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248Á. M. CIOTTI ET ALLITable III. Seasonal chl cycles and proportion of data coverage (i.e., 0 would represent no data while 1 would representthat all pixels had valid data) per region (Seawifs MODIS). Values represent the overall means for all 8-Day medianvalues of Chl observed in each area. These means were computed for periods with concurrent data acquired by bothsensors, up to 31 December 2009.SeaWiFSSeason Fall Winter Spring SummerArea andlatitudinalrangeCHLMean(Std)1 - 4N-1S 2.17(2.05)2- 1S-5S 0.32(0.23)3- 5S-15S 0.16(0.05)4- 15S-21S 0.23(0.07)5- 21S-24S 0.28(0.11)6- 24S-28S 0.27(0.11)7- 28S-34S 0.66(0.42)COVERMean(Std)0.27(0.20)0.44(0.23)0.62(0.18)0.74(0.21)0.86(0.20)0.79(0.21)0.72(0.24)CHLMean(Std)0.54(0.57)0.27(0.03)0.15(0.04)0.26(0.07)0.38(0.12)0.55(0.43)1.61(0.79)COVERMean(Std)0.53(0.17)0.71(0.15)0.70(0.15)0.73(0.20)0.86(0.21)0.75(0.24)0.77(0.20)CHLMean(Std)0.25(0.07)0.25(0.03)0.10(0.02)0.16(0.05)0.28(0.11)0.25(0.11)0.78(0.52)MODIS/AquaCOVERMean(Std)0.41(0.12)0.58(0.12)0.73(0.18)0.52(0.30)0.57(0.30)0.48(0.28)0.74(0.25)CHLMean(Std)0.91(1.72)0.25(0.07)0.11(0.02)0.15(0.03)0.23(0.21)0.18(0.04)0.30(0.13)Season Fall Winter Spring SummerArea andlatitudinalrangeCHLMean(Std)1 - 4N-1S 1.72(1.83)2- 1S-5S 0.36(0.24)3- 5S-15S 0.18(0.06)4- 15S-21S 0.24(0.09)5- 21S-24S 0.27(0.09)6- 24S-28S 0.25(0.10)7- 28S-34S 0.59(0.32)COVERMean(Std)0.23(0.17)0.53(0.23)0.67(0.17)0.83(0.16)0.93(0.10)0.87(0.16)0.82(0.19)CHLMean(Std)0.50(0.690.26(0.030.17(0.060.28(0.070.36(0.12)0.46(0.32)1.47(0.82)COVERMean(Std)0.46(0.14)0.78(0.10)0.73(0.14)0.83(0.15)0.91(0.16)0.83(0.22)0.82(0.17)CHLMean(Std)0.29(0.56)0.26(0.03)0.11(0.02)0.17(0.05)0.26(0.11)0.24(0.08)0.76(0.54)COVERMean(Std)0.28(0.11)0.57(0.11)0.71(0.15)0.61(0.27)0.62(0.30)0.54(0.25)0.77(0.18)CHLMean(Std)0.57(0.85)0.28(0.07)0.13(0.06)0.15(0.02)0.20(0.05)0.19(0.06)0.31(0.11)COVERMean(Std)0.18(0.13)0.29(0.17)0.62(0.24)0.58(0.27)0.69(0.29)0.65(0.28)0.78(0.18)COVERMean(Std)0.13(0.10)0.34(0.16)0.65(0.21)0.69(0.24)0.77(0.23)0.70(0.25)0.80(0.15)Recommendations and ConclusionsWe have shown that the ocean color data areadequate for time series studies but they arecurrently only a decade-long and quantification oflong-term trends is not feasible at present time forthe BCS. Our simple analyses have shown however,the presence of long-term and interannual variabilitythat must be taken into account in future studies onBCS. Systematic ocean color measurements frommulti-instrument, multi-platform and multi-yearobservations are needed to understand how annualand decadal-scale climate variability affects thegrowth of phytoplankton on the continental shelves.It is important to have satellite ocean color dataavailable for the scientific community to accesschanges in phytoplankton biomass, dissolvedmaterial and other derived products. However,SeaWiFS, MODIS, and MERIS sensors are eitherwell beyond or nearing the end of their design lives(Mc Clain 2009). The continuity for these productswill only be achieved over the next decades if aneffort is made to launch new ocean color sensors.The data from new sensors have also to beopen to all ocean color researchers, including thepre-launch characterization and on-orbit calibrationPan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences (2010), 5(2): 236-253