Earth Data School
About
Full catalog/PACE_OCI_L3M_CHL
PACE_OCI_L3M_CHL·v3.1·dataset

Tiny ocean plants, world map (chlorophyll, PACE)

PACE OCI Level-3 Global Mapped Chlorophyll (CHL) Data, version 3.1
ocean NASA OB_CLOUD Level 3 active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. A global map of chlorophyll-a concentration in surface waters, which stands in for how much phytoplankton (tiny ocean plants) is present, assembled into gridded composites.

How it's made. Produced from the PACE satellite's Ocean Color Instrument and gridded into a worldwide map after atmospheric correction.

How & where you'd use it. Supports tracking ocean plant life over time, spotting unusual blooms or anomalies, fisheries and ecosystem work, and teaching; coastal and inland waters carry more uncertainty.

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 CONCENTRATIONSBIOSPHERE › ECOSYSTEMS › AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS › PLANKTON › PHYTOPLANKTON

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2024-03-05 → ongoing
  • Measured byPACE (OCI)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • 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 Chlorophyll-a data suite provides global, gridded composites of surface chlorophyll-a concentration (a proxy for phytoplankton biomass). CHL supports time-series and climatologies, anomaly detection, ecosystem and fisheries applications, and teaching/training, and pairs well with AVW, PAR, Kd(490), SST, and winds for environmental context. Note: retrievals in optically complex coastal/inland waters may carry higher uncertainty—refer to the mission/algorithm documentation (e.g., OCx/OCI) for details. Geophysical variables in this suite include: - chlor_a — Chlorophyll-a concentration (mg m⁻³)

Get the data

pace_oci_l3m_chl_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="PACE_OCI_L3M_CHL",
    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.