SeaWiFS The Meaning of Ocean Color The Role of Phytoplankton The Carbon Absorbing Oceans

Learn more about SeaWiFS Visit the SeaWiFS Project homepage Where in the World is SeaWiFS today? Simulated Daily SeaWiFS Coverage movie - The orbiting sensor can view every square kilometer of cloud-free ocean every 48 hours.  Satellite-acquired ocean color data constitute a valuable tool for determining the abundance of ocean biota on a global scale and can be used to figure out the ocean's role in the carbon cycle and the way other important gases are exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean. (MPEG Video 881 KB, 3 sec.)  What is SeaWiFS? The SeaWiFS Mission is a part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), a part of NASA that looks at our planet from space in order to better understand it. The purpose of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project is to provide useful data on ocean color to the Earth science community. Subtle changes in ocean color indicate various types and numbers of marine phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants), knowing this information can have both scientific and practical uses. The SeaWiFS Project will develop and operate a research tool that will process, calibrate, validate, archive and distribute data received from the Earth-orbiting ocean color sensor. A detailed description of the goals of the SeaWiFS Project is available. Mission Data Launch Date Friday, August 1, 1997 Spacecraft SeaStar Spacecraft controls the development, launch and command of the SeaWiFS instrument Fully Operational Testing Begins Thursday, September 18, 1997 Mission Duration Five Years Scientific Objectives Basic ocean biology science problems Estimate oceanic primary production & plant biomass & their variability Evaluate couplings between physical and biological processes Examine role of biological processes in other biochemical cycles Study estuarine & other coastal ecosystems

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