Chlorophyll-a Concentration

The VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument was deployed on the Suomi-NPP (Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership) spacecraft in October 2011. Like MODIS, VIIRS is a multi-disciplinary sensor providing data for the ocean, land, aerosol, and cloud research and as with SeaWiFS and MODIS, the VIIRS scan and orbit geometries provide global coverage every two days.

Through detection of phytoplankton, chlorophyll-a concentration provides a measure of biological activity. Phytoplankton are microscopic, free-floating photosynthetic organisms that form the basis for most of the ocean's food chain and play an important role in the global carbon cycle by removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere during photosynthesis.

dates available: 2012 - present

spatial resolution: 0.05° (~4 km)

data archive: https://oceanwatch.pifsc.noaa.gov/doc.html#chl