NASA's OceanColor Web is supported by the Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Our responsibilities include the collection, processing, calibration, validation, archive and distribution of ocean-related products from a large number of operational, satellite-based remote-sensing missions providing ocean color, sea surface temperature and sea surface salinity data to the international research community since 1996.

Ocean Color Feature

Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. Weather systems and strong winds in the Persian Gulf influence water circulation and mixing, which can cause blooms while phytoplankton productivity in the Gulf of Oman is heavily influenced by the coming and going of the monsoon and related upwelling. Although the Strait of Hormuz sits at the boundary of these two systems, past research showed phytoplankton species in the strait are more similar to those in the Gulf of Oman. Read more...

See more scenes captured by SeaHawk/HawkEye instrument in the HawkEye Image Gallery. (Image Credit: Alan Holmes, the Hawkeye Instrument Engineer.)

Visit the Ocean Color Image Gallery Archive for additional ocean color features.