Quantifying ocean color in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans

Phytoplankton, the microscopic plants that form the lowest level of the oceanic food chain, reveal their presence because of their chlorophyll and other pigments, which change the color of ocean waters. Quantitative observations of ocean color can be used to estimate the concentration of these pigments. The first such observations of ocean color on a global scale were provided by the Coastal Zone Color Scanner, which was fielded on the Nimbus-7 satellite in 1978. At the Applied Physics Laboratory, data from the Coastal Zone Color Scanner have been used to quantify the spatial and temporal variability of ocean color (specifically water reflectance) in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans at wavelengths ranging from 400 to 600 nm. In addition to that work, several other applications of ocean color data also demonstrate the wide variety of investigations that can benefit from ocean color data.