Articles | Volume 22, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4367-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4367-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
04 Sep 2025
Research article |
| 04 Sep 2025
| 04 Sep 2025
The primacy of dissolved organic matter to aquatic light variability
Henry F. Houskeeper
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
Stanford B. Hooker
Independent researcher, USA
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Salem Ibrahim Salem, Andre Valente, Shubha Sathyendranath, Andrei Chuprin, Théo Renard, Jaime Pitarch, Ruth Airs, Moreno Ana, Maria-Manuel Angelico, David Antoine, Robert Arnone, Florinda Artuso, Paulo O. Oliveira, William Balch, Kathryn Barker, Ray Barlow, Simon Bélanger, Marco Bellacicco, Jean-François Berthon, Şükrü Beşiktepe, Francesco Bignami, Yngve Borsheim, Astrid Bracher, Federica Braga, Vittorio Brando, Robert J. W. Brewin, Vanda Brotas, Elisabetta Canuti, Francisco P. Chavez, Andrés Cianca, Hervé Claustre, Lesley Clementson, Simone Colella, Raul Costa, Cristina Nunes, Richard Crout, Emmanuel Devred, Annalisa Di Cicco, Federico Falcini, Ivan Farace, Afonso Ferreira, Scott Freeman, Robert Frouin, Carlos García-Soto, Isabella Giardina, Stuart W. Gibb, Arthur Gleason, Ralf Goericke, Richard Gould, Michael Grant, Nathalie Guillocheau, Hiroto Higa, Stanford B. Hooker, Chuamin Hu, Joji Ishizaka, Thomas Jackson, Mati Kahru, Milton Kampel, Bokyung Kim, Holger Klein, Piotr Kowalczuk, Susanne Kratzer, Raphael Kudela, Antonia Lai, Rosario Lavezza, Jesus Ledesma, Huiwon Lee, Steven Lohrenz, Hubert Loisel, Vivian Lutz, Antonio Mannino, Francesca Margiotta, Victor Martinez-Vicente, Salvatore Marullo, Luca Massi, Patricia Matrai, Atsushi Matsuoka, David McKee, Chiara Melillo, Carlos B. Mendes, Brian G. Mitchell, Tiffany Moisan, Enrique Montes, Frank Muller-Karger, Aimee Neeley, Michael Novak, Leonie O'Dowd, Michael Ondrusek, Emanuele Organelli, Heeyoon Park, Trevor Platt, Francesca Polonelli, Alex Poulton, Mariella Ragni, Michel Repecaud, Maurizio Ribera d’Alcalà, Tamara Rodriguez-Ramos, Rüdiger Röttgers, Manuel Ruiz-Villarreal, Michela Sammartino, Rosalia Santoleri, Gian Marco Scarpa, Thomas Schroeder, Valeria Segura, Timothy Smyth, Denise Smythe-Wright, Heidi M. Sosik, Joanna Stoń-Egiert, Malcolm Taberner, Jing Tan, Rob Thomas, Crystal Thomas, Gavin Tilstone, Andreia Tracana, Michael Twardowski, Vincenzo Vellucci, Gianluca Volpe, Kenneth Voss, Jeremy Werdell, Marcel Wernand, Bozena Wojtasiewicz, Simon Wright, Sunmi Yang, Giuseppe Zibordi, Maria Laura Zoffoli, and Steve Groom
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-539, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-539, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents the fourth version of the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative global in situ bio-optical database. The updated compilation combines observations from many international data sources collected between 1996 and 2025 and includes major expansions in coverage and variables. The dataset provides a consistent reference for validating satellite ocean-colour products and supports algorithm development and long-term climate studies.
André Valente, Shubha Sathyendranath, Vanda Brotas, Steve Groom, Michael Grant, Thomas Jackson, Andrei Chuprin, Malcolm Taberner, Ruth Airs, David Antoine, Robert Arnone, William M. Balch, Kathryn Barker, Ray Barlow, Simon Bélanger, Jean-François Berthon, Şükrü Beşiktepe, Yngve Borsheim, Astrid Bracher, Vittorio Brando, Robert J. W. Brewin, Elisabetta Canuti, Francisco P. Chavez, Andrés Cianca, Hervé Claustre, Lesley Clementson, Richard Crout, Afonso Ferreira, Scott Freeman, Robert Frouin, Carlos García-Soto, Stuart W. Gibb, Ralf Goericke, Richard Gould, Nathalie Guillocheau, Stanford B. Hooker, Chuamin Hu, Mati Kahru, Milton Kampel, Holger Klein, Susanne Kratzer, Raphael Kudela, Jesus Ledesma, Steven Lohrenz, Hubert Loisel, Antonio Mannino, Victor Martinez-Vicente, Patricia Matrai, David McKee, Brian G. Mitchell, Tiffany Moisan, Enrique Montes, Frank Muller-Karger, Aimee Neeley, Michael Novak, Leonie O'Dowd, Michael Ondrusek, Trevor Platt, Alex J. Poulton, Michel Repecaud, Rüdiger Röttgers, Thomas Schroeder, Timothy Smyth, Denise Smythe-Wright, Heidi M. Sosik, Crystal Thomas, Rob Thomas, Gavin Tilstone, Andreia Tracana, Michael Twardowski, Vincenzo Vellucci, Kenneth Voss, Jeremy Werdell, Marcel Wernand, Bozena Wojtasiewicz, Simon Wright, and Giuseppe Zibordi
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 5737–5770, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5737-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5737-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A compiled set of in situ data is vital to evaluate the quality of ocean-colour satellite data records. Here we describe the global compilation of bio-optical in situ data (spanning from 1997 to 2021) used for the validation of the ocean-colour products from the ESA Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI). The compilation merges and harmonizes several in situ data sources into a simple format that could be used directly for the evaluation of satellite-derived ocean-colour data.
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Short summary
Oceanic light has historically been modeled based on phytoplankton concentration, consistent with a grazing food chain. This study indicates that oceanic light variability is more closely linked to variability in dissolved organic matter. The result is consistent with advancing knowledge of the microbial loop, wherein dissolved compounds are important ecosystem drivers. The findings also indicate that accurate retrieval of dissolved organics is key to the remote sensing of phytoplankton.
Oceanic light has historically been modeled based on phytoplankton concentration, consistent...
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