Partition of the Ocean into Ecological Provinces: Role of Ocean-Colour Radiometry.

Abstract

Ocean colour remote sensing can be used to the partition the ocean ecosystem into biogeochemical provinces to reveal its underlying functional structure. This report outlines the state of the art in ocean classification methods, both in the use of ocean colour imagery and derived products in formulating ecosystem classifications, and also in the implementation of existing classifications in ocean colour-related applications. New and emerging methods for defining dynamic province distributions in near-real time are also addressed.