Stereoscopic SeaWiFS Biosphere Global Rotation: 1997-2006

  • Released Monday, March 16, 2009

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. This time period repeats twice during the animation. 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. The nutrient-rich waters contribute to some of the oxygen-poor pockets of the seas called dead zones.

This visualization is a stereoscopic version of animation entry: #3420:SeaWiFS Biosphere Global Rotation from 1997 to 2006



Credits

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 (NOTE: In January 2013, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye combined to become DigitalGlobe).

Release date

This page was originally published on Monday, March 16, 2009.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:54 PM EDT.


Series

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Datasets used

  • Global Biosphere [SeaStar: SeaWiFS]

    ID: 467
    Sensor: SeaWiFS Dates used: 9/23/1997 - 9/20/2006

    SeaWiFS Global Biosphere is a combination of the Land NDVI and Chlorophyll Concentration data sets. 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.

    Credit: 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 (NOTE: In January 2013, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye combined to become one DigitalGlobe.).

    This dataset can be found at: http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/PRODUCTS/

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Note: While we identify the data sets used on this page, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.