Global Phytoplankton Carbon Concentration from VIIRS Satellite Observations

Phytoplankton carbon concentration data is derived from NASA ocean-color satellite observations. The dataset is produced by the OB_CLOUD organization and provides the carbon_phyto variable for quantifying marine biomass. Version 2025.0 indicates a recent processing release.

Use Cases

• Quantify global phytoplankton carbon stocks using the carbon_phyto concentration field.
• Assess marine ecosystem productivity changes by analyzing temporal trends in carbon_phyto data.
• Drive biogeochemical models with satellite-derived carbon_phyto as a primary biological input variable.
• Provide biological context by correlating carbon_phyto with concurrent chlorophyll, PAR, and SST data.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage from satellite observations.
• Provides a specific geophysical variable (carbon_phyto) derived from a standardized NASA algorithm.
• Version 2025.0 indicates a current data processing version.

Limitations

• Data quality may be reduced in optically complex coastal and inland waters, as noted in documentation.
• The specific temporal range and spatial resolution are not provided in the input.
• Row count, sample size, and direct measures of precision are unknown.

Provenance

Source

NASA ocean-color observations from the NOAA-21 satellite VIIRS instrument.

Collection Method

Derived product generated via a Level-4 binning and algorithm process applied to raw satellite data.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Global ocean coverage.