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International ocean data sources

Find ocean and marine data from non-U.S. observing systems and research data centers — IFREMER, EMODnet, Marine Institute Ireland, Ocean Networks Canada, and others.

What this teaches

  • Which collections cover non-U.S. waters
  • How to combine U.S. and international sources for global coverage
  • The format conventions of European ERDDAP servers (often metric, ISO time, CF conventions)

Sources used: IFREMER, CORIOLIS, EMODNET_PHYSICS, MARINE_IRELAND, SEATUBE, APDRC, VOICE_OF_THE_OCEAN

The map

Live coverage from aggregate(collection_frequency):

Region Collection Provider Items in AQUAVIEW
Sweden / Baltic VOICE_OF_THE_OCEAN VOTO Foundation glider data 654
Canada / Pacific deep sea SEATUBE Ocean Networks Canada ROV/SeaTube 484
Asia-Pacific APDRC Asia-Pacific Data Research Center, U. Hawaii 169
Pan-European EMODNET_PHYSICS European Marine Observation & Data Network 74
France (CORIOLIS) CORIOLIS IFREMER's CORIOLIS in-situ ERDDAP 45
Ireland MARINE_IRELAND Marine Institute Ireland 25
(NSF biological/chemical) BCODM BCO-DMO at WHOI (US-funded but international science) 15
France / Atlantic Europe IFREMER French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea 4
Salish Sea SALISH_SEA_UBC UBC (not aggregated above)

Prompt patterns

European in-situ data

Show me in-situ buoy and glider data in the North Atlantic east of
35°W from EMODnet and IFREMER for the last year.

The agent will:

  1. search_datasets(collections="EMODNET_PHYSICS,IFREMER,CORIOLIS", bbox="-35,30,15,65", datetime=...) and return a mix of moored buoys, glider tracks, and ferrybox lines.
  2. Note that variables follow CF conventions (e.g., sea_water_temperature, sea_water_salinity).
  3. Provide ERDDAP form URLs at https://www.ifremer.fr/erddap/ and https://erddap.emodnet-physics.eu/erddap/.

Salish Sea cabled observatory

What does Ocean Networks Canada have for the Salish Sea / Strait of
Georgia? I'm interested in the cabled observatory data.

Pulls from SEATUBE (ROV dives + sensor) and SALISH_SEA_UBC (ocean model output + observations from UBC).

VOTO glider missions

List Voice of the Ocean glider missions in the Skagerrak / Kattegat.

Returns VOICE_OF_THE_OCEAN items with deployment metadata, mission tracks, and CTD profile data.

Asia-Pacific climate context

Show me Asia-Pacific climate datasets from APDRC — sea level rise,
ENSO indices, and reanalysis products.

APDRC is broader than ocean — it includes climate, atmospheric, and reanalysis indices distributed by U. Hawaii. Free-text queries work well here.

Format / convention tips

  • Time: ISO 8601 with explicit Z is universally accepted. Some European servers also accept +00:00.
  • Variables: most international ERDDAP follow CF Standard Names. The CF table at https://cfconventions.org/standard-names.html is authoritative.
  • Coordinate order: bbox is always west,south,east,north regardless of provider.
  • Licenses: vary by provider. EMODnet is generally CC-BY 4.0; IFREMER's CORIOLIS varies by program. Always check properties.license or the provider's terms-of-use page.

Cross-source synthesis prompts

Compare in-situ ocean temperature observations in the Bay of Biscay
between IFREMER's CORIOLIS network and the Argo Global Repository (GADR)
for January 2024.

Show me all glider missions in Northern European seas — combine VOTO,
IFREMER, EMODnet, and Marine Institute Ireland.