Colour clues to ocean productivity
Colour clues to ocean productivity
Ocean colour measured by mean chlorophyll concentrations in phytoplankton, from the SeaWifs satellite ocean colour dataset 1997–2007.
The changing colour of the oceans has been captured by satellites over many years, and NIWA scientists are now analysing the images in a bid to understand ocean productivity.
Ocean colour varies through the seasons, according to the amount of phytoplankton (microscopic algae) at the ocean’s surface.
