The purpose of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS)
Project is to provide quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical
properties to the Earth science community. Subtle changes in ocean
color signify various types and quantities of marine phytoplankton
(microscopic marine plants), the knowledge of which has both scientific
and practical applications. The SeaWiFS Project will develop and
operate a research data system that will process, calibrate, validate,
archive and distribute data received from an Earth-orbiting ocean color
sensor. A detailed description of the objectives, organization and operations
as well as the current status of the SeaWiFS Project is available.
The SeaWiFS Mission is a part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, which is designed to look at our planet from space to better understand it as a system in both behavior and evolution.
The concentration of microscopic marine plants, called
phytoplankton, can be derived from satellite observation and
quantification of ocean color. This is due to the fact that the
color in most of the world's oceans in the visible light region,
(wavelengths of 400-700 nm) varies with the concentration of
chlorophyll and other plant pigments present in the water, i.e.,
the more phytoplankton present, the greater the concentration
of plant pigments and the greener the water.
Ocean color data have been deemed critical by the
oceanographic community for the study of ocean primary
production and global biogeochemistry.
Since an 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
assess the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle and the
exchange of other critical elements and gases between the
atmosphere and the ocean.
SeaWiFS will operate as a follow-on sensor to the
Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS), which ceased operations in
1986. In the first arrangement of its kind, the Government will
procure space-based environmental remote sensing data
for research purposes from a commercial operator. Orbital
Sciences Corporation (OSC) will integrate SeaWiFS into its
SeaStar spacecraft and will market the data for commercial and
operational use following launch.
The following icons provide links to short mpeg animations showing (1) the SeaStar Spacecraft, (2) simulated daily SeaWiFS coverage, (3) the lunar calibration procedure and (4) and actual Pegasus launch.
To learn more about the SeaWIFS Project, take a look at the
SeaWiFS Project Information Page
gene carl feldman (301) 286-9428