Ocean-colour variables are chlorophyll-a concentration,vertical diffuse attenuation of the light, (Kd) and total suspended matter (TSM)concentration in coastal waters. Ocean Color Monitor (OCM-2) sensor of Oceansat -2 satellite is designed to obtainquantitative information on these parameters. Ocean-colour information derived from OCM data will alsobe useful for studying the aerosol transport and terrestrial bio-sphere. Calibration and validation of ocean color products for coastal waters is being studies.
Ocean colour sensors provides valuable information for understanding some of the key scientific issues like spatial and temporal distribution of phytoplankton blooms with the magnitude and variability of primary production on global scale, computation of regional and basin scale marine primary production, quantification of oceans role in global carbon cycle and other bio-geochemical cycles, Identification and quantification of relationship between ocean physics and large scale patterns of productivity, elucidate the complex mechanism between upwelling and large scale circulation patterns in ocean basins, better understanding of the processes associated with mixing along the edge of coastal currents, eddies, western boundary currents and fronts.
Information on ocean colour is critical for identification of Potential Fishing Zones (PFZ) for improving catch efficiency, accurate and detailed understanding of the oceanographic environment for offshore platform design for reducing the risks, timely information on strong currents, eddies, fronts, sediment plumes and mixing zones, for ocean environmental monitoring. Synoptic maps of ocean colour (chlorophyll) spatial structure of pelagic ecosystem at synoptic scales can be generated from Ocean colour information.
