EO·Atlas
Ocean heat content
Ocean heat content is the heat stored in the ocean water column. It is a climate indicator because the ocean stores most of the excess heat in the Earth system, and changes in stored heat affect sea level, stratification, marine heat stress, and air-sea exchange.[1]
EO does not measure full-depth heat content directly. Operational estimates combine in-situ temperature profiles with satellite-constrained ocean state variables such as sea level, temperature, and salinity fields, then integrate heat anomalies over depth ranges and regions.[1][2]
Ocean heat content should be treated as a fused ocean-state and climate-indicator topic. Radar altimetry and harmonised multi-mission records are important inputs.[3]
What's available today
2 data products and 44 sensors. Start with the most-used; switch to Filter for the full catalogue.
- [1]Copernicus Marine ocean heat content climate indicatoragency doc2026-06-08
- [2]Copernicus Marine ARMOR3D global 3D temperature, salinity, height, geostrophic current and MLD productagency doc2026-06-08
- [3]Copernicus Marine Global Ocean Heat Content trend map productagency doc2026-06-08
How to cite this page
Plain text
Ocean heat content. EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/topics/ocean-heat-content (CC BY 4.0)
BibTeX
@misc{eoatlas:topics:ocean-heat-content,
title = {Ocean heat content},
author = {{EO-Atlas}},
publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
url = {https://eo-atlas.org/topics/ocean-heat-content}
}