Global Ocean Chlorophyll Monitoring

Access to VREs

VREs are accessible through the D4Science portal.

Purpose and description

The Global Ocean Chlorophyll Monitoring (GCM) Virtual Research Environment (VRE), implemented during the D4Science project, integrates heterogeneous satellite data of microscopic marine plants and sea surface temperature maps with a pool of different sources of information related to Earth Science data and products. The scientific user community can access through a dedicated Virtual Research Environment to many different data sources, including: ESA special issues Living planet Programme and Earth Observation Handbooks, European Environmental Agency (EEA) and United Nation Environment Program (UNEP) Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) technical reports, European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Images, ESA Medspiration Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR), Environmental Satellite (Envisat) Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) and Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) data, along with Envisat MERIS Chlorophyll in water products.

Microscopic marine plants (phytoplankton) contain chlorophyll, a green pigment used during photosynthesis. With satellite sensors, it is possible to measure chlorophyll concentrations in oceans, lakes and seas to indicate the distribution and amount of phytoplankton.

Phytoplankton is the base of the marine food chain and is a good indicator of the abundance of life in a body of water. The phytoplankton plays a similar role to terrestrial green plants in the photosynthetic process removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It is therefore important to monitor and model plankton into calculations of future climate change. The phytoplankton forms the basis of the ocean's food chain and has an essential role in the global ecosystem. It could help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and is a useful indicator of changes in ocean productivity.

Another important parameter for monitoring, forecasting the ocean and managing the marine environment is the Sea Surface Temperature (SST). SST measurements are utilized for operational tasks, such as providing forecasts of sea state and currents, for monitoring algal blooms or marine pollution, and predicting the fate of oil spills.

The GCM VRE, developed in the framework of the D4Science project to serve the Environmental Monitoring scientific community, will be maintained operational in the D4Science infrastructure during the D4Science-II project.

Image gallery

Sea Surface Temperature

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Oil spill

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Plankton bloom

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Vegetation over sea and land

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