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SeaWifs Ocean Colour Data

Entry ID: seawifs

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Summary

Abstract: From the SeaWifs NASA website:

The purpose of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project is to provide quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties to the Earth science community. Subtle changes in ocean colour signify various types and quantities of marine phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants), the knowledge of which has both scientific and practical ... applications. The SeaWiFS Project will develop and operate a research data system that will process, calibrate, validate, archive and distribute data received from an Earth-orbiting ocean colour sensor.

The concentration of microscopic marine plants, called phytoplankton, can be derived from satellite observation and quantification of ocean colour. This is due to the fact that the colour in most of the world's oceans in the visible light region, (wavelengths of 400-700 nm) varies with the concentration of chlorophyll and other plant pigments present in the water, i.e., the more phytoplankton present, the greater the concentration of plant pigments and the greener the water.

Ocean colour data have been deemed critical by the oceanographic community for the study of ocean primary production and global biogeochemistry. &Primary production& refers to the organic material in the sea that is produced by &primary producers.& These &primary producers,& i.e. algae and some bacteria, exist at the lowest levels of the food chain and use sunlight or chemical energy, rather than other organic material, as sources of energy. It is thought that marine plants remove carbon from the atmosphere at a rate equivalent to terrestrial plants, but knowledge of interannual variability is very poor.

Since an orbiting sensor can view every square kilometer of cloud-free ocean every 48 hours, satellite-acquired ocean color data constitute a valuable tool for determining the abundance of ocean biota on a global scale and can be used to assess the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle and the exchange of other critical elements and gases between the atmosphere and the ocean. SeaWiFS will operate as a follow-on sensor to the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS), which ceased operations in 1986. In the first arrangement of its kind, the Government will procure space-based environmental remote sensing data for research purposes from a commercial operator. Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) will integrate SeaWiFS into its SeaStar spacecraft and will market the data for commercial and operational use following launch.

Related URL

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE

Description: The SeaWiFS Project home page - NASA

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE

Description: The DAAC Ocean Color home page - NASA

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE

Description: The OrbImage home page

Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION

Description: Citation reference for this metadata record and dataset

Geographic Coverage

(Click for Interactive Map)

Spatial coordinates

N: 90.0

S: -90.0

E: 180.0

W: -180.0

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1997-09-04

Location Keywords

OCEAN > ARCTIC OCEAN

OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN

Science Keywords

OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > PIGMENTS

OCEANS > OCEAN OPTICS > FLUORESCENCE

ISO Topic Category

BIOTA

OCEANS

Platform

SATELLITES

Quality Resolution of the data varies depending on the type of data requested. Under normal circumstances, the DAAC (Distributed Active Archive Centre) receives processed SeaWiFS data products about 14 days after satellite data acquisition, depending on the level of processing required. In addition to the new data, all of the data from the beginning of the mission is maintained.

Access Constraints Access to SeaWiFS data are restricted to SeaWiFS Authorized Research Users strictly for research and educational use only. Authorized User status is obtained by registering with the SeaWiFS Project, NOT by registering with the DAAC. For instructions, go to the SeaWiFS User and Ground Station Check List.

Researchers with the Australian Antarctic Division can use the technical contact to access the data.

Use Constraints This data set conforms to the PICCCBY Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

SeaWiFS data are for research and educational use only.

Ancillary Keywords

CHLOROPHYLL

OCEAN COLOUR

Data Set Progress

IN WORK

Originating Center

GSFC DAAC

Data Center

Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia

Data Center URL: http://data.aad.gov.au

Data Center Personnel
Name: DATA OFFICER AADC Phone: +61 3 6232 3244 Fax: +61 3 6232 3351 Email: metadata at aad.gov.au Contact Address: Australian Antarctic Division 203 Channel Highway City: Kingston Province or State: Tasmania Postal Code: 7050 Country: Australia

Distribution

Distribution Media: Online (FTP)

Distribution Size: 1.83MB

Distribution Format: HDF

Fees: Free

Personnel

GES DISC HELP DESK SUPPORT GROUP

Role: DIF AUTHOR

Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Phone: 301-614-5224

Fax: 301-614-5268

Email: gsfc-help-disc at lists.nasa.gov

Contact Address:

Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center

Code 610.2

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

City: Greenbelt

Province or State: MD

Postal Code: 20771

Country: USA

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2012-08-21

Last DIF Revision Date: 2012-09-10

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