Global Ocean Particulate Inorganic Carbon from VIIRS Satellite

NOAA-21 VIIRS satellite data provides global mapped concentrations of particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) in the ocean surface. The data is produced by the OB_CLOUD organization using the Balch & Gordon algorithm on ocean-color reflectance. The version is identified as 2025.0.

Use Cases

• Detect coccolithophore blooms by analyzing spatial and temporal patterns in the `pic` concentration field.
• Assess marine carbonate cycling by correlating the `pic` variable with sea surface temperature (SST) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) data.
• Study optical backscatter in ocean waters using the `pic` concentration as a key input parameter.
• Provide biogeochemical context by integrating the `pic` data suite with chlorophyll-a (`chlor_a`) and diffuse attenuation coefficient (`Kd_490`) measurements.

Strengths

• Provides a globally mapped geophysical variable (`pic`) for ocean surface analysis.
• Algorithm is specifically designed for detecting calcite from coccolithophores using established remote sensing methods.

Limitations

• Data uncertainty increases in optically complex coastal and inland waters, limiting reliability in these regions.
• Retrieval quality can be degraded under conditions of high aerosol loading or sun glint.
• Specific sample size, temporal coverage, and spatial resolution are not provided in the input.

Provenance

Source

NASA Earthdata (NOAA-21 VIIRS satellite)

Collection Method

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

Time Range

null

Freshness

null

Geography

Global ocean