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Assimilation experiments were conducted using the first 12 months of TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) altimeter measurements in a multilayered quasi‐geostrophic model of the North Atlantic between 20°N and 60°N. These experiments demonstrate the feasibility of using T/P data to control a basin‐scale circulation model by means of an assimilation procedure. Moreover, they allow us to recreate the four‐dimensional behavior of the North Atlantic Ocean during the year October 1992–September 1993 and to improve our knowledge and understanding of such circulation patterns. For this study we used a four‐layer quasigeostrophic model of high horizontal resolution (1/6° in latitude and longitude). The assimilation procedure used is an along‐track, sequential, nudging technique. The evolution of the model general circulation is described and analyzed from a deterministic and statistical point of view, with special …