An ocean-colour time series for use in climate studies: The experience of the ocean-colour climate change initiative (OC-CCI)

View/ Open
Date
2019-10-03Author
Sathyendranath, Shubha
Concept link
Brewin, Robert J. W.
Concept link
Brockmann, Carsten
Concept link
Brotas, Vanda
Concept link
Calton, Ben
Concept link
Chuprin, Andrei
Concept link
Cipollini, Paolo
Concept link
Couto, André B.
Concept link
Dingle, James
Concept link
Doerffer, Roland
Concept link
Donlon, Craig
Concept link
Dowell, Mark
Concept link
Farman, Alex
Concept link
Grant, Michael
Concept link
Groom, Steven
Concept link
Horseman, Andrew
Concept link
Jackson, Thomas
Concept link
Krasemann, Hajo
Concept link
Lavender, Samantha
Concept link
Martinez-Vicente, Victor
Concept link
Mazeran, Constant
Concept link
Melin, Frederic
Concept link
Moore, Timothy S.
Concept link
Müller, Dagmar
Concept link
Regner, Peter
Concept link
Roy, Shovonlal
Concept link
Steele, Chris J.
Concept link
Steinmetz, François
Concept link
Swinton, John
Concept link
Taberner, Malcolm
Concept link
Thompson, Adam
Concept link
Valente, André
Concept link
Zühlke, Marco
Concept link
Brando, Vittorio
Concept link
Feng, Hui
Concept link
Feldman, Gene
Concept link
Franz, Bryan A.
Concept link
Frouin, Robert
Concept link
Gould, Richard
Concept link
Hooker, Stanford B.
Concept link
Kahru, Mati
Concept link
Kratzer, Susanne
Concept link
Mitchell, B. Greg
Concept link
Muller-Karger, Frank E.
Concept link
Sosik, Heidi M.
Concept link
Voss, Kenneth
Concept link
Werdell, Jeremy
Concept link
Platt, Trevor
Concept link
Metadata
Show full item recordCitable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/25066As published
https://doi.org/10.3390/s19194285DOI
10.3390/s19194285Keyword
ocean colour; water-leaving radiance; remote-sensing reflectance; phytoplankton; chlorophyll-a; inherent optical properties; Climate Change Initiative; optical water classes; Essential Climate Variable; uncertainty characterisationAbstract
Ocean colour is recognised as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV) by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS); and spectrally-resolved water-leaving radiances (or remote-sensing reflectances) in the visible domain, and chlorophyll-a concentration are identified as required ECV products. Time series of the products at the global scale and at high spatial resolution, derived from ocean-colour data, are key to studying the dynamics of phytoplankton at seasonal and inter-annual scales; their role in marine biogeochemistry; the global carbon cycle; the modulation of how phytoplankton distribute solar-induced heat in the upper layers of the ocean; and the response of the marine ecosystem to climate variability and change. However, generating a long time series of these products from ocean-colour data is not a trivial task: algorithms that are best suited for climate studies have to be selected from a number that are available for atmospheric correction of the satellite signal and for retrieval of chlorophyll-a concentration; since satellites have a finite life span, data from multiple sensors have to be merged to create a single time series, and any uncorrected inter-sensor biases could introduce artefacts in the series, e.g., different sensors monitor radiances at different wavebands such that producing a consistent time series of reflectances is not straightforward. Another requirement is that the products have to be validated against in situ observations. Furthermore, the uncertainties in the products have to be quantified, ideally on a pixel-by-pixel basis, to facilitate applications and interpretations that are consistent with the quality of the data. This paper outlines an approach that was adopted for generating an ocean-colour time series for climate studies, using data from the MERIS (MEdium spectral Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) sensor of the European Space Agency; the SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide-Field-of-view Sensor) and MODIS-Aqua (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Aqua) sensors from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (USA); and VIIRS (Visible and Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA). The time series now covers the period from late 1997 to end of 2018. To ensure that the products meet, as well as possible, the requirements of the user community, marine-ecosystem modellers, and remote-sensing scientists were consulted at the outset on their immediate and longer-term requirements as well as on their expectations of ocean-colour data for use in climate research. Taking the user requirements into account, a series of objective criteria were established, against which available algorithms for processing ocean-colour data were evaluated and ranked. The algorithms that performed best with respect to the climate user requirements were selected to process data from the satellite sensors. Remote-sensing reflectance data from MODIS-Aqua, MERIS, and VIIRS were band-shifted to match the wavebands of SeaWiFS. Overlapping data were used to correct for mean biases between sensors at every pixel. The remote-sensing reflectance data derived from the sensors were merged, and the selected in-water algorithm was applied to the merged data to generate maps of chlorophyll concentration, inherent optical properties at SeaWiFS wavelengths, and the diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm. The merged products were validated against in situ observations. The uncertainties established on the basis of comparisons with in situ data were combined with an optical classification of the remote-sensing reflectance data using a fuzzy-logic approach, and were used to generate uncertainties (root mean square difference and bias) for each product at each pixel.
Description
© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Sathyendranath, S., Brewin, R. J. W., Brockmann, C., Brotas, V., Calton, B., Chuprin, A., Cipollini, P., Couto, A. B., Dingle, J., Doerffer, R., Donlon, C., Dowell, M., Farman, A., Grant, M., Groom, S., Horseman, A., Jackson, T., Krasemann, H., Lavender, S., Martinez-Vicente, V., Mazeran, C., Melin, F., Moore, T. S., Muller, D., Regner, P., Roy, S., Steele, C. J., Steinmetz, F., Swinton, J., Taberner, M., Thompson, A., Valente, A., Zuhlke, M., Brando, V. E., Feng, H., Feldman, G., Franz, B. A., Frouin, R., Gould, R. W., Hooker, S. B., Kahru, M., Kratzer, S., Mitchell, B. G., Muller-Karger, F. E., Sosik, H. M., Voss, K. J., Werdell, J., & Platt, T. An ocean-colour time series for use in climate studies: The experience of the ocean-colour climate change initiative (OC-CCI). Sensors, 19(19), (2019): 4285, doi: 10.3390/s19194285.
Collections
Suggested Citation
Sathyendranath, S., Brewin, R. J. W., Brockmann, C., Brotas, V., Calton, B., Chuprin, A., Cipollini, P., Couto, A. B., Dingle, J., Doerffer, R., Donlon, C., Dowell, M., Farman, A., Grant, M., Groom, S., Horseman, A., Jackson, T., Krasemann, H., Lavender, S., Martinez-Vicente, V., Mazeran, C., Melin, F., Moore, T. S., Muller, D., Regner, P., Roy, S., Steele, C. J., Steinmetz, F., Swinton, J., Taberner, M., Thompson, A., Valente, A., Zuhlke, M., Brando, V. E., Feng, H., Feldman, G., Franz, B. A., Frouin, R., Gould, R. W., Hooker, S. B., Kahru, M., Kratzer, S., Mitchell, B. G., Muller-Karger, F. E., Sosik, H. M., Voss, K. J., Werdell, J., & Platt, T. (2019). An ocean-colour time series for use in climate studies: The experience of the ocean-colour climate change initiative (OC-CCI). Sensors, 19(19), 4285.The following license files are associated with this item:
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
A compilation of global bio-optical in situ data for ocean-colour satellite applications - version two
Valente, André; Sathyendranath, Shubha; Brotas, Vanda; Groom, Steven; Grant, Michael; Taberner, Malcolm; Antoine, David; Arnone, Robert; Balch, William M.; Barker, Kathryn; Barlow, Ray; Belanger, Simon; Berthon, Jean-François; Besiktepe, Sukru; Borsheim, Yngve; Bracher, Astrid; Brando, Vittorio; Canuti, Elisabetta; Chavez, Francisco P.; Cianca, Andrés; Claustre, Hervé; Clementson, Lesley; Crout, Richard; Frouin, Robert; García-Soto, Carlos; Gibb, Stuart W.; Gould, Richard; Hooker, Stanford B.; Kahru, Mati; Kampel, Milton; Klein, Holger; Kratzer, Susanne; Kudela, Raphael M.; Ledesma, Jesus; Loisel, Hubert; Matrai, Patricia A.; McKee, David; Mitchell, Brian G.; Moisan, Tiffany; Muller-Karger, Frank E.; O'Dowd, Leonie; Ondrusek, Michael; Platt, Trevor; Poulton, Alex J.; Repecaud, Michel; Schroeder, Thomas; Smyth, Timothy; Smythe-Wright, Denise; Sosik, Heidi M.; Twardowski, Michael; Vellucci, Vincenzo; Voss, Kenneth; Werdell, Jeremy; Wernand, Marcel; Wright, Simon; Zibordi, Giuseppe (Copernicus Publications, 2019-07-15)A global compilation of in situ data is useful to evaluate the quality of ocean-colour satellite data records. Here we describe the data compiled for the validation of the ocean-colour products from the ESA Ocean Colour ... -
A compilation of global bio-optical in situ data for ocean-colour satellite applications
Valente, André; Sathyendranath, Shubha; Brotas, Vanda; Groom, Steven; Grant, Michael; Taberner, Malcolm; Antoine, David; Arnone, Robert; Balch, William M.; Barker, Kathryn; Barlow, Ray; Belanger, Simon; Berthon, Jean-François; Besiktepe, Sukru; Brando, Vittorio; Canuti, Elisabetta; Chavez, Francisco P.; Claustre, Hervé; Crout, Richard; Frouin, Robert; García-Soto, Carlos; Gibb, Stuart W.; Gould, Richard; Hooker, Stanford B.; Kahru, Mati; Klein, Holger; Kratzer, Susanne; Loisel, Hubert; McKee, David; Mitchell, Brian G.; Moisan, Tiffany; Muller-Karger, Frank E.; O'Dowd, Leonie; Ondrusek, Michael; Poulton, Alex J.; Repecaud, Michel; Smyth, Timothy; Sosik, Heidi M.; Twardowski, Michael; Voss, Kenneth; Werdell, Jeremy; Wernand, Marcel; Zibordi, Giuseppe (Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2016-06-03)A compiled set of in situ data is important to evaluate the quality of ocean-colour satellite-data records. Here we describe the data compiled for the validation of the ocean-colour products from the ESA Ocean Colour Climate ... -
Coastal ocean circulation influences on remotely sensed optical properties : a West Florida Shelf case study
Weisberg, Robert H.; He, Ruoying; Kirkpatrick, Gary; Muller-Karger, Frank E.; Walsh, John J. (Oceanography Society, 2004-06)Satellite-sensed ocean optical features are derived from a combination of factors, including the concentration of water properties by the ocean circulation and the modifications of these properties by biological and ...