Near Real Time Operational Satellite Ocean Color Products

Near real time (NRT) ocean color (OC) satellite operation products are generated and distributed in NOAA Okeanos Operational Product System with 8x5 support, by using the CoastWatch Automatic Processing Software (CWAPS) including the Multi-Sensor Level (MSL) 12 algorithm and the chlorophyll-a frontal algorithm. Current OC operational products include daily chlorophyll concentration (anomaly), water turbidity, remote sensing reflectance and chlorophyll frontal products from Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Aqua. The products have been widely applied to USA local and state ecosystem research, ecosystem observations, and fisheries managements for coastal and regional forecasting of ocean water quality, phytoplankton concentrations, and primary production. Our primary users include National Ocean Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Weather Service, and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Recently, the OC products are being extended to Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) to provide global NRT ocean color products to user community such as National Weather Service for application for Global Data Assimilation System and Real-Time Ocean Forecast System. Recently, a comprehensive Quality Assurance (QA) tool, including the GUI and web-based monitoring tools, has been developed to monitor Okeanos system performance, OC products processing and quality (http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/color_new/color.htm). The QA tool includes the following advanced features applicable for MODIS/Aqua, NPP/VIIRS, and JPSS/VIIRS OC products. 1) Monitoring system performance, product processing, and product quality in near real time; 2) Monitoring the performance and stability of the system; 3) Monitoring the availability and quality of OC products with time; 4) Detecting anomalous OC products due to low valid pixels, deficient OC algorithm; 5) Notifying users of suspicious OC products problems. Therefore, the Okeanos ocean color operational system in combination with the new QA monitoring tool can efficiently provide the high quality of satellite operational OC products to the user community.