Global Ocean Particulate Inorganic Carbon from Satellite Retrievals

NOAA-20 VIIRS satellite data provides global binned measurements of particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) concentration in mol m⁻³. The dataset is produced by OB_CLOUD using the Balch & Gordon algorithm applied to ocean-color reflectance. It is part of the 2022.0 version data suite.

Use Cases

• Detect and quantify coccolithophore blooms by analyzing spatial and temporal patterns in the 'pic' concentration field.
• Assess marine carbonate cycling by correlating the 'pic' variable with other suite data like chlor_a and SST.
• Study optical backscatter in ocean waters using the particulate inorganic carbon ('pic') retrievals.
• Provide biogeochemical context for oceanographic models by integrating the global binned 'pic' data.

Strengths

• Data is derived from the NOAA-20 VIIRS satellite sensor, a recognized source for global Earth observation.
• Algorithm is specifically designed for particulate inorganic carbon retrieval from ocean-color reflectance.

Limitations

• Uncertainties increase in optically complex coastal and inland waters, limiting reliability in those regions.
• Data quality can be degraded under conditions of high aerosol load or sun glint.

Provenance

Source

NASA Earthdata (NOAA-20 VIIRS satellite), processed by OB_CLOUD.

Collection Method

Derived from ocean-color reflectance using the Balch & Gordon algorithm.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Global ocean coverage.