June 20, 2016 - Phytoplankton blooms in the North Sea

Phytoplankton blooms in the North Sea

The North Sea spring phytoplankton bloom continued through mid-June 2016, coloring the ocean between the United Kingdom and Denmark with swirls of jewel-toned colors. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured this true-color image on June 4.

Spring blooms are common here, and also in areas of the North Atlantic west of this image. That is where scientists with the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) set out earlier this spring to study the largest bloom on the planet. In large numbers, these tiny organisms are important for the marine food chain and also play a role in local and global climate.

NASA's Earth Observatory website published an article on the NAAMES study on June 12, 2016. To read more about the study and the North Atlantic phytoplankton bloom, go to: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=88185 .

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 6/4/2016
Resolutions: 1km (138.6 KB), 500m (469.1 KB), 250m (1.1 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC