Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content
  • Feedback

    • NOAA CoastWatch Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Level 1A Data

    Metadata Updated: October 2, 2025

    This dataset consists of satellite measurements of global and regional ocean color data obtained by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), in orbit on the OrbView-2 (formerly SeaStar) platform. The concentration and predominant identity of substances and particles in the euphotic (lighted) zone of the upper ocean influences the apparent color of the ocean, which can range from deep blue to varying shades of green and ruddy brown. Living phytoplankton (which contain chlorophyll and associated photosynthetic pigments), inorganic sediments, detritus (particulate organic matter) and dissolved organic matter all contribute to the color of the ocean. SeaWiFS acquires approximately 15 pole-to-pole orbital swaths of data per day, and approximately 90% of the ocean surface is scanned every two days. The file's content 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. 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.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Date 2025-08-24T14:17:52Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date October 2, 2025
    Reference Date(s) September 1, 1997 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Series
    Metadata Date 2025-08-24T14:17:52Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date October 2, 2025
    Reference Date(s) September 1, 1997 (publication)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:CoastWatch-OC-SeaWiFS-L1A
    Access Constraints Cite as: NOAA CoastWatch (1997). NOAA CoastWatch Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Level 1A Data. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/CoastWatch-OC-SeaWiFS-L1A. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long -60
    Bbox North Lat 65
    Bbox South Lat 8
    Bbox West Long -160
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:CoastWatch-OC-SeaWiFS-L1A
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id e2089763-6199-4feb-9763-80836c2862fa
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public, Publications of research results utilizing these data must acknowledge the SeaWiFS Project and the Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-160.0, 8.0], [-60.0, 8.0], [-60.0, 65.0], [-160.0, 65.0], [-160.0, 8.0]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG:4326
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2004-10-28
    Temporal Extent End 2010-12-11

    Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.