The ocean Ecosystem is filled with marvelous universes and galaxies starting from humungous whales to the tiny phytoplankton that are smaller than the width of a human hair! Can you imagine that a drop of seawater can host hundreds of species & thousands of cells!... PACE is designed to help identify them.

Phytoplankton contain the green pigment chlorophyll which used to identify the presence of it. They are also called (Autotrophs) which indicates to their ability to convert sunlight into food classifies them as autotrophs or "self-feeding." Phytoplankton are tiny but important to the health of people and our planet. They serve as the base of the marine food web and produce oxygen vital to life. There are hundreds of thousands of species!. Here is a picture of some types of phytoplankton And some small, interesting information about different types

Chaetoceros debilis - Very common and potentially harmful Dinophysis species - Steals pigments and can be toxic Emiliania huxleyi – "Hubcaps" help reduce carbon dioxide Microcystis species – Freshwater species that is harmful Myrionecta rubra – Dense bloomer that can turn waters red Phaeocystis species - Helps form clouds and beach foam Prochlorococcus species – Tiniest phyto is a huge primary producer Protoperidinium divergens - Deadly beauty? Can be toxic and glow Rhizosolenia species – Moves nitrogen from depth to surface Synechococcus species - Thrives where other phytos fail Trichodesmium species - Key source of nitrogen for food web NASA’s PACE satellite’s: PACE's primary instrument is the first of its kind to measure all the colors of the rainbow, every day, everywhere. That means we can identify the type of phytoplankton behind the chlorophyll-a. Different types of phytoplankton have different effects most are not harmful, but some are harmful to human health — Studying this incredibly diverse group is key to understanding the health - and future - of our ocean and life on earth so distinguishing phytoplankton communities is a key mission of the satellite. That particularly helps us understand how they reflect or absorb solar radiation, which is one of the most important remaining mysteries in climate science. NASA’s PACE satellite’s Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) detects invisible universe of Earth’s Sea and sky from the vantage point of space. which gives scientists new information to differentiate communities of phytoplankton. This first image released from OCI identifies two different communities of phytoplankton in the ocean off the coast of South Africa on Feb. 28, 2024. The central panel of this image shows Synechococcus in pink and picoeukaryotes in green. The left panel of this image shows a natural color view of the ocean, and the right panel displays the concentration of chlorophyll.