AERONET Ocean Color
The NASA OBPG routinely downloads V3 data from the AERONET-Ocean Color website for use in satellite sensor validation match-up analysis. As described by Zibordi et al. (2009), the AERONET-OC network consists of globally distributed autonomous radiometer systems maintained at fixed offshore sites. Please refer to the rest of the information in this article for details on how to acknowledge the use of AERONET-OC data and how the OBPG processes these data.
AERONET-OC Data Usage Policy
AERONET-OC data have a usage policy stated on the web sites for the individual AERONET-OC stations (linked below). Please consult the following links, however at the time this Wiki article was written, the summary of the AERONET-OC policy is:
Due to the research and development phase characterizing AERONET Ocean Color, use of these data requires offering co-authorship to the Principal Investigator. If you intend to use the following data please consult with the Principal Investigator(s) of the particular AERONET-OC site.
How to determine AERONET-OC sites from SeaBASS data files
SeaBASS validation results contain metadata indicating which AERONET-OC site the in situ data portion originated from. AERONET-OC processing Version 3 (V3) is applicable to the latest version of validation results.
V3 data
SeaBASS labels data in the Validation Search results with a cruise or cruise_name (a metadata field synonymous with deployment name). AERONET-OC site names were incorporated into the cruise name using the form:
aoc_[site-name]_l##
for example, "aoc_Venise_l20"
- [site-name] is the AERONET-OC site name (see table below).
- l## indicates the quality level of the AERONET-OC data (e.g., "l20" means the validation results were derived from level 2.0 AERONET-OC data). SeaBASS validation results are currently limited to level 2.0 data, however, if other levels of data are used they will be indicated in the cruise name (e.g., l10 and l15 correspond to level 1.0 and 1.5, respectively).
Please visit the following individual AERONET-OC pages and the contact information for the Principal Investigator(s) at each site.
AERONET-OC Site |
Principal Investigator(s) |
AAOT ( 45.314N, 12.508E) |
Barbara_Bulgarelli |
Abu_Al_Bukhoosh ( 25.495N, 53.146E) |
Giuseppe_Zibordi |
ARIAKE_TOWER ( 33.104N,130.272E) |
Kohei_Arai, Kohei_Arai |
Blyth_NOAH ( 55.146N, 1.421W) |
Rodney_Forster |
Casablanca_Platform ( 40.717N, 1.358E) |
Marco_Talone, Frederic_Melin |
COVE_SEAPRISM ( 36.900N, 75.710W) |
Pawan_Gupta, Elena_Lind |
Gageocho_Station ( 33.942N,124.593E) |
Jae-Seol_Shim, Joo-Hyung_Ryu |
Galata_Platform ( 43.045N, 28.193E) |
Frederic_Melin |
Gloria ( 44.600N, 29.360E) |
Giuseppe_Zibordi |
GOT_Seaprism ( 9.286N,101.412E) |
Pawan_Gupta, Elena_Lind |
Grizzly_Bay ( 38.108N,122.056W) |
Nima_Pahlevan |
Gustav_Dalen_Tower ( 58.594N, 17.467E) |
Frederic_Melin |
Helsinki_Lighthouse ( 59.949N, 24.926E) |
Giuseppe_Zibordi |
Ieodo_Station ( 32.123N,125.182E) |
Young-Je_Park, Hak-Yeol_You |
Irbe_Lighthouse ( 57.751N, 21.723E) |
Barbara_Bulgarelli |
Kemigawa_Offshore ( 35.611N,140.023E) |
Hiroto_Higa |
Lake_Erie ( 41.826N, 83.194W) |
Tim_Moore, Steve_Ruberg, Menghua_Wang |
Lake_Okeechobee ( 26.902N, 80.789W) |
Nima_Pahlevan |
Lake_Okeechobee_N ( 27.139N, 80.789W) |
Nima_Pahlevan |
LISCO ( 40.955N, 73.342W) |
Sam_Ahmed, Alex_Gilerson |
Lucinda (18.520S,146.386E) |
Thomas_Schroeder |
MVCO ( 41.325N, 70.567W) |
Hui_Feng, Heidi_M._Sosik |
Palgrunden ( 58.755N, 13.152E) |
Susanne_Kratzer |
San_Marco_Platform ( 2.942S, 40.215E) |
Barbara_Bulgarelli |
Section-7_Platform ( 44.546N, 29.447E) |
Barbara_Bulgarelli |
Socheongcho ( 37.423N,124.738E) |
Young-Je_Park |
South_Greenbay ( 44.596N, 87.951W) |
Nima_Pahlevan |
Thornton_C-power ( 51.532N, 2.955E) |
Dimitry_Van_der_Zande |
USC_SEAPRISM ( 33.564N,118.118W) |
Burton_Jones, Matthew_Ragan |
USC_SEAPRISM_2 ( 33.564N,118.118W) |
Burton_Jones, Matthew_Ragan |
Venise ( 45.314N, 12.508E) |
Barbara_Bulgarelli |
WaveCIS_Site_CSI_6 ( 28.867N, 90.483W) |
Sherwin_Ladner |
Zeebrugge-MOW1 ( 51.362N, 3.120E) |
Dimitry_Van_der_Zande |
V2 data (deprecated)
The following description applies to how AERONET-OC V2 sites were organized in SeaBASS. This description no longer applies to V3 data but is retained here as a reference.
A column called "cruise_name" is present in the data files you can download after performing a Validation Search. These names have been specially created by SeaBASS staff to include certain identifying information. These names all use the following structure:
aoc_[site-name]_l##_YYYYMM
- [site-name] is an abbreviation indicating the AERONET-OC site where the data were measured (see table below).
- l## indicates the quality level of the AERONET-OC data (e.g., "l20" means the validation results were derived from level 2.0 AERONET-OC data). SeaBASS validation results are currently limited to level 2.0 data, however, if other levels of data are used they will be indicated in the cruise name (e.g., l10 and l15 correspond to level 1.0 and 1.5, respectively).
- YYYYMM contains the year and month when the AERONET-OC data were measured. Grouping data by month was performed by SeaBASS simply for organizational convenience.
Cruise names contain descriptions that correspond to the following site names which are linked to the individual AERONET-OC sites with the contact information for the PI(s) at each site.
Cruise name in SeaBASS |
AERONET-OC site |
Principal Investigator(s) |
bukhoosh |
Abu_Al_Bukhoosh (25N,53E) |
Giuseppe Zibordi |
cove |
COVE_SEAPRISM (36N,75W) |
Brent Holben |
gageocho |
Gageocho_Station (33N,124E) |
Jae-Seol Shim, Joo-Hyung Ryu |
galata |
Galata_Platform (43N,28E) |
Giuseppe Zibordi |
gloria |
Gloria (44N,29E) |
Giuseppe Zibordi |
got |
GOT_Seaprism (9N,101E) |
Brent Holben |
gustav |
Gustav_Dalen_Tower (58N,17E) |
Giuseppe Zibordi |
helsinki |
Helsinki_Lighthouse (59N,24E) |
Giuseppe Zibordi |
leodo |
Ieodo_Station (32N,125E) |
Young-Je Park,Hak-Yeol You |
kaust |
KAUST_Campus (22N,39E) |
Georgiy L. Stenchikov |
lake_erie |
Lake_Erie (41N,83W) |
Tim Moore, Steve Ruberg, Menghua Wang |
lisco |
LISCO (40N,73W) |
Sam Ahmed, Alex Gilerson |
lucinda |
Lucinda (18S,146E) |
Thomas Schroeder |
mvco |
MVCO (41N,70W) |
Hui Feng, Heidi M. Sosik |
palgrunden |
Palgrunden (58N,13E) |
Susanne Kratzer |
socheongch |
Socheongcho (37N,125E) |
Young-Je_Park |
thornton_c |
Thornton_C-power (51N,2E) |
Dimitry Van der Zande |
usc |
USC_SEAPRISM (33N,118W) |
Burton Jones, Curtiss Davis |
usc_2
|
USC_SEAPRISM_2 (33N,118W) |
Brent Holben |
venise
|
Venise (45N,12E) |
Giuseppe Zibordi |
usc |
WaveCIS_Site_CSI_6 (28N,90W) |
Alan Weidemann, Bill Gibson, Robert Arnone |
zeebrugge |
Zeebrugge-MOW1 (51N,3E) |
Kevin Ruddick, Dimitry Van der Zande |
AERONET-OC quality level
There are three different data quality levels available from the AERONET-OC website (level 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 where 2.0 is the highest quality). The OBPG currently only produces validation match-ups using level 2.0 data (i.e. pre and post field calibrated, automatically cloud cleared and manually inspected). This level is also indicated in the "cruise_name" column in the validation data files downloaded through SeaBASS, where "l20" indicates level 2.0 data (alternately, l10 = level 1.0 and l15 = level 1.5).
SeaBASS uses AERONET-OC processing Version 3 (V3) data.
Most recent update (2022-08-22)
AERONET-OC Version 3, Level 2 data used for validation were most recently downloaded from the AERONET-OC website on 2022-08-22.
OBPG Data Processing Description
The OBPG uses normalized water leaving radiances (Lwn) downloaded from the AERONET-OC website. Remote Sensing Reflectance (Rrs) is calculated by dividing Lwn by the solar constant, a BRDF correction is applied, and then validation is performed on those values as described by Bailey and Werdell (2006).
References
Bailey, S.W. and Werdell, P.J. (2006). A multi-sensor approach for the on-orbit validation of ocean color satellite data products. Rem. Sens. Environ. 102, 12-23.
Frouin, R., Lingner, D. W., Gautier, C., Baker, K. S., and Smith, R. C. (1989). A Simple Analytical Formula to Computer Clear Sky Total and Photosynthetically Available Solar Irradiance at the Ocean Surface. J. of Geophysical Res., Vol. 94, No. C7, 9731-9742.
Zibordi, G., Holben, B., Slutsker, I., Giles, G., D’Alimonte, D., Melin, F., Berthon, J. F., Vandemark, D., Feng, H., Schuster, G., Fabbri, B. E., Kaitala, S., and Seppala, J. (2009). AERONET-OC: A Network for the Validation of Ocean Color Primary Products.
J. Atmos. and Oceanic Technology. 26, 1634-1651. (DOI:10.1175/2009JTECHO654.1).