Sentinel-3B OLCI Level-4 Global Binned Phytoplankton Carbon Data

Phytoplankton carbon concentration data derived from NASA ocean-color satellite observations. The dataset is a global, binned, reduced-resolution product (version 2022.0) from the Sentinel-3B OLCI instrument, developed to inform the U.S. Government's Satellite Needs Working Group. It is intended for quantifying marine biomass, assessing ecosystem productivity, and driving biogeochemical models.

Use Cases

• Quantify marine biomass and carbon stocks based on phytoplankton carbon concentration.
• Assess ecosystem productivity and change based on satellite-derived biological variables.
• Drive and validate biogeochemical models based on the carbon_phyto geophysical variable.
• Provide biological context for environmental studies alongside chlorophyll, PAR, and SST data.

Strengths

• Data is derived from NASA's ocean-color observations, a primary source for satellite oceanography.
• Product is a global, binned Level-4 dataset, suggesting processed and aggregated measurements.
• Development was informed by an interagency U.S. Government working group (SNWG), indicating defined user needs.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic or mission-specific bias inherent to nasa_earthdata, especially in optically complex coastal/inland waters as noted.

Provenance

Source

NASA ocean-color observations from the Sentinel-3B OLCI instrument, processed by OB_CLOUD.

Collection Method

Derived from satellite remote sensing data, binned and processed to a Level-4 product.

Geography

Global