• Credit:

  MODIS Instrument Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,

In this series of MODIS images taken over the Arabian Sea, we first see high concentrations of chlorophyll in red tones and lower concentrations in shades of blue. These colors are associated with high and low concentrations of phytoplankton in the ocean. In the next image, we see levels of fluorescence, a measurement capability unique to MODIS. By comparing those two quantities, we can see the degree of photosynthetic activity that is occurring in the region. In the third image, the highest amounts of photosynthetic activity are in blue and the lower ones are in red.

Images & Animations

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• Database Updated: May 22, 2013