This image shows the Baltic Sea, located in Northern Europe between the Scandinavian countries and Eastern European countries.

It is a region of intense biological activity with huge phytoplankton blooms occurring every year in spring. Some of them, the so-called red tides, can be dangerous for the coastal fishery industries because their toxicity can locally damage the fish farms.

MERIS, with its outstanding radiometric accuracy and its 15 visible and near-infrared bands, has the ability to detect these fast developing red tides. With a two-day revisit cycle at these latitudes, MERIS can play an important role by providing accurate water composition data for a better management of coastal resources.

Technical Information:
Instrument: MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS)
Date of Acquisition: 22 May 2002
Orbit number: 01178
Instrument features: Reduced Resolution image (1200-meter resolution)