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The Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) program was conceived in 1994 as a result of a NASA management review of the agency's strategy for monitoring the bio-optical properties of the global ocean through ocean color remote sensing from space. The initial SIMBIOS program is scoped for five years (1997-2001) and includes support for the science team (NASA Research Announcement (NRA) selections) and the project office. In 1995, the International Ocean Colour-Coordinating Group (IOCCG) was formed to undertake the organization of an international SIMBIOS program. The IOCCG presently operates under the auspices of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and chairmanship of Dr. Trevor Platt. The NASA program consists of the SIMBIOS Science Team and the SIMBIOS Project Office. The SIMBIOS Science Team, as initially defined by the NRA selections, was expanded to include additional investigations for atmospheric correction algorithm validation. The SIMBIOS program is substantially augmented by the participation of the NASA-supported MODIS Oceans Team and SeaWiFS Calibration and Validation program. SIMBIOS collaborators associated with other relevant programs and science teams who contribute data, algorithms, etc., are given access to SIMBIOS Project resources in return, e.g., access to the SeaWiFS Bio-optical Archive and Storage System (SeaBASS). Besides providing administrative and contract support for the science team, the SIMBIOS Project Office is scoped to support four primary activities: data product validation, sensor calibration, data merger algorithm evaluation, and satellite data processing. The SIMBIOS Project has created a pool of ocean bio-optical instruments, the use of which will be shared between NASA-supported, U.S. investigators contributing to the SIMBIOS program. This "Instrument Pool" is an attempt to provide a cost-effective enhancement to the overall capabilities of the SIMBIOS Science Team, and to provide backup in case of failure of a critical instrument during an experiment. The equipment in the Instrument Pool are purchased and maintained by individual SIMBIOS principal investigators, but deployment schedules and priorities are coordinated by the Project Office with the advice of the Science Team. To better support validation of algorithms for atmospheric corrections and aerosol property retrievals, the SIMBIOS Project Office has established a close working collaboration with the Aerosol Network (AERONET) project, which maintains and operates a worldwide network of sun-tracking photometers. The NASA AERONET program is managed GSFC personnel. The Project Office has purchased equipment for nine additional island and coastal sun-photometer stations to be added to the AERONET, and has linked the AERONET archives to SeaBASS. In addition, the Project Office maintains a pool of hand-held sun photometers, which are calibrated by the GSFC AERONET investigators and are made available to SIMBIOS investigators during field experiments For more detailed information on SIMBIOS visit http://simbios.gsfc.nasa.gov/ For a list of SIMBIOS investigators visit "http://simbios.gsfc.nasa.gov/pi_links.html" Revision_Date: 1999-12-14
SIMBIOS