PACE OCI Level-3 data provides satellite-based estimates of Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR) at the ocean surface. The dataset quantifies daily (par) and instantaneous (ipar) usable light energy in the 400–700 nm range, measured in moles of photons per square meter. This near real-time data suite is produced by NASA's OB_CLOUD organization to support marine ecosystem studies.
Use Cases
- Estimating marine primary production rates using the daily PAR (par) variable.
- Analyzing phytoplankton bloom dynamics by correlating instantaneous PAR (ipar) with other optical measurements.
- Providing light context for biogeochemical models via the par and ipar geophysical variables.
- Filtering data quality for downstream analysis using the Level-2 processing flags (l2_flags) bitmask.
Strengths
- Provides global spatial coverage of ocean surface PAR.
- Includes both daily (par) and instantaneous (ipar) radiation estimates for temporal analysis.
- Near real-time (NRT) data delivery supports timely monitoring.
Limitations
- Specific row count, temporal range, and spatial resolution are unknown.
- Relies on satellite retrieval algorithms which may introduce estimation errors.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA PACE OCI instrument, processed by OB_CLOUD.
- Collection Method
- Satellite-based remote sensing estimates from the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI).
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Near real-time
- Geography
- Global ocean coverage.