SeaWiFS Biosphere Data over the North Atlantic (Slow Version)
on December 5, 2006
The SeaWiFS instrument aboard the Seastar satellite has been collecting ocean data since 1997. By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing. A measurement of photosynthesis is essentially a measurement of successful growth, and growth means successful use of ambient carbon. This animation represents nearly a decade's worth of data taken by the SeaWiFS instrument, showing the abundance of life in the sea. Dark blue represents warmer areas where there is little life due to lack of nutrients, and greens and reds represent cooler nutrient-rich areas. The nutrient-rich areas include coastal regions where cold water rises from the sea floor bringing nutrients along and areas at the mouths of rivers where the rivers have brought nutrients into the ocean from the land.
This animation is essentially the same as animation #3450 with a few minor changes and runs at half the speed.
Animation depicting nearly a decades worth of SeaWiFS ocean chlorophyll concentration and land Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data. This animation begins by slowly spinning the earth around until settling over the North Atlantic.
Alex Kekesi (GST): Lead Animator Gene Feldman (NASA/GSFC): Scientist Michael Behrenfeld (Oregon State University): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (http://www.geoeye.com).
Data provided by: Norman Kuring (NASA/GSFC)
Short URL to share this page: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?3468
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation:
Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 22.214.171.124.0