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Data Availability    

(1) Turbulent latent and sensible heat fluxes (ftp sites: daily, monthly. Plots)

As to the end of 2007, the project has completed the 1° -degree grid global analysis (1958-2006) for the following variables:
   o   Latent heat flux
   o   Sensible heat flux
   o   Wind speed at 10m
   o   Air humidity at 2m
   o   Air temperature at 2m
   o   Sea surface temperature
   o   Error fields estimates for all the six variables
Note:
- Monthly products are available from 1/1/1958 to 12/31/2006, and daily products are available from 1/1/1985 to 12/31/2006.
- Detailed descriptions of the OAFlux procedure and datasets can be found from the project report by Yu et al. (2008) .


 (2) Ocean evaporation (ftp sites: daily, monthly. Plots)

The OAFlux monthly evaporation dataset is available from 1/1/1958 to 12/31/2006, and daily estimates are available from 1/1/1985 to 12/31/2006.

The OAFlux evaporation rate is determined from the relation: Evaporation = latent heat flux / ρw Le, where ρ w is the density of sea water, and Le is the latent heat of vaporization that can be expressed as Le = (2.501 - 0.00237×SST)× 1.06 (Yu, 2007). 


(3) Ocean surface radiation fluxes (ftp sites: daily, monthly. Plots)

The surface radiation from ISCCP-FD datasets (3-hourly, 2.5° -degree) is kindly provided by Dr. William B. Rossow for distribution along with the OAFlux products. The ISCCP radiation variables hosted by the OAFlux ftp site include
   o   Net longwave radiation at the ocean surface
   o   Net shortwave radiation at the ocean surface
Note:
- ISCCP radiation products are available from 7/1/1983 to 12/31/2004.
- The data were daily averaged and linearly interpolated in space to match the resolution used by OAFlux.
- Information regarding the full, global ISCCP datasets can be found at http://isccp.giss.nasa.gov/projects/flux.html. 
- The OAFlux project is in the process of developing improved estimates of global ocean-surface radiation.


(4) Net heat fluxes over the global oceans (ftp sites: daily, monthly. Plots)

Daily and monthly net heat fluxes over the global oceans are produced by combining the OAFlux turbulent latent and sensible heat fluxes with the ISCCP surface radiation. The data are constructed for the ISCCP period (7/1/1983 - 12/31/2004).


 Data Access    

(1) Data are in netCDF format and can be downloaded from
 
   (i)   Use an internet browser and go to  ftp://ftp.whoi.edu/pub/science/oaflux/data_v3.  
   (ii)   Use the WHOI anonymous ftp server
          ftp ftp.whoi.edu
          login name: anonymous
          password: your email address
          cd pub/science/oaflux/data_v3

   A description of data files is provided here: daily, monthly
   Email Dr. Xiangze Jin for technical questions.


(2) Data are also archived at the two data centers
 
   (i)   Asia-Pacific DATA-Research Center (ADPRC) at the University of Hawaii (http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu/w_data/air-sea3.htm)
   (ii)   Data Support Section (DSS) at NCAR ( http://dss.ucar.edu/datasets/ds260.1/) 


 References for the OAFlux datasets    

Yu,L., X. Jin, and R. A. Weller, 2008: Multidecade Global Flux Datasets from the Objectively Analyzed Air-sea Fluxes (OAFlux) Project: Latent and sensible heat fluxes, ocean evaporation, and related surface meteorological variables. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, OAFlux Project Technical Report. OA-2008-01, 64pp. Woods Hole. Massachusetts. [PDF] 

Yu, L., and R. A. Weller, 2007: Objectively Analyzed air-sea heat Fluxes (OAFlux) for the global oceans. Bull. Ameri. Meteor. Soc., 88, 527-539. [Abstract]   [PDF]   [Reprint] .

Yu, L., 2007. Global variations in oceanic evaporation (1958-2005): The role of the changing wind speed. J. Climate, 20(21), 5376-5390. [Abstract]   [PDF]   [Reprint] .