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Full catalog/PACE_OCI_L2_BGC
PACE_OCI_L2_BGC·v3.1·dataset

Ocean chemistry and biology measures (PACE)

PACE OCI Level-2 Regional Ocean Biogeochemical Properties Data, version 3.1
ocean NASA OB_CLOUD Level 2 active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Biological and chemical properties of the upper ocean, including chlorophyll-a, the amount of carbon stored in phytoplankton, and particulate organic carbon, each with an uncertainty estimate.

How it's made. Produced from the PACE satellite's Ocean Color Instrument after correcting the raw color measurements for the atmosphere.

How & where you'd use it. Helps characterize ocean carbon pools and ecosystem status, supporting research into marine biology and the ocean's role in the carbon cycle.

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 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) - l2_flags — Level-2 processing flags (bitmask; see per-variable attributes for flag_masks and flag_meanings)

Get the data

pace_oci_l2_bgc_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="PACE_OCI_L2_BGC",
    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.