SeaWiFS for global biosphere applications

Illustrates the potential of SeaWiFS data for land surface applications at global scale, including land cover related issues. The main terrestrial product documents vegetated surfaces through the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR). The method uses in the same time full resolution LAC (Local Area Coverage) imagery received at ground stations and sub-sampled GAC (Global Area Coverage) recorded on board the sensor, to derive 10-day and monthly global products on a two-kilometre resolution geographical grid. The algorithm merges the two types of data giving priority to LAC whenever possible, since GAC imagery is only a sub-sampling of the actual full resolution pixels of the original LAC data. When only GAC data are available, repeating overpasses are used to obtain an almost geographically complete full resolution map. Examples of regional and global applications are shown in order to demonstrate the potential of the proposed scheme