Phytoplankton can be found in nearly all marine ecosystems. They are the main food for large plankton to fish and shellfish. Phytoplankton is also half of the world's entire photo synthetic activity. Researchers are now using satellite images made a global analysis of these phytoplankton presence. Oceanologer has measured the amount of fluorescent red light emitting phytoplankton and thus analyzed how efficiently they convert sunlight and nutrients into food through photosynthesis.The reason that NASA now mapping these phytoplankton is that they, inter alia, affects the amount of carbon dioxide the oceans can take up and how the oceans respond to climate change.
