Ships, airplanes, and satellites all play a role in monitoring Chesapeake water quality, algae blooms, and dead zones.
Published Nov 2, 2016
The green color associated with phytoplankton around Greenland is not uniformly distributed, nor are the patterns random.
Published Oct 4, 2016
The dynamic colors of ocean phytoplankton blooms reflect a host of dynamic relationships occurring below the water line.
Published Jan 9, 2015
Like an interesting novel, Landsat 8 provides a good read for a day along the shore.
Published Aug 22, 2014
Native to the tropics of South America, the water hyacinth now thrives on every continent except Europe. It was introduced in Africa around 1879, and 110 years later, established itself on the continent’s largest lake, Lake Victoria.
Published Feb 21, 2007
An ongoing phytoplankton bloom has painted the sea surface in jewel tones.
Published May 12, 2013
A new study found that the abundance of these floating plants has increased due to urbanization.
Published Sep 2, 2020
A flash of blue and green lit the waters off Namibia in early November 2007 as a phytoplankton bloom grew and faded in the Atlantic Ocean. The bloom stretches from north to south along hundreds of kilometers, though it is brightest in the center of this image. Such blooms are common in the coastal waters off southwest Africa where cold, nutrient-rich currents sweep north from Antarctica and interact with the coastal shelf. At the same time, the easterly trade winds push surface water away from the shore, allowing water from the ocean’s floor to rise to the surface, bringing with it iron and other material. The suffusion of nutrients from both the currents and upwelling water creates an environment where tiny surface-dwelling ocean plants (phytoplankton) thrive.
Published Nov 22, 2007
