Eastern equatorial Pacific phytoplankton bloom image

[reghe1984]

Hi all,

I am a PhD student at Stockholm University working on eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean paleoceanography. I am about to finish to write my PhD thesis and I would like to have an image of the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean in the cover page. The image should be as the ones in the "Image gallery" ( https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/ ) folder in this web page showing phytoplankton blooms but of the area comprised between ±20° latitude from the equator and between 70°W and 160°W longitude. 

My thesis would greatly benefit from such an image. I would adequately acknowledge Ocean Color and NASA for this.
Thank you Very much.

Best Wishes,
Daniele Reghellin

[OB WebDev - norman]

Hi Daniele,

I make many of the images in the gallery that you refer to, but there are two
factors that you should be aware of regarding those images.  I, for the most part,
choose scenes that are not overly cloudy and that  have relatively high levels of
phytoplankton biomass or other suspended or dissolved constituents.  The region
you are interested in is often cloudy (the intertropical convergence zone runs right
through it), and the ocean there is largely oligotrophic which results in relatively
feature-poor imagery given the signal-to-noise ratios of the orbiting sensors we
use.  Images of the equatorial region are also often plagued by sun glint.

That said, there have occasionally been features that caught my eye in the
tropical Pacific.
https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/feature/AnomalousEasternSouthPacificBlooms/page1.html
https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/feature/AnomalousEquatorialPacificBloom/page3.html

Compositing data over longer time periods can clear cloud cover but does not work
well for quasi-true-color images because of the complicating factors of sun-glint,
atmospheric aerosols, and sub-pixel clouds.  If you don't mind the cloud and glint
patterns for any given single day, you can access true-color images of the Pacific
here.   https://go.nasa.gov/2UlzuRL

Alternatively, you could try your own hand at making images from our data using
SeaDAS (https://seadas.gsfc.nasa.gov/) or other tools of your choosing.  I actually got
my start in image processing because I needed to make ocean-color images for my
own thesis work many years ago.

Regards,
Norman

P.S.
Thanks for starting a new thread.  It's easier for others to find information
when it's posted under an apropos subject heading.

[reghe1984]

Hi Norman,

Thank you very much for your precise description. Wow, these images are fantastic! The first image in the second link you sent me could be good for me as I am looking for an image very close to the Equator (±2° latitude), which is the main focus of my thesis work.

But I will try to make an image myself and see what I get. Sorry for the previous message in the wrong place. I am not use to forums and I didn't really know how to proceed.

Best Wishes,
Daniele

[reghe1984]

Hi Norman,

Sorry for multiple emails,

I downloaded the attached image from the Ocean Color webpage. Do you know the reason why there are some non-coloured areas in the middle of the ocean?

Thank you very much.

Best Regards,
Daniele Reghellin

[OB WebDev - norman]

Hi Daniele,

You forgot to add the attachment to your last post.

Norman

[reghe1984]

Hi Norman,

Sorry about that. Here we go.

Best Regards,

Daniele

[OB WebDev - norman]

Hi Daniele,

Those gaps in coverage are places where no valid pixels were
recorded over the entire compositing period.  The primary cause
of this is persistent cloud cover, but other factors such as sun glint
or heavy aerosol can also sometimes play a role.

Regards,
Norman

[reghe1984]

Hi Norman,

Thank you very nice explanation and for your time.

Regards,
Daniele

[reghe1984]

Hi Norman,

As I told you in a precious mail, I am going to use a detail of an image you sent me previously (https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/feature/AnomalousEquatorialPacificBloom/page3.html) as a cover image of my Ph.D. thesis.

Do I have to ask for some approval to print it in my Ph.D. thesis cover page?

Can you confirm me that the striped haze on the left of the algal bloom is sun glint?

One last thing, if you provide me your full name I will adequately acknowledge you on my thesis.

Thank you agin for your time.

Best Regards,
Daniele Reghellin

[reghe1984]

Is it also possible to have the top image without black latitude/longitude lines?
Regards,
Daniele