These images illustrate the marked seasonal variations in the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton in the Baja region. The most striking change in the Gulf is from low phytoplankton concentrations in the summer to high phytoplankton concentrations in the fall. This increase is due to upwelling induced by favorable northwest winds in the fall, which also results in phytoplankton abundance on the Pacific side of Baja. Satellite observations have provided the first globally observed patterns of ocean color, previously limited to scattered ship observations in well-traveled sea lanes.
Plans by NASA to continue ocean color research include the analysis of data from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) launched on the SeaStar mission in 1997 and the launch of the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on the EOS Terra and Aqua satellites.
