Long-term average chlorophyll-a concentration, 1997–2014
Creator
Environmental Reporting, Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand
Date
2015-10-21
Description
The average concentration of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) in phytoplankton over the period 1997–2014. Concentrations of chl-a in phytoplankton are used to assess primary productivity in our oceans. Phytoplankton are primary producers of biomass and form the basis of the oceans’ food chains.
Source
Source: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
Method: Data are based on measurements from two satellite ocean colour sensors: SeaWiFS and MODIS-Aqua. Chlorophyll-a average concentrations are given in mg/m3. Data for the territorial sea are not shown.
The time series is derived by combining measurements from two satellite ocean colour sensors (SeaWiFS and MODIS-Aqua). The satellite data covered the whole New Zealand region at 9km spatial resolution for the period September 1997 to December 2014. The merged data series between April 2002 and April 2012 was validated using data from a third satellite sensor (MERIS3).
The accuracy of the data source is of high quality.
Note that data from sub-Antarctic waters may be less accurate due to missing observations during the winter period due high cloud cover during winter.
