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NOAA CoastWatch Near Real-time Ocean Color Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Products

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 08:03 AM | Dataset Last Updated: September 04, 1997 at 12:00 AM
NOAA CoastWatch produces near real-time ocean color products, e.g., chlorophyll-a concentration and turbidity (reflectance), with data from NASA's GeoEye's Orbview-2 satellite (via contractual purchase). The data is collected by selected HRPT ground stations. The level 1A data consists of raw radiance counts from eight bands (six in visible and two in near infrared spectrum), calibration data, navigation data, instrument telemetry and selected spacecraft telemetry. Each level 2 satellite specific product has unique characteristics dependent on the sensor and the algorithm applied. While level 2 historic data is open to the public, level 1 data is restricted to users covered by SeaWiFS CoastWatch contract due to limitations associated with commercial data. The OrbView-2 spacecraft, which carried the SeaWiFS instrument, stopped communicating with Earth-based data stations in December 2010. After several months of attempts to revive the link, GeoEye, the company that operated the spacecraft, officially ended any further attempts at recovery.

Resources

6 resources available

  • Order

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  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

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  • https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/SeaWiFS/

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  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Ocean Ecology Laboratory, Ocean Biology Processing Group. Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Data; NASA OB.DAAC, Greenbelt, MD, USA. https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/seawifs/. Accessed on 11/13/2019

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  • GCMD Keyword Forum Page

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  • NCEI Contact Information

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CHLOROPHYLL PIGMENTS turbidity WATER COLOR SeaWiFS biological optical physical

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.info@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description NOAA CoastWatch produces near real-time ocean color products, e.g., chlorophyll-a concentration and turbidity (reflectance), with data from NASA's GeoEye's Orbview-2 satellite (via contractual purchase). The data is collected by selected HRPT ground stations. The level 1A data consists of raw radiance counts from eight bands (six in visible and two in near infrared spectrum), calibration data, navigation data, instrument telemetry and selected spacecraft telemetry. Each level 2 satellite specific product has unique characteristics dependent on the sensor and the algorithm applied. While level 2 historic data is open to the public, level 1 data is restricted to users covered by SeaWiFS CoastWatch contract due to limitations associated with commercial data. The OrbView-2 spacecraft, which carried the SeaWiFS instrument, stopped communicating with Earth-based data stations in December 2010. After several months of attempts to revive the link, GeoEye, the company that operated the spacecraft, officially ended any further attempts at recovery.
distribution 
[
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Order",
    "accessURL": "https://www.class.noaa.gov/saa/products/search?sub_id=0&datatype_family=OC_NOVIIRS",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "These data are available through NOAA's Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS). Use the CLASS web interface to search for and order data by temporal, spatial and and other product-specific criteria. You may also create a subscription to order data on a regular basis.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/CoastWatch-OC-SeaWiFS",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/SeaWiFS/",
    "accessURL": "https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/SeaWiFS/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "historical web site",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Ocean Ecology Laboratory, Ocean Biology Processing Group. Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Data; NASA OB.DAAC, Greenbelt, MD, USA. https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/seawifs/. Accessed on 11/13/2019",
    "accessURL": "https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/seawifs/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "SeaWiFS Data",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
    "accessURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Contact Information",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Information for contacts at NCEI.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions/iso/xml/CoastWatch-OC-SeaWiFS.xml
issued 1997-09-04T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "CHLOROPHYLL",
  "PIGMENTS",
  "turbidity",
  "WATER COLOR",
  "SeaWiFS",
  "biological",
  "optical",
  "physical",
  "satellite data",
  "OrbView-2",
  "NOAA CoastWatch (CoastWatch)",
  "Bering Sea - Coastal Waters of Western Alaska",
  "Caribbean Sea",
  "Chukchi Sea - NW Coast of Alaska",
  "Coastal Waters of Hawaii",
  "Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia",
  "Coastal Waters of Western U.S.",
  "Great Lakes",
  "Gulf of Alaska",
  "Gulf of Mexico",
  "oceanography",
  "satelliteObservation",
  "DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NODC > National Oceanographic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > CHLOROPHYLL",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > PIGMENTS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > PIGMENTS > CHLOROPHYLL",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN OPTICS > OCEAN COLOR",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN OPTICS > TURBIDITY",
  "concentration_of_chlorophyll_in_sea_water",
  "SeaWiFS > Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor",
  "OrbView-2 > Orbital Sciences Corporation OrbView-2 Satellite",
  "OrbView-2 (ICES code: 33QS, 1997-2010)",
  "CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > CANADA > GREAT LAKES, CANADA",
  "CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA > ALASKA",
  "CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA > GREAT LAKES",
  "OCEAN > ARCTIC OCEAN > CHUKCHI SEA",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > CARIBBEAN SEA",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF AMERICA",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF MEXICO",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN > HAWAIIAN ISLANDS",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN > BERING SEA",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN > GULF OF ALASKA",
  "Eastern Tropical Pacific",
  "North Alaska",
  "Sitka, Alaska",
  "South Alaska",
  "U.S. North-East Coast",
  "U.S. South-East Coast",
  "U.S. West Coast",
  "West Alaska",
  "1.13 km, L1A LAC, at nadir",
  "4.5 km, L1A and L2 GAC, at nadir",
  "Level 1a",
  "Level 2"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 1997-09-04T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
[
  "https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/SeaWiFS/",
  "https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/seawifs/"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial -60.0,8.0,-160.0,65.0
temporal 1997-09-04T00:00:00+00:00/2010-12-11T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title NOAA CoastWatch Near Real-time Ocean Color Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Products

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