PACE Observes Namesake Plankton, Aerosols, Clouds and Ocean Ecosystem

PACE Observes New England Coastal Phytoplankton Blooms

The coastline of New England is lined in swirls of green and teal waters in this natural color image from the PACE satellite’s Ocean Color Instrument on April 8, 2024. The vivid colors reflect blooms of phytoplankton, microscopic marine organisms that are the center of the ocean’s food web and play a major role in Earth’s carbon cycle.

PACE, or the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, launched on February 8, 2024, with a mission to identify and track different communities of these phytoplankton. While some blooms of some species boost fisheries, others can produce toxins that are harmful for people and animals.

Just like different plants on land colors, different types of phytoplankton have different hues – and PACE’s Ocean Color Instrument detects a range of colors to allow scientists to tell them apart.

PACE Views Spring Phytoplankton Blooms off Newfoundland, Canada

The green swirls of phytoplankton-rich waters off Newfoundland, Canada, are framed by white clouds, ice, and snow-covered terrain in this natural color image from PACE satellite’s Ocean Color Instrument on April 27, 2024.

The instrument detects a range of colors, which allows scientists to use PACE (the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem mission) to detect and identify communities of phytoplankton. These microscopic marine organisms are the center of the ocean’s food web and play a major role in Earth’s carbon cycle, and some species of phytoplankton can create harmful algal blooms.

Phytoplankton need the right combination of sunlight, nutrients, and water temperatures to bloom. In this image of the North Atlantic, this occurs as sea ice – the last of which is seen at the top of the image -- melts away in springtime.

PACE Observes Namesake Plankton, Aerosols, Clouds and Ocean Ecosystem in One Image

The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) captured all elements of its name in this image of the Agean Sea and Black Sea, captured by the satellite’s Ocean Color Instrument on April 6, 2024.

The green and milky blue swirls in the Black Sea, at the top of the image, indicate the presence of phytoplankton blooms – these microscopic organisms are the center of the food web in the ocean ecosystem. Plumes of brown aerosols from northern Africa blow over the dark blue Agean Sea in the bottom left section of the image. Wispy white clouds over land frame the top of the image.

PACE launched on February 8, 2024, and collects near-daily images of the entire globe to track these features and more.