A compilation of global bio-optical in situ data for ocean-colour satellite applications

A compiled set of in situ data is important to evaluate the quality of ocean-colour satellite-datarecords. Here we describe the data compiled for the validation of the ocean-colour products from the ESA OceanColour Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI). The data were acquired from several sources (MOBY, BOUSSOLE,AERONET-OC, SeaBASS, NOMAD, MERMAID, AMT, ICES, HOT, GeP&CO), span between 1997 and 2012,and have a global distribution. Observations of the following variables were compiled: spectral remote-sensingreflectances, concentrations of chlorophyll a, spectral inherent optical properties and spectral diffuse attenuationcoefficients. The data were from multi-project archives acquired via the open internet services or from individualprojects, acquired directly from data providers. Methodologies were implemented for homogenisation, qualitycontrol and merging of all data. No changes were made to the original data, other than averaging of observationsthat were close in time and space, elimination of some points after quality control and conversion to a standardformat. The final result is a merged table designed for validation of satellite-derived ocean-colour products andavailable in text format. Metadata of each in situ measurement (original source, cruise or experiment, principalinvestigator) were preserved throughout the work and made available in the final table. Using all the data in avalidation exercise increases the number of matchups and enhances the representativeness of different marineregimes. By making available the metadata, it is also possible to analyse each set of data separately. The compileddata are available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.854832 (Valente et al., 2015)