Biosphere: Ocean chlorophyll-a	Global  |    Ocean only
Color scale for chlorophyll-a at the sea surfacce. Chlorophyll-a is a good indicator of the amount of phytoplankton at the ocean surface. Chlorophyll is the green pigment found in plants, necessary for conducting photosynthesis. To learn more about chlorophyll-a, check out Photosynthetic pigments.
The image above is a six-year average of chlorophyll-a concentration at the sea surface as derived from data collected vua satellite by SeaWiFS program since launch on August 1, 1997. Chlorophyll-a is a good indicator of the biological productivity near the ocean's surface. Where are the lush areas of the sea surface? Where are the sparsely vegetated deserts? This image was provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and ORBIMAGE on December 19, 2003.