Rich Waters in Puget Sound

Credit: Credit: SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE, Posted on: Friday, 11 July 2003, 06:00 CDT Download full size image

The dark waters of Puget Sound (center) stand out in this image from July 9th, 2003. Although phytoplankton blooms often appear as areas of bright water from space, that is not always the case. Since light is absorbed by the chlorophyll in the tiny plants and converted to energy, thriving phytoplankton can turn ocean water almost black. Compare the true color image (top) with the chlorophyll concentration image (lower). Chlorophyll concentration is proportional to the amount of phytoplankton, and therefore the overall productivity, of ocean water. The highest concentrations of chlorphyll pigment are in the Sound and just along the coast. The bright green waters further offshore contain less phytoplankton. The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) instrument produces imagery like this to help scientists understand the role of the oceans in the carbon cycle.

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