SCIAMACHY PhytoDOAS: Global data set of different phytoplankton groups: retrieval and first application.

Global information on the quantitative distribution of major functional phytoplankton types (PFTs) of the world ocean is important for understanding the marine phytoplanktons role in the global marine ecosystem. In this study global biomass distributions of different dominant PFTs from 2008 were derived from data of the ENVISAT satellite sensor SCIAMACHY analysed with PhytoDOAS, a method of Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) currently specialized for diatoms and cyanobacteria (Bracher et al. 2009). These global maps of phytoplankton distribution were validated with collocated in-situ PFT data. The global PFT satellite data sets are used as input data for a biogeochemical model. First applications are presented.