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  1. Home
  2. Essential Climate Variables
  3. Ocean Colour

Download shortened print version of ECV factsheet (pdf) here.


Data Sources

ECV Products and Requirements


Ocean Colour

Ocean colour is the radiance emanating from the ocean normalized by the irradiance illuminating the ocean. Products derived from ocean colour remote sensing (OCRS) contain information on the ocean albedo and information on the constituents of the seawater, in particular, phytoplankton pigments such as chlorophyll-a. OCRS products are used to assess ocean ecosystem health and productivity, and the role of the oceans in the global carbon cycle, to manage living marine resources, and to quantify the impacts of climate variability and change.
  Domain: Ocean
  Subdomain: Biogeochemical
  Scientific Area: Biosphere
  Product:  Water Leaving Radiance; Chlorophyll-a Concentration

 


Global trends in Chlorophyll-a concentration

Figure: Trend map (in % per annum) obtained for the OC-CCI Chlorophyll-a series over the period Oct. 1997 to Sep. 2012

Source (05/04/2018): http://www.esa-oceancolour-cci.org/?q=node/172

EU Copernicus

 

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