The Ocean Biology DAAC produces near real-time (NRT) products using the best-available combination of ancillary data from meteorological and ozone data. As such, the inputs and the calibration used are less than optimal. Near real-time products provide a snapshot of the data during a short time period within a single orbit.

The MOANA data suite provides picophytoplankton group abundances—Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, and picoeukaryotes—derived from ocean-color (with SST as ancillary input) and reported in cells mL⁻¹. Products can be used for time-series, regional biogeography, ecosystem assessments, and model evaluation.

Note that retrieval accuracy can vary in optically complex coastal waters, so users should refer to flags and documentation when screening.

Geophysical variables in this suite include:
• picoeuk_moana — Cell abundance of picoeukaryotes (cells mL⁻¹)
• prochlorococcus_moana — Cell abundance of Prochlorococcus (cells mL⁻¹)
• synechococcus_moana — Cell abundance of Synechococcus (cells mL⁻¹)