State of the Climate in 2016: Global Ocean Phytoplankton

Marine phytoplankton contribute roughly half the net primary production (NPP) on Earth, fixing atmospheric CO2 into food that fuels global ocean ecosystems and drives biogeochemical cycles. Satellite ocean color sensors, such as SeaWiFS, MODIS, and VIIRS, provide observations of sufficient frequency and geographic coverage to globally monitor changes in the near-surface concentrations of the phytoplankton pigment chlorophyll-a (Chla; mg -cu m) that serve as a proxy for phytoplankton abundance. Here, global Chla distributions for 2016 are evaluated within the context of the 19-year continuous record provided through the combined observations of SeaWiFS (1997–2010), MODIS on Aqua (MODISA, 2002–present), and VIIRS on Suomi-NPP (2011–present). All Chla data used in this analysis correspond to version R2014.0, which utilized common algorithms and calibration methods to maximize consistency in the multi-mission satellite record.