SeaWiFS Views the Whole World with Three Years of Data (2001)

Synopsis

By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing. A measurement of photosynthesis is essentially a measurement of successful growth, and growth means successful use of ambient carbon. Until now, scientists have only had a continuous record of photosynthesis on land. But following three years of continual data collected by the SeaWiFS instrument, NASA has gathered the first record of photosynthetic productivity in the oceans. By taking three years of continuous data as a whole, experts have been able to map trends and anomalies in the global circulation of carbon to a degree of detail than has never been done before. It is a baseline measurement to by which all future measurements will be compared. Note: The SeaWiFS instrument looks at the world's oceans and land to observe the plant life and phytoplankton. Animator: Stuart A. Snodgrass (GST), Marte Newcombe (GST). Scientist: Gene Feldman (NASA/GSFC). Platforms/Sensors/Data Sets: SeaStar/SeaWiFS.

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NASA

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Biological oceanography, Biosphere, Carbon, Ecology, HDTV