The In Situ delayed mode product designed for reanalysis purposes integrates the best available version of in situ data for ocean surface currents.

The data are collected from the Surface Drifter Data Assembly Centre (SD-DAC at NOAA AOML). All surface drifters data have been processed to check for drogue loss. Drogued and undrogued drifting buoy surface ocean currents are provided with a drogue presence flag as well as a wind slippage correction for undrogued buoys.

Altimeter and wind data have been used to extract the direct wind slippage from the total drifting buoy velocities. This product is designed to be assimilated into or for validation purposes of operational models operated by ocean forecasting centers for reanalysis purposes or for research community. These users need data aggregated and quality controlled in a reliable and documented manner.