Copernicus Satellite Ocean Color Daily Data

  • This dataset offers global daily estimates of ocean surface chlorophyll-a concentration and remote sensing reflectance from multiple satellite sensors.

  • Remote-sensing reflectance is the ratio of water-leaving radiance to downwelling irradiance and is crucial for deriving other ocean colour products.

  • Chlorophyll-a, a key photosynthetic pigment in phytoplankton, is estimated from remote sensing reflectance data using various algorithms.

  • The dataset includes merged sensor products from SeaWiFS, MERIS, MODIS Aqua, VIIRS, and OLCI, with data only available over cloud and ice-free areas.

  • The dataset is produced using software developed by the ESA Climate Change Initiative project and is available under the CC-BY licence.
COPERNICUS/MARINE/SATELLITE_OCEAN_COLOR/V6
Dataset Availability
1997-01-01T00:00:00Z–2024-12-31T00:00:00Z
Dataset Provider
Earth Engine Snippet
ee.ImageCollection("COPERNICUS/MARINE/SATELLITE_OCEAN_COLOR/V6")
Cadence
1 Day
Tags
chlorophyll-a copernicus daily marine oceans

Description

This dataset provides global daily estimates of ocean surface chlorophyll-a concentration and remote sensing reflectance derived from multiple satellite sensors.

Remote-sensing reflectance (or Rrs) is defined as the ratio of water-leaving radiance to downwelling irradiance and serves as the main input to algorithms used to derive other ocean colour products. Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) is the main photosynthetic pigment found in phytoplankton, which form the base of the marine food-web and are responsible for approximately half of the global photosynthesis. Chl-a can be estimated from Rrs data using different algorithms (see details in the Documentation). Here, we provide a blended Chl-a estimate from multiple algorithms, where blending is based on the suitability of each candidate algorithm to the optical typology of a given pixel. This approach provides the best estimates of global Chl-a across a range of water types.

The files from this dataset contain global daily composites of merged sensor products: SeaWiFS, MERIS, MODIS Aqua, VIIRS, and (from version 5.0 onward) OLCI. Note that Rrs and Chl-a data are only available over cloud- and ice-free areas. As a result, more complete spatial coverage (as shown in the map in the upper-right corner) can be achieved by aggregating data over longer time periods.

This dataset is produced using the processing chain software developed by the Ocean Colour component of the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative project (ESA OC-CCI). More details are available in the dataset documentation.

Bands

Pixel Size
4000 meters

Bands

Name Units Min Max Pixel Size Description
MERIS_nobs 0.11 135.55 meters

Number of observations from MERIS sensor
MODISA_nobs 0.11 126.33 meters

Number of observations from MODIS-A sensor
OLCI-A_nobs 0.11 121 meters

Number of observations from OLCI-A sensor
OLCI-B_nobs 0.11 121 meters

Number of observations from OLCI-B sensor
SeaWiFS_nobs 0.11 61.77 meters

Number of observations from SeaWiFS sensor
VIIRS_nobs 0.11 236.44 meters

Number of observations from VIIRS sensor
chlor_a mg/m^3 0 99.9 meters

Chlorophyll-a concentration
total_nobs 0.11 329.77 meters

Total number of observations
Rrs_412 sr^-1 0 0.26 meters

Remote sensing reflectance at 412 nm
Rrs_443 sr^-1 0 0.28 meters

Remote sensing reflectance at 443 nm
Rrs_490 sr^-1 0 0.38 meters

Remote sensing reflectance at 490 nm
Rrs_510 sr^-1 0 0.39 meters

Remote sensing reflectance at 510 nm
Rrs_560 sr^-1 0 0.402 meters

Remote sensing reflectance at 560 nm
Rrs_665 sr^-1 0 0.21 meters

Remote sensing reflectance at 665 nm
Rrs_MERIS_nobs 0.11 135.55 meters

Number of observations from MERIS sensor
Rrs_MODISA_nobs 0.11 126.33 meters

Number of observations from MODIS-A sensor
Rrs_OLCI-A_nobs 0.11 121 meters

Number of observations from OLCI-A sensor
Rrs_OLCI-B_nobs 0.11 121 meters

Number of observations from OLCI-B sensor
Rrs_SeaWiFS_nobs 0.11 61.77 meters

Number of observations from SeaWiFS sensor
Rrs_VIIRS_nobs 0.11 236.44 meters

Number of observations from VIIRS sensor
Rrs_total_nobs 0.11 329.77 meters

Total number of observations from RRS sensors

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

This dataset is released for use under the CC-BY licence. Highlights and key features of the licence are provided in this document. License.

Citations

Citations:

  • Copernicus Climate Change Service (2019): Ocean colour daily data from 1997 to present derived from satellite observations. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS). doi:10.24381/cds.f85b319d

Explore with Earth Engine

Code Editor (JavaScript)

var dataset = ee.ImageCollection('COPERNICUS/MARINE/SATELLITE_OCEAN_COLOR/V6')
                  .filter(ee.Filter.date('2024-06-01', '2024-07-01'));
var chlorA = dataset.select('chlor_a');
var chlorAVis = {
  min: 0,
  max: 1,
  palette: ['blue', 'purple', 'cyan', 'green', 'yellow', 'red'],
};
Map.setCenter(71, 52, 2);
Map.addLayer(
    chlorA, chlorAVis,
    'Chlorophyll-a concentration');
Open in Code Editor
This dataset provides global daily estimates of ocean surface chlorophyll-a concentration and remote sensing reflectance derived from multiple satellite sensors. Remote-sensing reflectance (or Rrs) is defined as the ratio of water-leaving radiance to downwelling irradiance and serves as the main input to algorithms used to derive other ocean colour products. …
COPERNICUS/MARINE/SATELLITE_OCEAN_COLOR/V6, chlorophyll-a,copernicus,daily,marine,oceans
1997-01-01T00:00:00Z/2024-12-31T00:00:00Z
-90 -180 90 180
Google Earth Engine