instrument à grand champ pour l'observation des mers

CONT: Winds blowing southward along the west coast of the United States -- because of friction and the effects of Earth's rotation -- cause the surface layer of the ocean to move away from the coast. As the surface water moves offshore, cold, nutrient-rich water upwells from below to replace it. This upwelling fuels the growth of marine phytoplankton which, along with larger seaweeds, in turn nourish the incredible diversity of creatures found along the northern and central California coast. Sensors such as SeaWiFS can ""see"" the effects of this upwelling-related productivity because the chlorophyll-bearing phytoplankton reflect predominantly green light back into space as opposed to the water itself which reflects predominantly blue wavelengths back to space.
OBS: The purpose of the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project is to provide quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties to the Earth science community.