Decadal Comparison of Plankton Levels
The global ocean chlorophyll archive produced by the CZCS was revised using compatible algorithms with SeaWiFS. Both archives were then blended with in situ data to reduce residual errors. This methodology permitted a quantitative comparison of decadal changes in global ocean chlorophyll from the CZCS (1979 - 1986) and SeaWiFS (1997 - 2000) records. Global spatial distributions and seasonal variablility of ocean chlorophyll were similar, but global means decreased over the two observational segments. Major changes were observed regionally: chlorophyll concentrations decreased in the northern high latitudes while chlorophyll in the low latitudes increased. Mid-ocean gyres exhibited limited changes. The overall spatial and seasonal similarity of the two data records suggests that the changes are due to natural variability. These results provide evidence of how the Earth's climate may be changing and how ocean biota respond.
CZCS data for the Atlantic Ocean with grey land
CZCS data for the Pacific Ocean with grey land
CZCS data for the world with grey land
Difference data between CZCS and SeaWiFS for the Atlantic Ocean with grey land
Difference data between CZCS and SeaWiFS for the Pacific Ocean with grey land
Difference data between CZCS and SeaWiFS for the world with grey land
CZCS data of the Atlantic Ocean with black land
CZCS data of the Pacific Ocean with black land
CZCS data of the world with black land
Difference data between the CZCS and SeaWiFS for the Atlantic Ocean with black land
Difference data between CZCS and SeaWiFS for the Pacific Ocean with black land
Difference data between CZCS and SeaWiFS for the world with black land
SeaWiFS data for the Atlantic Ocean with black land
SeaWiFS data for the Pacific Ocean with black land
SeaWiFS data for the world with black land
SeaWiFS data for the Atlantic Ocean with grey land
SeaWiFS data for the Pacific Ocean with grey land
SeaWiFS data for the world with grey land
This color bar gives values for the images demonstrating the difference between CZCS and SeaWiFS data.
This color bar gives values for the images demonstrating the CZCS data and the SeaWiFS data.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (NOTE: In January 2013, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye combined to become DigitalGlobe).
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Animator
- Joycelyn Thomson (NASA/GSFC)
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Scientist
- Watson Gregg (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Thursday, August 8, 2002.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:57 PM EDT.
Datasets used in this visualization
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[Nimbus-7: CZCS]
ID: 76 -
[SeaStar: SeaWiFS]
ID: 100NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio. NOTE: All SeaWiFS images and data presented on this web site are for research and educational use only. All commercial use of SeaWiFS data must be coordinated with GeoEye (NOTE: In January 2013, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye combined to become one DigitalGlobe.).
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Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.