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The Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) on Nimbus-7, launched in October 1978, is the only sensor in orbit that is specifically designed to study living marine resources. The initial imagery confirms that CZCS data can be processed to a level that reveals subtle variations in the concentration of phytoplankton pigments. This development has potential applications for the study of large-scale patchiness in phytoplankton distributions, the evolution of spring blooms, water mass boundaries, and mesoscale circulation patterns.

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In October 1977, a major remote sensing experiment was conducted in the Gulf of Mexico, in preparation for the launch of NIMBUS-7 which carried the Coastal Zone Color Scanner. Two major vessels obtained surface-truth measurements, while two jet aircraft at altitudes of 12.5 and 19.5 km obtained images of the surrounding ocean in 10 spectral bands. Measurements obtained in the surface water from the NOAA vessel Researcher of the spectral downwelling irradiances, upwelling radiances, attenuation and scattering properties are described.