High Resolution Satellite-Derived Ocean Color (Rrs667) Products

Why are they helpful?

Meassure by satellite, maps of ocean color Rrs667 (the remote sensing reflectance at 667 nm) are related to the optical properties of the water and its dissolved and particulate constituents. Rrs667 expresses how light in the red wavelengths (667 nm on MODIS) is reflected from the sea surface depending on the concentration of sediments in the ocean. When the amount of sediments in the water increases, the reflectance of light with wavelength of 667 nm also increases. As a result, regional differences and gradients of this parameter help to define Gulf of Mexico water masses circulation features of interest to decision makers, managers, and scientists.

The map below shows the ocean color (Rrs667) fields in the Gulf of Mexico using a 3-day composite of MODIS/Aqua data from CoastWatch Caribbean Regional Node. This 36-band satellite sensor is a primary source of ocean color data since its launch in May 4th, 2002. Gray areas indicate regions covered by clouds obscuring the view of the ocean surface from the satellite sensors.

Sea surface color (Rrs667) in the Gulf of Mexico from MODIS/Aqua

For color fields on previous dates:

To see an animation of the color field, please select one of the month below:


Data source: NOAA CoastWatch

The map below shows the ocean color (Rrs667) fields in the Gulf of Mexico using a 3-day composite of MODIS/Terra data from CoastWatch Caribbean Regional Node. Gray areas indicate regions covered by clouds obscuring the view of the ocean surface from the satellite sensors.

Sea surface color (Rrs667) in the Gulf of Mexico from MODIS/Terra

For color fields on previous dates:

To see an animation of the color field, please select one of the month below:


Data source: NOAA CoastWatch