Terra MODIS POC: Global Mapped Ocean Particulate Organic Carbon

A 2022.0 version dataset from NASA Earthdata providing global mapped particulate organic carbon concentration derived from ocean-color reflectance. The data is produced by OB_CLOUD and is based on algorithms from D. Stramski (2007) and Stramski et al. (2022). It is used to quantify surface carbon stocks and support biogeochemical studies.

Use Cases

• Quantify surface ocean carbon stocks based on particulate organic carbon concentration.
• Support biogeochemical and export-flux studies based on the POC variable.
• Provide ecological context alongside other ocean variables like chlor_a, bbp, Kd_490, and SST as mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Data is derived from the Terra MODIS satellite, a long-standing NASA instrument.
• Includes a specific algorithm version (2022.0) and cites methodology from Stramski (2007) and Stramski et al. (2022).
• Designed for integration with related ocean variables like chlor_a and SST.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

NASA Earthdata, produced by OB_CLOUD.

Collection Method

Derived from ocean-color reflectance measured by the Terra MODIS satellite sensor.

Time Range

Global temporal coverage, but specific date range is not provided.

Freshness

Version 2022.0 suggests a 2022 release, but specific last update date is unknown.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.