ABSTRACT
"Ocean color" satellite sensors were primarily designed to measure the global variation of chlorophyll concentration present in ocean phytoplankton. This allows the blooming and die-off of these microscopic plants, which form the base of the oceanic food web, to be monitored. For most oceanographic applications, the water-leaving radiance is the primary parameter of interest because it contains information about the water, its phytoplankton content and any dissolved organic matter and suspended sediment particles. Deep water reflects very little light, unless it contains high concentrations of suspended particles that can scatter the incoming solar radiation back up. Most sensors designed for land remote sensing do not have a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to be useful over the open ocean, although their data can be of value in shallow or turbid coastal waters. The abundance of phytoplankton is a direct indicator of the seas' ability to support life.
