Suomi-NPP VIIRS: Global Particulate Inorganic Carbon from Ocean Color

NASA Earthdata hosts the Suomi-NPP VIIRS Level-3 Global Binned Particulate Inorganic Carbon dataset, version 2022.0. The data suite provides calcite concentration estimates derived from ocean-color reflectance using the Balch & Gordon algorithm. It is produced by the organization OB_CLOUD for detecting coccolithophore blooms and studying carbonate cycling.

Use Cases

• Detect and quantify coccolithophore blooms based on particulate inorganic carbon concentration.
• Assess marine carbonate cycling and optical backscatter based on calcite estimates.
• Provide biogeochemical context by analyzing PIC alongside other ocean variables like chlor_a and SST mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Algorithm is explicitly named (Balch & Gordon algorithm), providing traceability.
• Data is part of a suite designed for contextual analysis with other geophysical variables like chlor_a and SST.

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.
• Uncertainties increase in optically complex coastal waters or under high aerosol/glint, as noted in the description.

Provenance

Source

NASA Earthdata (platform), OB_CLOUD (organization).

Collection Method

Derived from Suomi-NPP VIIRS satellite ocean-color reflectance using the Balch & Gordon algorithm.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.