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Full catalog/MERIS_L2_FRS_OC
MERIS_L2_FRS_OC·v2022.0·dataset

Ocean color and biology, full resolution (ENVISAT MERIS)

ENVISAT MERIS Level-2 Regional Full Resolution, Full Swath (FRS) Ocean Color (OC) Data, version 2022.0
ocean NASA OB_CLOUD Level 2 netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Full-resolution ocean color measurements and derived products, including chlorophyll, water clarity, particulate carbon, and how light reflects off the sea surface.

How it's made. Produced from the MERIS instrument on the ENVISAT satellite by calibrating its readings and correcting for the atmosphere to recover ocean-optics information.

How & where you'd use it. Supports studies of light penetration, ocean productivity, and biogeochemical cycling, helping researchers understand the biology and chemistry of surface waters.

What's measured

Oceans › Ocean Optics › Ocean ColorOceans › Ocean Optics › ReflectanceAtmosphere › Aerosols › Aerosol Optical Depth/ThicknessAtmosphere › Aerosols › Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness › Angstrom ExponentOceans › Ocean Optics › Chlorophyll › Chlorophyll ConcentrationOceans › Ocean Optics › Attenuation/TransmissionOceans › Ocean Chemistry › Organic CarbonOceans › Ocean Chemistry › Inorganic CarbonOceans › Ocean Optics › FluorescenceOceans › Ocean Optics › Photosynthetically Active Radiation

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2002-03-21 → 2012-05-09
  • Measured byENVISAT (MERIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Watch sea-surface temperature and marine heatwaves
  • Spot algal blooms and ocean-colour shifts
  • Support fisheries and coastal monitoring
Official description

The Ocean Color (OC) data suite provides calibrated, atmospherically corrected ocean-optics measurements and derived biogeophysical products. This data suite includes the Apparent Optical Properties (AOP) and provides satellite-derived measures of the interaction between solar radiation and the upper ocean. AOPs are "apparent" because they depend not only on the inherent optical properties (IOPs) of seawater and its constituents but also on the ambient light field. These variables are critical for studying light penetration, primary productivity, and biogeochemical cycling. Geophysical variables in this suite include: - Kd_490 - Diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm, KD2 algorithm (m⁻¹) - Rrs - Remote sensing reflectance (sr⁻¹) - angstrom - Aerosol Angstrom exponent, 443 to 865 nm - chlor_a - Chlorophyll Concentration, OCI Algorithm (mg m⁻³) - l2_flags - Level-2 Processing Flags - aot_865 - Aerosol optical thickness at 865 nm - par - Photosynthetically Available Radiation, R. Frouin (mol m⁻² day⁻¹) - pic - Calcite Concentration, Balch and Gordon (mol m⁻³) - poc - Particulate Organic Carbon, D. Stramski, 2007 (443/555 version) (mg m⁻³)

Get the data

meris_l2_frs_oc_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MERIS_L2_FRS_OC",
    version="2022.0",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from OB_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.