The World Ocean Database (WOD) has observed data from the ocean surface and subsurface profiles. The World Ocean Atlas (WOA) has gridded analyses for annual, seasonal, and monthly means of temperature, salinity, oxygen, nutrients, and other parameters on standard levels (typically at 33 depths). Both products were derived at the Ocean Climate Laboratory (OCL) of the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC). Development of the World Ocean products began in 1982 and they have been updated in 1994, 1998, 2001 and 2005. The featured products are now based on the 2005 versions. Some products from older version are still unique.

The WOD is the world's largest profile collection covering the global ocean and contains measurements from 1800 through 2005. The WOA are climatological grids at fixed depths derived from quality checked WOD profiles. This is a recognized world-wide standard and is often referenced in oceanographic research.