Chlorophyll Off the Western U.S.

Clear skies hug the coast of the western United States (U.S.). This reveals high offshore primary productivity, which appears as red colors in chlorophyll data. The linear clouds over the Pacific Ocean may be the result of fine particles from ship exhaust seeding new clouds or attracting water from existing cloud particles. This image was taken by the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) sensor aboard the PACE satellite on April 1, 2024.

See companion true-color image

Click to see a larger version of this image