The Tenth Anniversary of SeaWiFS
The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) satellite was launched by NASA in 1997 to study the effect of climate on the world’s oceans. On September 19, NASA recognized the tenth anniversary of the satellite with briefings at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. According to Gene Carl Feldman, SeaWiFS project manager at Goddard, “SeaWiFS allows us to observe ocean changes and the mechanisms linking ocean physics and biology, and that’s important for our ability to predict the future health of the oceans in a changing climate.”
SeaWiFs makes fourteen orbits around the Earth every day to measure, once every forty-eight hours, visible light over all areas of the globe not covered by clouds. A map is then created from colors across the visible light spectrum. Color variations such as shades of blue and green enable scientists to ascertain how the distribution of phytoplankton over the oceans changes at various times and places.
Using information provided by SeaWiFS it was possible for researchers to identify elements influencing the unusual timing of the phytoplankton bloom in the California Current System that resulted in the deaths of seabirds on the Oregon coast. Phytoplankton provides important indications of ocean conditions, contributes to the ocean’s food systems, and absorbs carbon dioxide from the air.
Other research using SeaWiFS to measure biological changes occurring in the seas as a result of the El Nino system was significant as the first instance in which global productivity was measured by just one sensor. Designed to measure just ocean color, the simplicity of the instrument has made it the paradigm for all such ocean monitoring tools.
The monitoring capabilities of the satellite have been shown to be useful to state and federal regulators looking to refine standards for water quality. Before the advent of SeaWiFs technology, water measurement were only infrequently obtained from ships or buoys, while data taken from satellite observations almost daily gives managers a much better idea of changes in coastal waters.
In a broader context, SeaWiFS has dramatically changed the way research is done by students, scientists and educators by being one of the first missions to provide online availability. Advances in data processing and storage made it possible for the mission to catch the wave of the growing popularity of the internet. From its launching in 1997 with a goal of routine monitoring of ocean color to better grasp the connections between ocean and atmosphere, and the ocean’s function in the globe’s carbon cycle, SeaWiFS has been a resounding success.
This entry was posted on Friday, September 21st, 2007 at 8:03 pm and is filed under Mission History, Public Relations, Space Agency News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
