Abstract
It requires frequent and high-resolution measurements of biogeochemical properties of the oceans in order to obtain the
status of the ecosystems and evaluate its role in modulating the climate. Because of the limited coverage and high cost,
such a task could not be achieved via traditional ship surveys. Satellite sensors, because of its high revisit time and
synoptic coverage, can provide key measurements to remedy the weakness of ship surveys. To ensure reliable and
consistent measurements from an ocean color satellite, it not only requires the sensor be well designed and calibrated,
also requires the processing software be robust for a wide range of ecosystems. All these require adequate data in order
to evaluate and characterize the whole system. Such data, however, will not be available until the sensor is functioning
properly in the sky. To overcome this dilemma, we developed POCIS (Pseudo Ocean Color Image Simulator), which can
generate top-of-atmosphere ocean color images based on sensor specs. Such images, which can be both regional and
global, can then be fed into current/future processing system to generate proxy products, thus not only help to ensure the
readiness of the processing system, but also help to identify weakness and strengths of such a system before its launch,
and setup the bases for eventual improvements. Details of POCIS, along with examples of proxy VIIRS image products,
are presented to demonstrate its capabilities and potentials.
