Editing SeaWiFS (section)

==Instrument==

[[File:SeaStar satellite orbit.jpg|thumbnail|The SeaStar satellite, which carried SeaWiFS]]

SeaWiFS was the only [[Measuring instrument|scientific instrument]] on [[GeoEye]]'s [[OrbView-2]] (AKA SeaStar) [[satellite]], and was a follow-on experiment to the [[Coastal Zone Color Scanner]] on [[Nimbus program|Nimbus 7]]. Launched August 1, 1997 on an [[Orbital Sciences]] Pegasus small air-launched [[rocket]], SeaWiFS began scientific operations on September 18, 1997 and stopped collecting data on December 11, 2010,<ref name=OceanColor>{{cite web |url=http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi/browse.pl?sen=sw&typ=GAC|title=Ocean Color Browse|author=NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center|date= February 14, 2011|access-date=February 14, 2011}}</ref> far exceeding its designed operating period of 5 years.<ref name=HookerMcClain>{{cite journal|last=Hooker|first=S.B.|author2=McClain, C.R. |title=The calibration and validation of SeaWiFS data|journal=Progress in Oceanography|date=1 April 2000|volume=45|issue=3–4|pages=427–465|doi=10.1016/S0079-6611(00)00012-4|bibcode = 2000PrOce..45..427H |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1259759}}</ref> The [[sensor resolution]] is 1.1&nbsp;km (LAC, "Local Area Coverage") and 4.5&nbsp;km (GAC, "Global Area Coverage"). The sensor recorded information in the following [[optical]] bands:

{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
!Band
!Wavelength
|-
|1
|402–422 [[nanometre|nm]]
|-
|2
|433–453 [[nanometre|nm]]
|-
|3
|480–500 [[nanometre|nm]]
|-
|4
|500–520 [[nanometre|nm]]
|-
|5
|545–565 [[nanometre|nm]]
|-
|6
|660–680 [[nanometre|nm]]
|-
|7
|745–785 [[nanometre|nm]]
|-
|8
|845–885 [[nanometre|nm]]
|}

The instrument was specifically designed to monitor ocean characteristics such as [[Chlorophyll a|chlorophyll-a]] concentration and water clarity. It was able to tilt up to 20 degrees to avoid sunlight from the sea surface. This feature is important at equatorial latitudes where glint from sunlight often obscures water colour. SeaWiFS had used the [[Marine Optical Buoy#Contribution|Marine Optical Buoy]] for vicarious calibration.

The SeaWiFS Mission is an industry/government partnership, with [[NASA]]'s Ocean Biology Processing Group at [[Goddard Space Flight Center]] having responsibility for the data collection, processing, calibration, validation, archive and distribution.  The current SeaWiFS Project manager is [[Gene Carl Feldman]].