 at 08:52 PM | Dataset Last Updated: June 22, 2026
This dataset provides a regional multivariate oceanographic state estimate from a global ocean numerical simulation with a focus on the western Mediterranean Sea region. The global ocean simulation is based on the MIT general circulation model (MITgcm) with Lat-Lon-Cap grid (LLC) layout and 1/48-degree (2km at equator) nominal horizontal resolution. This simulation is often referred to as LLC4320 in the community and existing publications. The simulation has 90 vertical levels, with about 1-m vertical resolution at the surface and 30 m down to 500 m, for optimized resolution of the upper-ocean processes. The model has zero parameterized horizontal diffusivity. In the vertical direction, the K-Profile Parameterization (KPP) is used for boundary layer turbulent mixing. It is spun up progressively from the lower resolution MITgcm simulation from the Estimating the Circulation & Climate of the Ocean (ECCO), and forced by the 6-hourly ERA-Interim atmosphere reanalysis ( https://www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/datasets/reanalysis-datasets/era-interim ). A synthetic surface pressure field consisting of the 16 most dominant tidal constituents is used to dynamically mimic the tidal forcing. The dataset provides hourly oceanographic variables at native grid. Three-dimensional variables include temperature, salinity, and velocity. Two-dimensional variables include sea level anomaly, ocean mixed layer thickness, bottom pressure anomaly, net freshwater flux, net heat flux, shortwave radiative flux, net salt flux, and ocean surface stress.

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel public
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[
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contactPoint 
{
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description This dataset provides a regional multivariate oceanographic state estimate from a global ocean numerical simulation with a focus on the western Mediterranean Sea region. The global ocean simulation is based on the MIT general circulation model (MITgcm) with Lat-Lon-Cap grid (LLC) layout and 1/48-degree (2km at equator) nominal horizontal resolution. This simulation is often referred to as LLC4320 in the community and existing publications. The simulation has 90 vertical levels, with about 1-m vertical resolution at the surface and 30 m down to 500 m, for optimized resolution of the upper-ocean processes. The model has zero parameterized horizontal diffusivity. In the vertical direction, the K-Profile Parameterization (KPP) is used for boundary layer turbulent mixing. It is spun up progressively from the lower resolution MITgcm simulation from the Estimating the Circulation & Climate of the Ocean (ECCO), and forced by the 6-hourly ERA-Interim atmosphere reanalysis ( https://www.ecmwf.int/en/forecasts/datasets/reanalysis-datasets/era-interim ). A synthetic surface pressure field consisting of the 16 most dominant tidal constituents is used to dynamically mimic the tidal forcing. The dataset provides hourly oceanographic variables at native grid. Three-dimensional variables include temperature, salinity, and velocity. Two-dimensional variables include sea level anomaly, ocean mixed layer thickness, bottom pressure anomaly, net freshwater flux, net heat flux, shortwave radiative flux, net salt flux, and ocean surface stress.
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identifier 10.5067/PRESW-WMJ10
keyword 
[
  "earth-science-ocean-circulation-oceans-fresh-water-flux",
  "earth-science-ocean-circulation-oceans-ocean-currents",
  "earth-science-ocean-heat-budget-oceans-heat-flux",
  "earth-science-ocean-temperature-oceans-potential-temperature",
  "earth-science-salinity-density-oceans-salinity"
]
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-06-22
programCode 
[
  "026:000"
]
publisher 
{
  "name": "NASA/JPL/PODAAC",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
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spatial ["CARTESIAN", [{"NorthBoundingCoordinate": 40.48752, "WestBoundingCoordinate": 1.010417, "EastBoundingCoordinate": 4.989583, "SouthBoundingCoordinate": 36.50821}]], Maximum Depth, Minimum Depth, 6134.5, 0
temporal 2011-09-13/2012-11-15
theme 
[
  "Earth Science"
]
title Mediterranean Sea Pre-SWOT Level-4 Hourly MITgcm LLC4320 Native Grid 2km Oceanographic Dataset Version 1.0

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