# OSCAR L4 Ocean Surface Currents Near Real Time
*data products*

## Specifications
- **level**: L4
- **distributor**: nasa-jpl
- **access endpoint**: https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/oscar_l4_oc_nrt_v2.0
- **access model**: open
- **primary data portal url**: https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/oscar_l4_oc_nrt_v2.0
- **use cases**: ["Near-surface ocean current analysis","Ocean circulation monitoring","Model validation"]
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **entity type**: data_product
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-11
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: nasa-jpl
- **attributes**: {"level":"L4","distributor":"nasa-jpl","access_endpoint":"https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/oscar_l4_oc_nrt_v2.0","access_model":"open","primary_data_portal_url":"https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/oscar_l4_oc_nrt_v2.0","use_cases":"[\"Near-surface ocean current analysis\",\"Ocean circulation monitoring\",\"Model validation\"]","deployment_context":"orbital"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
OSCAR (Ocean Surface Current Analyses Real-time) L4 NRT v2.0 provides near-real-time estimates of near-surface ocean currents on a 1/4-degree global grid, produced by Earth and Space Research (ESR) and distributed by NASA PO.DAAC.[^oscar-doi][^esr-oscar-guide-v2] The product fuses satellite altimetry sea-surface height, surface wind stress, and sea-surface temperature to derive geostrophic and wind-driven current components at approximately 15 m depth.[^esr-oscar-guide-v2] The NRT v2.0 stream covers 2021-01-01 to present; the OSCAR Final and Interim v2.0 streams extend the record back to 1993.[^nasa-earthdata-oscar-nrt][^esr-oscar-guide-v2] The list of altimetry missions feeding the current NRT operational stream was not fully confirmed at time of research; Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is noted as a primary SSH input following Jason-3's retirement in 2023.[^esr-oscar-guide-v2] Access is open via NASA PO.DAAC.

## Compositional position
- ocean-currents (topics) --[topic_capabilities]--> OSCAR L4 Ocean Surface Currents Near Real Time

## Sources
- [nasa-earthdata-oscar-nrt] | OSCAR L4 NRT v2.0 - NASA Earthdata catalog | https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/catalog/pocloud-oscar-l4-oc-nrt-v2.0-2.0 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-11 | author=NASA PO.DAAC
- [esr-oscar-guide-v2] | OSCAR v2.0 User Handbook - Earth and Space Research | https://www.esr.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/oscarv2.0guide.pdf | tier=operator-engineering | accessed=2026-06-11 | author=Earth and Space Research (ESR)
- [oscar-doi] | OSCAR L4 NRT v2.0 DOI (PO.DAAC) | https://doi.org/10.5067/OSCAR-25N20 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-11 | author=NASA PO.DAAC / ESR

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/data_products/oscar-l4-ocean-surface-currents-nrt
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)