SeaWiFS Sensor Marks Five Years Documenting Earth's Dynamic Biosphere
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July 31, 2002
In the last five years, scientists have been able to monitor our changing planet in ways never before possible. The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS), aboard the OrbView-2 satellite, has given researchers an unprecedented view of the biological engine that drives life on Earth -- the countless forms of plants that cover the land and fill the oceans. "There is no question the Earth is changing. SeaWiFS has enabled us, for the first time, to monitor the biological consequences of that change -- to see how the things we do, as well as natural variability, affect the Earth's ability to support life," said Gene Carl Feldman, SeaWiFS project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. SeaWiFS data, based on continuous daily global observations, have helped scientists make a more accurate assessment of the oceans' role in the global carbon cycle. The data provide a key parameter in a number of ecological and environmental studies as well as global climate-change modeling. The images of the Earth's changing land, ocean and atmosphere from SeaWiFS have documented many previously unrecognized phenomena. SeaWiFS has supported a large number of educational and environmental programs. The SeaWiFS record also marks the first time the abundance of terrestrial and oceanic vegetation has been measured globally by a single instrument, making this the most complete and consistent data set available. The five-year record from SeaWiFS provides a new baseline measurement for global photosynthesis, the primary pathway through which carbon enters the Earth's biosphere. NASA plans to continue this biological record using observations from Terra, launched in December 1999, and Aqua, launched in May 2002. These satellites allow U.S. scientists to examine practically every aspect of Earth's atmosphere, oceans and continents from space in an unprecedented way. SeaWiFS was launched August 1, 1997, and has been continually collecting data since September 18, 1997. The sensor is carried on the OrbView-2 spacecraft, operated by Orbital Imaging Corporation (ORBIMAGE) of Dulles, Va. NASA acquires SeaWiFS data through an innovative commercial data-purchase partnership with ORBIMAGE. Research on the Earth's biosphere using SeaWiFS and other space-based capabilities is conducted by NASA's Earth Science Enterprise to better understand and protect our home planet. Additional information is available on the Internet at: ### Contacts: David E. Steitz
Cynthia M. O'Carroll
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Pulse of the PlanetIf the Earth had a heartbeat, it's pulse has just been taken. Using fives years of continual data from an orbiting instrument called SeaWiFS, NASA scientists have amassed a first look at how carbon moves through the biosphere. Carbon is one of the most essential elements for life, and experts say that this research is a major step in the effort to monitor overall planetary health, from climate change to the rhythms of life in oceans and on land. This web page highlights the most remarkable and graceful participants in this dance of life. Animation [3.8 MB MPEG] 
Harmful Algae BloomEvery good plankton needs an evil twin. For phytoplankton it's red tide. March 28, 2001, scientists at NASA released satellite pictures of a cloud of algae that was blamed for killing hundreds of tons salmon in the Atlantic. The culprit: a slimy, green algae called chattonella that smothered the fish, killing 700 tons off arm-raised salmon. The harmful algae bloom (HAB) was first detected on March 19, 2001. In the animation, the first image is a "true-color" shot of the area; the second image is color enhanced, where the red indicates high concentrations of the poisonous chattonella algae along with phytoplankton. Animation of Bloom [1.2 MB MPEG] 
Launch of SeaWiFSSeaWiFS blasted into space August 1, 1997 on board the Orbview 2 satellite. Dropped from an airplane at 40,000 feet, a Pegasus rocket lifted the satellite to its initial, parking orbit of 278 kilometers. Through a series of rocket firings, the satellite's orbit was slowly raised to its operational altitude of 705 kilometers above the earth. SeaWiFS is considered a low cost mission, many orders of magnitude less expensive than other Earth observing instruments. In scientific terms, however, this little instrument has proved to be one of the space agency's star performers, it's highly focused mission parameters netting huge scientific returns for researchers studying a wide variety of questions. Animation of Launch [1 MB MPEG] Related Links SeaWiFS Project SeaWiFS Imagery @ Visible Earth GSFC PAO Coverage |