Sea Surface Height Anomaly (SSHA) - Updated weekly

  • Released Wednesday, August 5, 2026
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An equirectangular view of sea surface height anomaly data for the past two and a half years, updated daily to include the latest available data. Daily sea ice is shown in light gray.

These visualizations show sea-surface height anomaly, or how the height of the ocean surface differs from its long-term average, over the past two and a half years. The data are based on measurements collected by radar altimeters aboard NASA and partner satellites, including TOPEX/Poseidon, the Jason series, and Sentinel-6. These instruments measure the height of the ocean surface by timing how long radar signals take to travel from the satellite to the ocean and back. The observations are combined into global maps produced every seven days. Dark blue regions show areas where sea-surface height is below average, while white regions show areas where it is above average.

The visualizations also include daily sea ice data to provide additional context in the polar regions. Sea ice is shown in light gray and updates along with the sea surface height anomaly data.

These visualizations are updated weekly to include the latest available data.

An equirectangular view of sea surface height anomaly data for the past two and a half years, updated daily to include the latest available data. This version does not include date labels. Daily sea ice is shown in light gray.

A Pacific-centered equirectangular view of sea surface height anomaly data for the past two and a half years, updated daily to include the latest available data. Daily sea ice is shown in light gray.

A Pacific-centered equirectangular view of sea surface height anomaly data for the past two and a half years, updated daily to include the latest available data. This version does not include date labels. Daily sea ice is shown in light gray.

A Robinson projection view of sea surface height anomaly data for the past two and a half years, updated daily to include the latest available data. Daily sea ice is shown in light gray.

A Pacific-centered Robinson projection view of sea surface height anomaly data for the past two and a half years, updated daily to include the latest available data. Daily sea ice is shown in light gray.

Horizontal color bar labeled “Sea Surface Height Anomaly,” ranging from −0.5 to +0.5 meters. Colors transition from dark blue at lower values through lighter blue to white at higher values.

Color bar for sea surface height anomaly, with dark blue representing values below average and white representing values above average. Values range from −0.5 to +0.5 meters.

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Datasets used

Note: While we identify the data sets used on this page, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This page was originally published on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, August 5, 2026 at 10:15 AM EDT.