OCEAN COLOUR SCENE
Ocean colour data can be used to interpret a range of environmental conditions at sea, including sporadic algal and plankton blooms and longer-term phenomena.
The colour of oceanic seawater depends largely on the number of microscopic phytoplankton, marine plants that live in the well-lit surface layer. Just like land-based plants, phytoplankton accumulate carbon dioxide during photosynthesis and store it in their tissues, making them potentially important carbon sinks.