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Full catalog/PACE_OCI_L2_BGC_NRT
PACE_OCI_L2_BGC_NRT·v3.1·dataset

Ocean chemistry and biology measures, live (PACE)

PACE OCI Level-2 Regional Ocean Biogeochemical Properties - Near Real-time (NRT) Data, version 3.1
ocean NASA OB_CLOUD Level 2 active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Quick-turnaround estimates of ocean biology and chemistry near the surface, including how much chlorophyll (a marker for tiny plant-like plankton) is present, the amount of carbon stored in those plankton, and the amount of organic carbon particles floating in the water.

How it's made. Derived from PACE's ocean-color camera shortly after each pass, using best-available (rather than final, fully calibrated) supporting data for speed.

How & where you'd use it. Gives a fast snapshot of ocean ecosystem health and carbon for applications that can't wait for the polished version, such as monitoring plankton blooms and ocean conditions.

What's measured

OCEANS › OCEAN OPTICS › CHLOROPHYLL › CHLOROPHYLL CONCENTRATIONBIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › CHLOROPHYLLOCEANS › OCEAN CHEMISTRY › CHLOROPHYLLOCEANS › OCEAN CHEMISTRY › PIGMENTS › CHLOROPHYLLTERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE › WATER QUALITY/WATER CHEMISTRY › WATER CHARACTERISTICS › CHLOROPHYLL CONCENTRATIONSTERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE › WATER QUALITY/WATER CHEMISTRY › WATER CHARACTERISTICS › ORGANIC MATTEROCEANS › OCEAN CHEMISTRY › ORGANIC CARBONOCEANS › OCEAN CHEMISTRY › CARBONBIOSPHERE › ECOSYSTEMS › AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS › PLANKTON › PHYTOPLANKTONEARTH SCIENCE SERVICES › ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORIES › HYDROLOGICAL ADVISORIES › WATER QUALITYTERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE › SURFACE WATER

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2024-03-05 → ongoing
  • Measured byPACE (OCI)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

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 Biology DAAC produces near real-time (NRT) products using the best-available combination of ancillary data from meteorological and ozone data. As such, the inputs and the calibration used are less than optimal. Near real-time products provide a snapshot of the data during a short time period within a single orbit. The Ocean Color Biogeochemical (OC_BGC) suite provides satellite-derived biogeochemical properties of the upper ocean, produced from calibrated, atmospherically corrected ocean-color inputs from PACE_OCI. These products characterize carbon pools and ecosystem status. Geophysical variables in this suite include: - carbon_phyto — Phytoplankton carbon biomass (mg m⁻³) - carbon_phyto_unc — Phytoplankton carbon biomass standard uncertainty (mg m⁻³) - chlor_a — Chlorophyll-a concentration (mg m⁻³) - chlor_a_unc — Chlorophyll-a concentration uncertainty (mg m⁻³) - poc — Particulate Organic Carbon (mg m⁻³) ARRAY(0x55d8ccb615f8)

Get the data

pace_oci_l2_bgc_nrt_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="PACE_OCI_L2_BGC_NRT",
    version="3.1",
    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.