# Ocean Color Instrument
*sensor . products*

PACE hyperspectral imaging radiometer for ocean colour, aerosol, and cloud observations from ultraviolet through near-infrared, with discrete SWIR bands.

## Specifications
- **product status**: operational
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **manufacturer**: nasa
- **sensor**: {"instrument_family":"passive-optical","measurement_principle":"passive","spectral_range_nm":{"min":315,"max":2260},"spectral_band_count":290,"sampling_nm":2.5,"gsd_m":{"native":1200},"swath_km":2700,"channels":[{"name":"UV-NIR hyperspectral","spectral_range_nm":{"min":315,"max":895},"sampling_nm":2.5,"gsd_m":{"native":1200}},{"name":"SWIR discrete","spectral_range_nm":{"min":940,"max":2260},"spectral_band_count":7,"gsd_m":{"native":1200}}],"notes":"Band count is approximate for the continuous 315-895 nm channelization plus seven SWIR bands; full sensor research should replace this stub with the authoritative OCI relative spectral response table."}
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-16
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: nasa
- **attributes**: {"kind":"sensor","product_status":"operational","deployment_context":"orbital","manufacturer":"nasa","description":"PACE hyperspectral imaging radiometer for ocean colour, aerosol, and cloud observations from ultraviolet through near-infrared, with discrete SWIR bands.","sensor":"{\"instrument_family\":\"passive-optical\",\"measurement_principle\":\"passive\",\"spectral_range_nm\":{\"min\":315,\"max\":2260},\"spectral_band_count\":290,\"sampling_nm\":2.5,\"gsd_m\":{\"native\":1200},\"swath_km\":2700,\"channels\":[{\"name\":\"UV-NIR hyperspectral\",\"spectral_range_nm\":{\"min\":315,\"max\":895},\"sampling_nm\":2.5,\"gsd_m\":{\"native\":1200}},{\"name\":\"SWIR discrete\",\"spectral_range_nm\":{\"min\":940,\"max\":2260},\"spectral_band_count\":7,\"gsd_m\":{\"native\":1200}}],\"notes\":\"Band count is approximate for the continuous 315-895 nm channelization plus seven SWIR bands; full sensor research should replace this stub with the authoritative OCI relative spectral response table.\"}"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
The Ocean Color Instrument is the primary passive optical hyperspectral imaging radiometer aboard PACE.[^nasa-pace-oci][^nasa-earthdata-oci] It provides continuous UV-NIR coverage from 315-895 nm and seven discrete SWIR bands from 940-2260 nm, giving an approximate 290-band channel set for ocean-colour, aerosol and cloud observations.[^nasa-pace-oci][^ioccg-pace-overview] Sampling is 2.5 nm, with 1.25 nm steps at selected fluorescence and oxygen bands and 5 nm bandwidths.[^nasa-pace-oci] Native footprint is about 1.2 km by 1.2 km at scan center, and the ground swath is about 2700 km.[^nasa-pace-oci] OCI is operational, and its demonstrated use includes ocean-colour water-leaving radiance retrieval on PACE.[^nasa-earthdata-oci][^nasa-pace-oci] Its calibration approach combines solar diffusers, lunar irradiance observations and atmospheric/Fraunhofer spectral features for radiometric and spectral trending, which matters for buyers comparing hyperspectral marine products over long time series.[^nasa-pace-oci]

## Compositional position
- pace (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> Ocean Color Instrument

## Sources
- [nasa-pace-oci] | Ocean Color Instrument, NASA PACE | https://pace.oceansciences.org/oci.htm | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [nasa-earthdata-oci] | Ocean Color Instrument, NASA Earthdata | https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/instruments/oci | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [ioccg-pace-overview] | Overview of the NASA PACE Mission, IOCCG 2024 | https://ioccg.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/pace_overview_ioccg_web.pdf | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-16

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/oci
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)