Coastal zone color scanner data applied for mapping of the phytoplankton pigment concentration in the North Sea

In the Continental Coastal Water the phytoplankton pigment image has been evaluated by means of the Rijkswaterstaat routine measurements and sea truth measured in the German Bight. The pigment concentration level has in general been underestimated by the tendency in agreement with the sea truth measurement is obvious. To a great extent it has been possible to judge the reliability of the pigment image by considering the oceanographic processes in the North Sea and by interpreting the atmospherically corrected imagery.