Ocean measurements and applications, ocean color

Abstract

This entry started by reviewing the history of ocean color and then moved on to the theory and processing with a final section on the applications. The opportunities provided by ocean color satellite missions during the past decade have resulted in major advances in our ability to derive in-water biogeochemical properties linked to key processes within ocean ecosystems. The focus has primarily been on science in service of societal needs. However, ocean color has matured to the level where operational communities are looking to use the data directly, but there still needs to be a link to research that will improve our understanding of oceanic processes and undertake climatic research, e.g., the production of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs). As an example response to the need for ECV datasets, ESA set up the Climate Change Initiative programme that includes the Ocean Colour CCI project. Assimilating biogeochemical properties, and in future IOPs, into ocean models is the focus of both research and operational activities, e.g., predicting CO2 fluxes (Hemmings et al., 2008) and the wider remit GMES marine core service project called MyOcean/MyOcean2; further details are available within “Ocean Modeling and Data Assimilation.” Commercial operators are also realizing the value of ocean color-derived information, and its utilization among private sector customers is expected to increase significantly over the coming years due to a greater demand for marine environment information and high sensitivity to the cost-effectiveness of the different data-gathering approaches (IOCCG, 2008).