PACE Chlorophyll-a March 2024 – present (8 Day Average)

Overview Chlorophyll Index Red Edge (CIRE) product from the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). CIRE describes the canopy content of chlorophyll in terrestrial vegetation. CIRE is calculated as (R800/R705)-1, where R800 is the surface reflectance at 800 nanometers (nm) and R705 is the reflectance at 705 nm (Gitelson et al. 2005). Data provided as global, 8-day averages mapped to a standard, equal-angle, latitude-longitude grid of 0.02 degrees, which equates to ~2 kilometers (km) at the equator. Data has been corrected for atmospheric scattering and absorption. Pixels with no data values are masked (excluded) due to presence of water, cloud cover, or other features marked by quality control flags as described below. Data Layer Summary Name, units Chlorophyll Red Edge Index (CIRE) Measure of canopy chlorophyll content using red edge (near infrared) surface reflectance measurements, describes plant health and abundance. CIRE is unitless. Spatial resolution 2 km2 Level-3, mapped to a standard grid, global coverage Time Resolution 8 day average Each pixel represents an average of the valid, daily values observed within that grid element during the 8-day interval (approx 1 week). Note: 8 day average data layer is calculated from daily, "refined" (archive-quality) Level 3 PACE CIRE products available here from NASA Earthdata in NetCDF format. Earthdata account required. Each NetCDF file includes all 10 PACE vegetation indexes, including CIRE. Data Version Version 3.1 Data versions change as improved calibration, validation, algorithm refinements, etc are applied over time. See Version 3.1 Release Notes for details. Latency ~1 month This imagery service provides “refined” (archive-quality) PACE data products from March 2024-present, which have an approx 1 month latency. Note: Daily, “near real time (NRT)” Level 3 PACE CIRE products with less than approximately 24-48 hour latency available here from NASA Earthdata in NetCDF format. Earthdata account required. Each NetCDF file includes all 10 PACE vegetation indexes, including CIRE. Intended Use: What can I do with this layer? There are three major classes of plant pigments: chlorophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins. The Chlorophyll Index Red Edge (CIRE) is related to vegetation chlorophyll content, a proxy of plant abundance. Chlorophyll content controls potential photosynthesis and provides an indirect estimate of plant nutrient status (Ustin et al. 2009). The time (8 day average) and space (2km2) resolution of this data layer enables weekly to seasonal and annual insight at local to global scales.   Limitations of Use: What should I know about the data? Data Status (Maturity): This product is provisional, which means that product results have been reviewed and are in family with heritage data products or other basis of expectation, but have not yet been extensively validated and so may still contain significant errors. Data layer is sufficient for qualitative determinations of product fitness-for-purpose, for testing by operational users, and may be suitable for scientific publication. Data Masking: This is a Level 3, globally-binned product from NASA’s Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG). By default, OBPG Level 3 data values are masked (value is set to null, or no data) according to a standard set of quality control parameters. Please see Level 3 Algorithm Usage Constraints for masking parameter details. Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD): See ATBD for algorithm details including scientific theory, calculations, etc. https://doi.org/10.5067/8L77O0Y8GHV8.   Where do I go with further questions? Visit NASA’s Earthdata Forum where users can post questions that are answered by the personnel working at NASA with the PACE mission and/or the Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC) that processes and distributes PACE data. First, follow this link to view only “PACE” and “OBDAAC” tagged questions on the Earthdata Forum. Then search and read through previous posts for your question. If it has not yet been asked please post your question in the Forum and be sure "PACE" and "OBDAAC" filter tags are applied.     Mission and Product Background PACE Mission Overview: Launched in February 2024, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory uniquely provides near-daily, hyperspectral coverage of Earth’s surface, plus hyperspectral and hyperangular polarimetry. PACE is a comprehensive Earth System mission, delivering all new, space-based information on the health and diversity of aquatic and terrestrial life (algae, plants), aerosol properties & modes (e.g. smoke, dust), cloud types, and more. The Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), PACE's primary sensor, is a hyperspectral (5 nm resolution) imaging spectrometer that measures properties of light from the ultraviolet (UV, 340 nm) through visible and near infrared (NIR, 895 nm) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum in 1.25 to 2.5 nm steps, plus 7 shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands (Werdell et al. 2019). Observations from OCI are moderate spatial resolution (1.2 km2), enabling a relatively frequent revisit time of 1-2 days. This combination of continuous, global coverage and spectral capabilities is unmatched by any other satellite platform, public or private. PACE benefits society by expanding our foundational knowledge of Earth and enabling novel, space-based science and applications tools across water resources (e.g. fisheries), air quality, land monitoring & management, and more.   Terrestrial Remote Sensing from an Ocean Color Sensor? Designed and optimized to operate across a broad dynamic range, from the dark target of the ocean to bright, highly reflective cloud tops, PACE’s OCI also collects surface reflectance data from the world's terrestrial environments across 122 bands, resolving spectral properties of the Earth more finely than previous multispectral missions could achieve. Work thus far has demonstrated viability of OCI’s land data products for terrestrial investigations (Caplan et al. 2025). OCI’s coverage and capabilities enable provision of both novel, hyperspectral-enabled land observations as well as maintenance and extension of certain historical multispectral data records. Advanced vegetation indexes (VIs) enabled by OCI’s narrow-wavelength surface reflectance measurements provide continuous, synoptic insights into foliar pigment amounts (chlorophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins), water content, and photosynthetic light use efficiency across the globe each day. Heritage VIs (e.g., normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI; reviewed in Huang et al. 2021) can also be calculated by aggregating (averaging) OCI’s narrow bandwidths across ranges that approximate the multi-spectral, broadband reflectances of instruments such as MODIS, see the Mathematical Theory section of the ATBD for details. See the full list of heritage and hyperspectral-enabled VIs produced by PACE here.   What other PACE data layers are available? This data layer is 1 of 11 PACE products initially selected for the Living Atlas catalog from the mission’s comprehensive aquatic, atmospheric, and terrestrial product catalog. Click here to view all 11 PACE Living Atlas imagery services. The Level 3, 122-band hyperspectral surface reflectance data (SFREFL) used to derive all VIs is available from NASA Earthdata to download at 2 kilometer resolution in NetCDF format. To access PACE mission data products available from NASA, first learn about PACE data access here, next decide which PACE product(s) you would like to use, then go to NASA Earthdata to find PACE products in NetCDF format, which can be downloaded and then imported into ArcGIS. An Earthdata account is needed to download data from NASA, sign up here. To learn about using Earthdata Search to find data, watch this tutorial.   How can I stay up to date with the PACE mission?   Join the PACE Community for mission news, events, new product release announcements, and to receive our newsletters. Would you like to see imagery services for more PACE products? Please let us know here.   References: Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document: https://doi.org/10.5067/8L77O0Y8GHV8 Caplan, S. and Huemmrich, K. F. (2025) Unveiling PACE OCI’s hyperspectral terrestrial data products. Remote Sensing Letters, 16(4), 422–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/2150704X.2025.2470905 Gitelson, A. A., Viña, A., Ciganda, V., Rundquist, D.C., and Arkebauer, T.J. (2005) Remote Estimation of Canopy Chlorophyll Content in Crops. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(8):2005GL022688. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL022688 Huang, S., Tang, L., Hupy, J. P., Wang, Y. and Shao, G. (2021) A commentary review on the use of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the era of popular remote sensing. Journal of Forestry Research, 32(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-020-01155-1 Ustin, S.L., Gitelson, A.A., Jacquemoud, S., Schaepman, M., Asner, G.P., Gamon, J.A., and Zarco-Tejada, P. (2009) Retrieval of foliar information about plant pigment systems from high resolution spectroscopy. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113(1), S67-S77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2008.10.019 Werdell, P. J. et al. (2019) The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem Mission: Status, Science, Advances. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100, 1775–1794. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0056.1

Apparent Visible Wavelength (AVW) from the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). The AVW data product leverages OCI's continuous, hyperspectral set of remote sensing reflectance wavelengths spanning the visible spectrum (from 400-700 nanometers, nm) to calculate AVW in units of nm, a single value describing the dominant color of the water being observed (Vandermeulen et al. 2020; Vandermeulen and Cetinic 2024). AVW is provided as global, 8-day averages mapped to a standard, equal-angle, latitude-longitude grid of approximately 0.04 degrees, or 4 kilometers (km) at the equator. Pixels with no data values are masked (excluded) due to presence of land, cloud cover, or other features marked by quality control flags as described below. Data Layer Summary Name, units Apparent Visible Wavelength [nm] Apparent visible wavelength, a measure of ocean color, in units of nanometers (nm) Spatial resolution 4 km2 Level-3, mapped to standard grid, global coverage Time Resolution 8 day average Each pixel represents an average of the valid, daily values observed within that grid element during the 8-day interval (approx 1 week). Note: 8 day average data layer is calculated from daily, "refined" (archive-quality) Level 3 PACE AVW products, which are available at NASA Earthdata via this link in NetCDF format as part of the Apparent Optical Properties (AOP) suite. NASA Earthdata account required to download. Data Version Version 3.2 Data versions change as improved calibration, validation, algorithm refinements, etc are applied over time. See Version 3.2 Release Notes for details. Latency ̃1 month This imagery service provides “refined” (archive-quality) PACE data products from March 2024-present, which have an approx 1 month latency. Note: Lower latency “near real time (NRT)” Level 3 PACE AVW products are available at NASA Earthdata via this link in NetCDF format as part of the Apparent Optical Properties (AOP) suite. Latency typically account required to download. What can I do with this layer? AVW is simple and intuitive spectral classification tool that enables a more manageable handling of complex spectral information for aquatic science applications (Vandermeulen et al. 2020). Changing values in AVW are a measure of change in the ocean's dominant color: lower AVW values represent more clear water and higher values represent more turbid water. AVW is a useful as an optical water-type index, partitioning a region's ocean observations into types relevant to water quality and marine ecosystem processes. Additionally, AVW can be applied to datasets of varying multi- and hyperspectral resolutions. This provides continuity between PACE AVW and AVW from heritage satellite ocean color sensors (those launched prior to PACE), enabling examination of longer term (up to decadal) trends of AVW in a given region (Vandermeulen et al. 2020; Vandermeulen and Cetinic 2024). The time (8 day average) and space (4 km2) resolution of this data layer supports weekly to seasonal and annual insight at sub-regional to global scales. What should I know about the data? Data Status (Maturity): This product is provisional, which means that product results have been reviewed and are in family with heritage data products or other basis of expectation, but have not yet been extensively validated and so may still contain significant errors. Data layer is sufficient for qualitative determinations of product fitness-for-purpose, for testing by operational users, and may be suitable for scientific publication. Data Masking: These products are Level 3, globally-binned products from NASA’s Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG), which by default are masked (pixel data value is set to null, or no data) according to a standard set of quality control parameters. For a list of these parameters, see the third column of the table included here: https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/resources/atbd/ocl2flags/. Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD): See ATBD for algorithm details including scientific theory, calculations, etc. at DOI 10.5067/KAROCHG01RYJ. Where do I go with further questions? Visit NASA’s Earthdata Forum where users can post questions that are answered by the personnel working at NASA with the PACE mission and/or the Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC) that processes and distributes PACE data. First, follow this link to view only “PACE” and “OBDAAC” tagged questions on the Earthdata Forum. Then search and read through previous posts for your question. If it has not yet been asked please post your question in the Forum and be sure "PACE" and "OBDAAC" filter tags are applied. Mission and Product Background PACE Mission Overview: Launched in February 2024, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory uniquely provides near-daily, hyperspectral coverage of Earth’s surface, plus hyperspectral and hyperangular polarimetry. PACE is a comprehensive Earth System mission, delivering all new, space-based information on the health and diversity of aquatic and terrestrial life (algae, plants), aerosol properties & modes (e.g. smoke, dust), cloud types, and more. The Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), PACE's primary sensor, is a hyperspectral (5 nm resolution) imaging spectrometer that measures properties of light from the ultraviolet (UV, 340 nm) through visible and near infrared (NIR, 895 nm) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum in 1.25 to 2.5 nm steps, plus 7 shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands (Werdell et al. 2019). Observations from OCI are moderate spatial resolution (1.2 km2), enabling a relatively frequent revisit time of 1-2 days. This combination of continuous, global coverage and spectral capabilities is unmatched by any other satellite platform, public or private. PACE benefits society by expanding our foundational knowledge of Earth and enabling novel, space-based science and applications tools across water resources (e.g. fisheries), air quality, land monitoring & management, and more. What does AVW represent and how is it calculated? AVW is a one-dimensional geophysical metric that is inherently correlated to ocean color, as defined by the remote sensing reflectance (R(λ)rs) spectral shape across the visible region of the spectrum (400-700 nm; Vandermeulen et al. 2020). R(λ)rs, the AVW algorithm input, is used to calculate the weighted harmonic mean of the wavelengths. Output is an AVW in units of nm, a quantitative descriptor of weighted mean color reflected from the water's surface. PACE AVW spans PACE's continuous hyperspectral R(λ)rs observations across the visible spectrum while AVW from heritage multi-spectral sensors is calculated from their 4-10 available R(λ)rs channels (Vandermeulen and Cetinic 2024). The entire visible spectrum is utilized in the calculation of AVW, affording the opportunity to describe and analyze spectral trends in R(λ)rs in terms of a single variable (Vandermeulen et al. 2020). This simplification allows for streamlined visualisation and monitoring of small changes in apparent color from highly complex optical data. AVW's dimensionality reduction of spectral information is a robust and user-friendly means to describe and analyze R(λ)rs in terms of spatial and temporal trends and variability. Also, AVW can be utilized across heritage and current ocean color sensors, allowing for continuity and long term monitoring of AVW in aquatic ecosystems. What other PACE data layers are available? This data layer is 1 of 11 PACE products initially selected for the Living Atlas catalog from the mission’s comprehensive aquatic, atmospheric, and terrestrial product catalog. Click here to view all 11 PACE Living Atlas imagery services. Global, hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance observations from OCI with over 250 spectral bands, and used to derive many of PACE's aquatic products, are available to download in NetCDF format from NASA Earthdata as Level 3, mapped data with 4 km2 resolution or as Level 2 granules at unprojected, native spatial resolution (no finer than 1.2km2). To learn more about obtaining PACE data from NASA, first learn about PACE data access here, next decide which product(s) you would like to use, then go to NASA Earthdata to find your product(s) of interest in NetCDF format, which can be downloaded and then imported into ArcGIS. To learn about using Earthdata Search to narrow your data product selection, watch this tutorial. An Earthdata account is needed to download data from NASA, sign up here. How can I stay up to date with the PACE mission? Join the PACE Community for mission news, events, new product release announcements, and to receive our newsletters. Would you like to see imagery services for more PACE products? Please let us know here. References: Vandermeulen, R. and Cetinic, I., authors. (2024) Algorithm theoretical basis document: Apparent Visible Wavelength, Version 1.1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Ocean Ecology Lab. https://doi.org/10.5067/KAROCHG01RYJ. Vandermeulen, R. A., Mannino, A., Craig, S. E. & Werdell, P. J. (2020) 150 shades of green: Using the full spectrum of remote sensing reflectance to elucidate color shifts in the ocean. Remote Sensing of Environment, 247, 111900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111900 Werdell, P. J. et al. (2019) The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem Mission: Status, Science, Advances. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100, 1775–1794. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0056.1

Apparent Visible Wavelength (AVW) from the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). The AVW data product leverages OCI's continuous, hyperspectral set of remote sensing reflectance wavelengths spanning the visible spectrum (from 400-700 nanometers, nm) to calculate AVW in units of nm, a single value describing the dominant color of the water being observed (Vandermeulen et al. 2020; Vandermeulen and Cetinic 2024). AVW is provided as global, 8-day averages mapped to a standard, equal-angle, latitude-longitude grid of approximately 0.04 degrees, or 4 kilometers (km) at the equator. Pixels with no data values are masked (excluded) due to presence of land, cloud cover, or other features marked by quality control flags as described below. Data Layer Summary Name, units Apparent Visible Wavelength [nm] Apparent visible wavelength, a measure of ocean color, in units of nanometers (nm) Spatial resolution 4 km2 Level-3, mapped to standard grid, global coverage Time Resolution 8 day average Each pixel represents an average of the valid, daily values observed within that grid element during the 8-day interval (approx 1 week). Note: 8 day average data layer is calculated from daily, "refined" (archive-quality) Level 3 PACE AVW products, which are available at NASA Earthdata via this link in NetCDF format as part of the Apparent Optical Properties (AOP) suite. NASA Earthdata account required to download. Data Version Version 3.2 Data versions change as improved calibration, validation, algorithm refinements, etc are applied over time. See Version 3.2 Release Notes for details. Latency ̃1 month This imagery service provides “refined” (archive-quality) PACE data products from March 2024-present, which have an approx 1 month latency. Note: Lower latency “near real time (NRT)” Level 3 PACE AVW products are available at NASA Earthdata via this link in NetCDF format as part of the Apparent Optical Properties (AOP) suite. Latency typically account required to download. What can I do with this layer? AVW is simple and intuitive spectral classification tool that enables a more manageable handling of complex spectral information for aquatic science applications (Vandermeulen et al. 2020). Changing values in AVW are a measure of change in the ocean's dominant color: lower AVW values represent more clear water and higher values represent more turbid water. AVW is a useful as an optical water-type index, partitioning a region's ocean observations into types relevant to water quality and marine ecosystem processes. Additionally, AVW can be applied to datasets of varying multi- and hyperspectral resolutions. This provides continuity between PACE AVW and AVW from heritage satellite ocean color sensors (those launched prior to PACE), enabling examination of longer term (up to decadal) trends of AVW in a given region (Vandermeulen et al. 2020; Vandermeulen and Cetinic 2024). The time (8 day average) and space (4 km2) resolution of this data layer supports weekly to seasonal and annual insight at sub-regional to global scales. What should I know about the data? Data Status (Maturity): This product is provisional, which means that product results have been reviewed and are in family with heritage data products or other basis of expectation, but have not yet been extensively validated and so may still contain significant errors. Data layer is sufficient for qualitative determinations of product fitness-for-purpose, for testing by operational users, and may be suitable for scientific publication. Data Masking: These products are Level 3, globally-binned products from NASA’s Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG), which by default are masked (pixel data value is set to null, or no data) according to a standard set of quality control parameters. For a list of these parameters, see the third column of the table included here: https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/resources/atbd/ocl2flags/. Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD): See ATBD for algorithm details including scientific theory, calculations, etc. at DOI 10.5067/KAROCHG01RYJ. Where do I go with further questions? Visit NASA’s Earthdata Forum where users can post questions that are answered by the personnel working at NASA with the PACE mission and/or the Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC) that processes and distributes PACE data. First, follow this link to view only “PACE” and “OBDAAC” tagged questions on the Earthdata Forum. Then search and read through previous posts for your question. If it has not yet been asked please post your question in the Forum and be sure "PACE" and "OBDAAC" filter tags are applied. Mission and Product Background PACE Mission Overview: Launched in February 2024, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory uniquely provides near-daily, hyperspectral coverage of Earth’s surface, plus hyperspectral and hyperangular polarimetry. PACE is a comprehensive Earth System mission, delivering all new, space-based information on the health and diversity of aquatic and terrestrial life (algae, plants), aerosol properties & modes (e.g. smoke, dust), cloud types, and more. The Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), PACE's primary sensor, is a hyperspectral (5 nm resolution) imaging spectrometer that measures properties of light from the ultraviolet (UV, 340 nm) through visible and near infrared (NIR, 895 nm) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum in 1.25 to 2.5 nm steps, plus 7 shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands (Werdell et al. 2019). Observations from OCI are moderate spatial resolution (1.2 km2), enabling a relatively frequent revisit time of 1-2 days. This combination of continuous, global coverage and spectral capabilities is unmatched by any other satellite platform, public or private. PACE benefits society by expanding our foundational knowledge of Earth and enabling novel, space-based science and applications tools across water resources (e.g. fisheries), air quality, land monitoring & management, and more. What does AVW represent and how is it calculated? AVW is a one-dimensional geophysical metric that is inherently correlated to ocean color, as defined by the remote sensing reflectance (R(λ)rs) spectral shape across the visible region of the spectrum (400-700 nm; Vandermeulen et al. 2020). R(λ)rs, the AVW algorithm input, is used to calculate the weighted harmonic mean of the wavelengths. Output is an AVW in units of nm, a quantitative descriptor of weighted mean color reflected from the water's surface. PACE AVW spans PACE's continuous hyperspectral R(λ)rs observations across the visible spectrum while AVW from heritage multi-spectral sensors is calculated from their 4-10 available R(λ)rs channels (Vandermeulen and Cetinic 2024). The entire visible spectrum is utilized in the calculation of AVW, affording the opportunity to describe and analyze spectral trends in R(λ)rs in terms of a single variable (Vandermeulen et al. 2020). This simplification allows for streamlined visualisation and monitoring of small changes in apparent color from highly complex optical data. AVW's dimensionality reduction of spectral information is a robust and user-friendly means to describe and analyze R(λ)rs in terms of spatial and temporal trends and variability. Also, AVW can be utilized across heritage and current ocean color sensors, allowing for continuity and long term monitoring of AVW in aquatic ecosystems. What other PACE data layers are available? This data layer is 1 of 11 PACE products initially selected for the Living Atlas catalog from the mission’s comprehensive aquatic, atmospheric, and terrestrial product catalog. Click here to view all 11 PACE Living Atlas imagery services. Global, hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance observations from OCI with over 250 spectral bands, and used to derive many of PACE's aquatic products, are available to download in NetCDF format from NASA Earthdata as Level 3, mapped data with 4 km2 resolution or as Level 2 granules at unprojected, native spatial resolution (no finer than 1.2km2). To learn more about obtaining PACE data from NASA, first learn about PACE data access here, next decide which product(s) you would like to use, then go to NASA Earthdata to find your product(s) of interest in NetCDF format, which can be downloaded and then imported into ArcGIS. To learn about using Earthdata Search to narrow your data product selection, watch this tutorial. An Earthdata account is needed to download data from NASA, sign up here. How can I stay up to date with the PACE mission? Join the PACE Community for mission news, events, new product release announcements, and to receive our newsletters. Would you like to see imagery services for more PACE products? Please let us know here. References: Vandermeulen, R. and Cetinic, I., authors. (2024) Algorithm theoretical basis document: Apparent Visible Wavelength, Version 1.1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Ocean Ecology Lab. https://doi.org/10.5067/KAROCHG01RYJ. Vandermeulen, R. A., Mannino, A., Craig, S. E. & Werdell, P. J. (2020) 150 shades of green: Using the full spectrum of remote sensing reflectance to elucidate color shifts in the ocean. Remote Sensing of Environment, 247, 111900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111900 Werdell, P. J. et al. (2019) The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem Mission: Status, Science, Advances. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100, 1775–1794. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0056.1

OverviewTerrestrial Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). NDVI is calculated as (Rnir-Rred)/(Rnir+Rred), where Rnir is a near infrared spectral band and Rred is a red spectral band. PACE NDVI is processed to be similar to MODerate resolution Imaging Spectraradiometer (MODIS) NDVI data by using an average of OCI bands between 841 and 877 nanometers (nm) for the Rnir band and between 620 and 671 nm for the Rred band. See Mathematical Theory section of the Caplan et al. 2025 algorithm documentation for equation details. Data provided as global, 8-day averages mapped to a standard, equal-angle, latitude-longitude grid of 0.02 degrees, which equates to approximately 2 kilometers (km) at the equator. Data has been corrected for atmospheric scattering and absorption. Pixels with no data values are masked (excluded) due to presence of water, cloud cover, or other features marked by quality control flags as described below. Data Layer Summary Name, units Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) A measure of the “greenness" of terrestrial vegetation, describes plant health and abundance. NDVI is unitless, ranging from -1 to 1. Spatial resolution 2 km2 Level-3, mapped to standard grid, global coverage Time Resolution 8 day average Each pixel represents an average of the valid, daily values observed within that grid element during the 8-day interval (approx 1 week). Note: 8 day average data layer is calculated from daily, "refined" (archive-quality) Level 3 PACE NDVI products that are available at this link from NASA Earthdata in NetCDF format. Earthdata account required. Each NetCDF file includes all 10 PACE vegetation indexes, including NDVI. Data Version Version 3.1 Data versions change as improved calibration, validation, algorithm refinements, etc are applied over time. See Version 3.1 Release Notes for details. Latency ~1 month This imagery service provides “refined” (archive-quality) PACE data products from March 2024-present, which have an approx 1 month latency. Note: Lower latency “near real time (NRT)” Level 3 PACE NDVI products are available daily from NASA Earthdata in NetCDF format. Latency is typically Earthdata account required. Each NetCDF file includes all 10 PACE vegetation indexes, including NDVI. Intended Use: What can I do with this layer? NDVI has been used for decades describe seasonal and annual changes over time (Huang et al., 2021). In this way you can utilize NDVI to monitor vegetation amounts, changes in vegetation cover (e.g. post-fire recovery, deforestation), as a proxy of health, among others. The time (8 day average) and space (2km2) resolution of this data layer enables weekly to seasonal and annual insight at local to global scales.   Limitations of Use: What should I know about the data? Data Status (Maturity): This product is provisional, which means that product results have been reviewed and are in family with heritage data products or other basis of expectation, but have not yet been extensively validated and so may still contain significant errors. Data layer is sufficient for qualitative determinations of product fitness-for-purpose, for testing by operational users, and may be suitable for scientific publication. Data Masking: This is a Level 3, globally-binned product from NASA’s Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG). By default, OBPG Level 3 data values are masked (value is set to null, or no data) according to a standard set of quality control parameters. Please see Level 3 Algorithm Usage Constraints from the Caplan et al. 2025 algorithm documentation for masking parameter details.   Where do I go with further questions? Visit NASA’s Earthdata Forum where users can post questions that are answered by the personnel working at NASA with the PACE mission and/or the Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC) that processes and distributes PACE data. First, follow this link to view only “PACE” and “OBDAAC” tagged questions on the Earthdata Forum. Then search and read through previous posts for your question. If it has not yet been asked please post your question in the Forum and be sure "PACE" and "OBDAAC" filter tags are applied.     Mission and Product Background PACE Mission Overview: Launched in February 2024, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory uniquely provides near-daily, hyperspectral coverage of Earth’s surface, plus hyperspectral and hyperangular polarimetry. PACE is a comprehensive Earth System mission, delivering all new, space-based information on the health and diversity of aquatic and terrestrial life (algae, plants), aerosol properties & modes (e.g. smoke, dust), cloud types, and more. The Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), PACE's primary sensor, is a hyperspectral (5 nm resolution) imaging spectrometer that measures properties of light from the ultraviolet (UV, 340 nm) through visible and near infrared (NIR, 895 nm) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum in 1.25 to 2.5 nm steps, plus 7 shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands (Werdell et al. 2019). Observations from OCI are moderate spatial resolution (1.2 km2), enabling a relatively frequent revisit time of 1-2 days. This combination of continuous, global coverage and spectral capabilities is unmatched by any other satellite platform, public or private. PACE benefits society by expanding our foundational knowledge of Earth and enabling novel, space-based science and applications tools across water resources (e.g. fisheries), air quality, land monitoring & management, and more.   Terrestrial Remote Sensing from an Ocean Color Sensor? Designed and optimized to operate across a broad dynamic range, from the dark target of the ocean to bright, highly reflective cloud tops, PACE’s OCI also collects surface reflectance data from the world's terrestrial environments across 122 bands, resolving spectral properties of the Earth more finely than previous multispectral missions could achieve. Work thus far has demonstrated viability of OCI’s land data products for terrestrial investigations (e.g. Caplan and Huemmrich 2025; Huemmrich et al. 2025). OCI’s coverage and capabilities enable provision of both novel, hyperspectral-enabled land observations as well as maintenance and extension of certain historical multispectral data records. Advanced vegetation indexes (VIs) enabled by OCI’s narrow-wavelength surface reflectance measurements provide continuous, synoptic insights into foliar pigment amounts (chlorophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins), water content, and photosynthetic light use efficiency across the globe each day. Heritage VIs (e.g., normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI; reviewed in Huang et al. 2021) can also be calculated by aggregating (averaging) OCI’s narrow bandwidths across ranges that approximate the multi-spectral, broadband reflectances of instruments such as MODIS, see the Mathematical Theory section of the Caplan et al. 2025 algorithm documentation for details. See the full list of heritage and hyperspectral-enabled VIs produced by PACE here.   What other PACE data layers are available? This data layer is 1 of 11 PACE products initially selected for the Living Atlas catalog from the mission’s comprehensive aquatic, atmospheric, and terrestrial product catalog. Click here to view all 11 PACE Living Atlas imagery services. The Level 3, 122-band hyperspectral surface reflectance data (SFREFL) used to derive all VIs is available from NASA Earthdata to download at 2 kilometer resolution in NetCDF format. To learn more about obtaining PACE data from NASA, first learn about PACE data access here, next decide which product(s) you would like to use, then go to NASA Earthdata to find your product(s) of interest in NetCDF format, which can be downloaded and then imported into ArcGIS. To learn about using Earthdata Search to narrow your data product selection, watch this tutorial. An Earthdata account is needed to download data from NASA, sign up here. How can I stay up to date with the PACE mission?   Join the PACE Community for mission news, events, new product release announcements, and to receive our newsletters. Would you like to see imagery services for more PACE products? Please let us know here.   References: Caplan, S., Bailey, S., and Franz, B., authors. (2025) Algorithm theoretical basis document: PACE OCI Vegetation Indices (LANDVI), Version 1.0. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Ocean Ecology Lab. https://doi.org/10.5067/8L77O0Y8GHV8 Caplan, S. and Huemmrich, K. F. (2025) Unveiling PACE OCI’s hyperspectral terrestrial data products. Remote Sensing Letters, 16(4), 422–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/2150704X.2025.2470905 Huemmrich, K.F., et al. (2025) Determining Terrestrial Ecosystem Gross Primary Productivity From PACE OCI. IEEE Geosci. & Rem. Sens. Lett., 22, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2025.3587584 Huang, S., Tang, L., Hupy, J. P., Wang, Y. and Shao, G. (2021) A commentary review on the use of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the era of popular remote sensing. Journal of Forestry Research, 32(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-020-01155-1 Werdell, P. J. et al. (2019) The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem Mission: Status, Science, Advances. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100, 1775–1794. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0056.1

OverviewTerrestrial Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) from the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). PRI is a normalized difference ratio of two narrow visible wavelengths expressed as: (R531 – R570)/(R531 + R570), where R531 is the reflectance at 531 nanometers (nm), the band sensitive to the epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle pigments, and R570 is a reference band at 570 nm (Grace et al. 2007, Coops et al. 2010). Data provided as global, 8-day averages mapped to a standard, equal-angle, latitude-longitude grid of 0.02 degrees, which equates to ~2 kilometers (km) at the equator. Data has been corrected for atmospheric scattering and absorption. Pixels with no data values are masked (excluded) due to presence of water, cloud cover, or other features marked by quality control flags as described below. Data Layer Summary Name, units Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) Measure of terrestrial foliar photosynthetic light use efficiency. PRI is unitless. Spatial resolution 2 km2 Level-3, mapped to a standard grid, global coverage Time Resolution 8 day average Each pixel represents an average of the valid, daily values observed within that grid element during the 8-day interval (approx 1 week). Note: 8 day average data layer is calculated from daily, "refined" (archive-quality) Level 3 PACE PRI products available here from NASA Earthdata in NetCDF format. Earthdata account required. Each NetCDF file includes all 10 PACE vegetation indexes, including PRI. Data Version Version 3.1 Data versions change as improved calibration, validation, algorithm refinements, etc are applied over time. See Version 3.1 Release Notes for details. Latency ~1 month This imagery service provides “refined” (archive-quality) PACE data products from March 2024-present, which have an approx 1 month latency. Note: Daily, “near real time (NRT)” Level 3 PACE PRI products with less than approximately 24-48 hour latency available here from NASA Earthdata in NetCDF format. Earthdata account required. Each NetCDF file includes all 10 PACE vegetation indexes, including PRI. Intended Use: What can I do with this layer? PRI has been related to foliage or ecosystem photosynthetic light use efficiency (LUE). Its response is driven by leaf-level reflectance changes associated with changes in pigment pools in response to stresses although it can also be affected by changes in leaf area (Grace et al. 2007, Coops et al. 2010). The time (8 day average) and space (2 km2) resolution of this data layer enables weekly to seasonal and annual insight at local to global scales.   Limitations of Use: What should I know about the data? Data Status (Maturity): This product is provisional, which means that product results have been reviewed and are in family with heritage data products or other basis of expectation, but have not yet been extensively validated and so may still contain significant errors. Data layer is sufficient for qualitative determinations of product fitness-for-purpose, for testing by operational users, and may be suitable for scientific publication. Data Masking: This is a Level 3, globally-binned product from NASA’s Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG). By default, OBPG Level 3 data values are masked (value is set to null, or no data) according to a standard set of quality control parameters. Please see Level 3 Algorithm Usage Constraints for masking parameter details. Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD): See ATBD for algorithm details including scientific theory, calculations, etc. https://doi.org/10.5067/8L77O0Y8GHV8.   Where do I go with further questions? Visit NASA’s Earthdata Forum where users can post questions that are answered by the personnel working at NASA with the PACE mission and/or the Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC) that processes and distributes PACE data. First, follow this link to view only “PACE” and “OBDAAC” tagged questions on the Earthdata Forum. Then search and read through previous posts for your question. If it has not yet been asked please post your question in the Forum and be sure "PACE" and "OBDAAC" filter tags are applied.     Mission and Product Background PACE Mission Overview: Launched in February 2024, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory uniquely provides near-daily, hyperspectral coverage of Earth’s surface, plus hyperspectral and hyperangular polarimetry. PACE is a comprehensive Earth System mission, delivering all new, space-based information on the health and diversity of aquatic and terrestrial life (algae, plants), aerosol properties & modes (e.g. smoke, dust), cloud types, and more. The Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), PACE's primary sensor, is a hyperspectral (5 nm resolution) imaging spectrometer that measures properties of light from the ultraviolet (UV, 340 nm) through visible and near infrared (NIR, 895 nm) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum in 1.25 to 2.5 nm steps, plus 7 shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands (Werdell et al. 2019). Observations from OCI are moderate spatial resolution (1.2 km2), enabling a relatively frequent revisit time of 1-2 days. This combination of continuous, global coverage and spectral capabilities is unmatched by any other satellite platform, public or private. PACE benefits society by expanding our foundational knowledge of Earth and enabling novel, space-based science and applications tools across water resources (e.g. fisheries), air quality, land monitoring & management, and more.   Terrestrial Remote Sensing from an Ocean Color Sensor? Designed and optimized to operate across a broad dynamic range, from the dark target of the ocean to bright, highly reflective cloud tops, PACE’s OCI also collects surface reflectance data from the world's terrestrial environments across 122 bands, resolving spectral properties of the Earth more finely than previous multispectral missions could achieve. Work thus far has demonstrated viability of OCI’s land data products for terrestrial investigations (Caplan et al. 2025). OCI’s coverage and capabilities enable provision of both novel, hyperspectral-enabled land observations as well as maintenance and extension of certain historical multispectral data records. Advanced vegetation indexes (VIs) enabled by OCI’s narrow-wavelength surface reflectance measurements provide continuous, synoptic insights into foliar pigment amounts (chlorophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins), water content, and photosynthetic light use efficiency across the globe each day. Heritage VIs (e.g., normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI; reviewed in Huang et al. 2021) can also be calculated by aggregating (averaging) OCI’s narrow bandwidths across ranges that approximate the multi-spectral, broadband reflectances of instruments such as MODIS, see the Mathematical Theory section of the ATBD for details. See the full list of heritage and hyperspectral-enabled VIs produced by PACE here.   What other PACE data layers are available? This data layer is 1 of 11 PACE products initially selected for the Living Atlas catalog from the mission’s comprehensive aquatic, atmospheric, and terrestrial product catalog. Click here to view all 11 PACE Living Atlas imagery services. The Level 3, 122-band hyperspectral surface reflectance data (SFREFL) used to derive all VIs is available from NASA Earthdata to download at 2 kilometer resolution in NetCDF format. To access PACE mission data products available from NASA, first learn about PACE data access here, next decide which PACE product(s) you would like to use, then go to NASA Earthdata to find PACE products in NetCDF format, which can be downloaded and then imported into ArcGIS. An Earthdata account is needed to download data from NASA, sign up here. To learn about using Earthdata Search to find data, watch this tutorial.   How can I stay up to date with the PACE mission?   Join the PACE Community for mission news, events, new product release announcements, and to receive our newsletters. Would you like to see imagery services for more PACE products? Please let us know here.   References: Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document: https://doi.org/10.5067/8L77O0Y8GHV8 Caplan, S. and Huemmrich, K. F. (2025) Unveiling PACE OCI’s hyperspectral terrestrial data products. Remote Sensing Letters, 16(4), 422–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/2150704X.2025.2470905 Coops, N. C., Hilker, T., Hall, F.G., Nichol, C.J., and Drolet, G. G. (2010) Estimation of light-use efficiency of terrestrial ecosystems from space: a status report. BioScience 60 (10): 788–797. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.10.5 Grace, J.,Nichol, C., Disney, M., Lewis, P., Quaife, T., and Bowyer, P. (2007) Can we measure terrestrial photosynthesis from space directly, using spectral reflectance and fluorescence? Global Change Biology, 13(7): 1484–1497. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01352.x Huang, S., Tang, L., Hupy, J. P., Wang, Y. and Shao, G. (2021) A commentary review on the use of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the era of popular remote sensing. Journal of Forestry Research, 32(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-020-01155-1 Werdell, P. J. et al. (2019) The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem Mission: Status, Science, Advances. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100, 1775–1794. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0056.1

OverviewTerrestrial Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) from the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). PRI is a normalized difference ratio of two narrow visible wavelengths expressed as: (R531 – R570)/(R531 + R570), where R531 is the reflectance at 531 nanometers (nm), the band sensitive to the epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle pigments, and R570 is a reference band at 570 nm (Grace et al. 2007, Coops et al. 2010). Data provided as global, 8-day averages mapped to a standard, equal-angle, latitude-longitude grid of 0.02 degrees, which equates to ~2 kilometers (km) at the equator. Data has been corrected for atmospheric scattering and absorption. Pixels with no data values are masked (excluded) due to presence of water, cloud cover, or other features marked by quality control flags as described below. Data Layer Summary Name, units Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) Measure of terrestrial foliar photosynthetic light use efficiency. PRI is unitless. Spatial resolution 2 km2 Level-3, mapped to a standard grid, global coverage Time Resolution 8 day average Each pixel represents an average of the valid, daily values observed within that grid element during the 8-day interval (approx 1 week). Note: 8 day average data layer is calculated from daily, "refined" (archive-quality) Level 3 PACE PRI products available here from NASA Earthdata in NetCDF format. Earthdata account required. Each NetCDF file includes all 10 PACE vegetation indexes, including PRI. Data Version Version 3.1 Data versions change as improved calibration, validation, algorithm refinements, etc are applied over time. See Version 3.1 Release Notes for details. Latency ~1 month This imagery service provides “refined” (archive-quality) PACE data products from March 2024-present, which have an approx 1 month latency. Note: Daily, “near real time (NRT)” Level 3 PACE PRI products with less than approximately 24-48 hour latency available here from NASA Earthdata in NetCDF format. Earthdata account required. Each NetCDF file includes all 10 PACE vegetation indexes, including PRI. Intended Use: What can I do with this layer? PRI has been related to foliage or ecosystem photosynthetic light use efficiency (LUE). Its response is driven by leaf-level reflectance changes associated with changes in pigment pools in response to stresses although it can also be affected by changes in leaf area (Grace et al. 2007, Coops et al. 2010). The time (8 day average) and space (2 km2) resolution of this data layer enables weekly to seasonal and annual insight at local to global scales.   Limitations of Use: What should I know about the data? Data Status (Maturity): This product is provisional, which means that product results have been reviewed and are in family with heritage data products or other basis of expectation, but have not yet been extensively validated and so may still contain significant errors. Data layer is sufficient for qualitative determinations of product fitness-for-purpose, for testing by operational users, and may be suitable for scientific publication. Data Masking: This is a Level 3, globally-binned product from NASA’s Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG). By default, OBPG Level 3 data values are masked (value is set to null, or no data) according to a standard set of quality control parameters. Please see Level 3 Algorithm Usage Constraints for masking parameter details. Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD): See ATBD for algorithm details including scientific theory, calculations, etc. https://doi.org/10.5067/8L77O0Y8GHV8.   Where do I go with further questions? Visit NASA’s Earthdata Forum where users can post questions that are answered by the personnel working at NASA with the PACE mission and/or the Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC) that processes and distributes PACE data. First, follow this link to view only “PACE” and “OBDAAC” tagged questions on the Earthdata Forum. Then search and read through previous posts for your question. If it has not yet been asked please post your question in the Forum and be sure "PACE" and "OBDAAC" filter tags are applied.     Mission and Product Background PACE Mission Overview: Launched in February 2024, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory uniquely provides near-daily, hyperspectral coverage of Earth’s surface, plus hyperspectral and hyperangular polarimetry. PACE is a comprehensive Earth System mission, delivering all new, space-based information on the health and diversity of aquatic and terrestrial life (algae, plants), aerosol properties & modes (e.g. smoke, dust), cloud types, and more. The Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), PACE's primary sensor, is a hyperspectral (5 nm resolution) imaging spectrometer that measures properties of light from the ultraviolet (UV, 340 nm) through visible and near infrared (NIR, 895 nm) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum in 1.25 to 2.5 nm steps, plus 7 shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands (Werdell et al. 2019). Observations from OCI are moderate spatial resolution (1.2 km2), enabling a relatively frequent revisit time of 1-2 days. This combination of continuous, global coverage and spectral capabilities is unmatched by any other satellite platform, public or private. PACE benefits society by expanding our foundational knowledge of Earth and enabling novel, space-based science and applications tools across water resources (e.g. fisheries), air quality, land monitoring & management, and more.   Terrestrial Remote Sensing from an Ocean Color Sensor? Designed and optimized to operate across a broad dynamic range, from the dark target of the ocean to bright, highly reflective cloud tops, PACE’s OCI also collects surface reflectance data from the world's terrestrial environments across 122 bands, resolving spectral properties of the Earth more finely than previous multispectral missions could achieve. Work thus far has demonstrated viability of OCI’s land data products for terrestrial investigations (Caplan et al. 2025). OCI’s coverage and capabilities enable provision of both novel, hyperspectral-enabled land observations as well as maintenance and extension of certain historical multispectral data records. Advanced vegetation indexes (VIs) enabled by OCI’s narrow-wavelength surface reflectance measurements provide continuous, synoptic insights into foliar pigment amounts (chlorophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins), water content, and photosynthetic light use efficiency across the globe each day. Heritage VIs (e.g., normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI; reviewed in Huang et al. 2021) can also be calculated by aggregating (averaging) OCI’s narrow bandwidths across ranges that approximate the multi-spectral, broadband reflectances of instruments such as MODIS, see the Mathematical Theory section of the ATBD for details. See the full list of heritage and hyperspectral-enabled VIs produced by PACE here.   What other PACE data layers are available? This data layer is 1 of 11 PACE products initially selected for the Living Atlas catalog from the mission’s comprehensive aquatic, atmospheric, and terrestrial product catalog. Click here to view all 11 PACE Living Atlas imagery services. The Level 3, 122-band hyperspectral surface reflectance data (SFREFL) used to derive all VIs is available from NASA Earthdata to download at 2 kilometer resolution in NetCDF format. To access PACE mission data products available from NASA, first learn about PACE data access here, next decide which PACE product(s) you would like to use, then go to NASA Earthdata to find PACE products in NetCDF format, which can be downloaded and then imported into ArcGIS. An Earthdata account is needed to download data from NASA, sign up here. To learn about using Earthdata Search to find data, watch this tutorial.   How can I stay up to date with the PACE mission?   Join the PACE Community for mission news, events, new product release announcements, and to receive our newsletters. Would you like to see imagery services for more PACE products? Please let us know here.   References: Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document: https://doi.org/10.5067/8L77O0Y8GHV8 Caplan, S. and Huemmrich, K. F. (2025) Unveiling PACE OCI’s hyperspectral terrestrial data products. Remote Sensing Letters, 16(4), 422–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/2150704X.2025.2470905 Coops, N. C., Hilker, T., Hall, F.G., Nichol, C.J., and Drolet, G. G. (2010) Estimation of light-use efficiency of terrestrial ecosystems from space: a status report. BioScience 60 (10): 788–797. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.10.5 Grace, J.,Nichol, C., Disney, M., Lewis, P., Quaife, T., and Bowyer, P. (2007) Can we measure terrestrial photosynthesis from space directly, using spectral reflectance and fluorescence? Global Change Biology, 13(7): 1484–1497. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01352.x Huang, S., Tang, L., Hupy, J. P., Wang, Y. and Shao, G. (2021) A commentary review on the use of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the era of popular remote sensing. Journal of Forestry Research, 32(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-020-01155-1 Werdell, P. J. et al. (2019) The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem Mission: Status, Science, Advances. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100, 1775–1794. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0056.1