<p>For long-term sea level data, some of the <a href="http://www.psmsl.org/">PSMSL</a> (Permenant Service for Mean Sea Level) datasets may be of use. These only cover discrete points, mostly tide gauges on coasts, but do so for the long term, giving monthly and annual means.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-24T10:02:33.813Z
2015-03-24T10:02:33.813Z
Semidiurnal Simon
<p>The easiest global sea surface height database is from Aviso: <a href="http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/en/data/products/sea-surface-height-products/global.html">http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/en/data/products/sea-surface-height-products/global.html</a>
Aviso has been distributing Topex/Poseidon and ERS altimetric data worldwide since 1992.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-20T01:22:45.193Z
Thanks! When people say "sea level" is that the same thing as sea surface height? These two are synonymous right?
user4624937
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-20T01:40:17.923Z
Yes in some cases. Sea level can be considered as an average level for the surface, while SSH includes fluctuations. But in a lot of cases "sea level" is used as a synonym of SSH even though it is not "level".
arkaia
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-20T01:18:06.457Z
2015-03-20T01:18:06.457Z
arkaia
<p>Is there a good dataset on global ocean sea surface height? I found this, <a href="http://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/sea_level_viewer">http://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/sea_level_viewer</a>, but there is no data I can download and it's hard to see the latitude and longitude coordinates.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-23T07:35:31.743Z
Do you want data with a high temporal resolution, or are you more interested in long-term trends? These would tend to point to different answers.
Semidiurnal Simon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-24T05:38:49.017Z
Long term trends would be more useful for me. Otherwise I could average the data with high temporal sampling.
user4624937
<ocean><oceanography><sea-level><open-data>
Sea Surface Height Data
user4624937
# Sea Surface Height Data

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-03-20)

Is there a good dataset on global ocean sea surface height? I found this, <http://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/sea_level_viewer>, but there is no data I can download and it's hard to see the latitude and longitude coordinates.

**Tags:** ocean, oceanography, sea-level, open-data

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do you want data with a high temporal resolution, or are you more interested in long-term trends? These would tend to point to different answers.  
> **username_0**: Long term trends would be more useful for me. Otherwise I could average the data with high temporal sampling.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-03-20. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

The easiest global sea surface height database is from Aviso: <http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/en/data/products/sea-surface-height-products/global.html>
Aviso has been distributing Topex/Poseidon and ERS altimetric data worldwide since 1992.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks! When people say "sea level" is that the same thing as sea surface height? These two are synonymous right?  
> **username_2**: Yes in some cases. Sea level can be considered as an average level for the surface, while SSH includes fluctuations. But in a lot of cases "sea level" is used as a synonym of SSH even though it is not "level".  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2015-03-24. Score: 5

For long-term sea level data, some of the [PSMSL](http://www.psmsl.org/) (Permenant Service for Mean Sea Level) datasets may be of use. These only cover discrete points, mostly tide gauges on coasts, but do so for the long term, giving monthly and annual means.


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