A compilation of global bio-optical in situ data for ocean-colour satellite applications

Valente, André and Sathyendranath, Shubha and Brotas, Vanda and Groom, Steve and Grant, Michael and Taberner, Malcolm and Antoine, David and Arnone, Robert and Balch, William M. and Barker, Kathryn and Barlow, Ray and Belanger, Simon and Berthon, Jean François and Besiktepe, Sükrü and Brando, Vittorio and Canuti, Elisabetta and Chavez, Francisco and Claustre, Hervé and Crout, Richard and Frouin, Robert and Garcia-Soto, Carlos and Gibb, Stuart W. and Gould, Richard and Hooker, Stanford and Kahru, Mati and Klein, Holger and Kratzer, Susanne and Loisel, Hubert and McKee, David and Mitchell, Brian G. and Moisan, Tiffany and Muller-Karger, Frank and O'Dowd, Leonie and Ondrusek, Michael and Poulton, Alex J. and Repecaud, Michel and Smyth, Timothy and Sosik, Heidi M. and Twardowski, Michael and Voss, Kenneth and Werdell, Jeremy and Wernand, Marcel and Zibordi, Giuseppe (2016) A compilation of global bio-optical in situ data for ocean-colour satellite applications. Earth System Science Data, 8 (1). pp. 235-252. ISSN 1866-3508 (https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-235-2016)

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Abstract

A compiled set of in situ data is important to evaluate the quality of ocean-colour satellite-data records. Here we describe the data compiled for the validation of the ocean-colour products from the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI). The data were acquired from several sources (MOBY, BOUSSOLE, AERONET-OC, SeaBASS, NOMAD, MERMAID, AMT, ICES, HOT, GePandCO), span between 1997 and 2012, and have a global distribution. Observations of the following variables were compiled: spectral remote-sensing reflectances, concentrations of chlorophyll α, spectral inherent optical properties and spectral diffuse attenuation coefficients. The data were from multi-project archives acquired via the open internet services or from individual projects, acquired directly from data providers. Methodologies were implemented for homogenisation, quality control and merging of all data. No changes were made to the original data, other than averaging of observations that were close in time and space, elimination of some points after quality control and conversion to a standard format. The final result is a merged table designed for validation of satellite-derived ocean-colour products and available in text format. Metadata of each in situ measurement (original source, cruise or experiment, principal investigator) were preserved throughout the work and made available in the final table. Using all the data in a validation exercise increases the number of matchups and enhances the representativeness of different marine regimes. By making available the metadata, it is also possible to analyse each set of data separately. The compiled data are available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.854832 (Valente et al., 2015).