Chlorophyll of sargazos from space

2007/06/07 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Irudiak/Soinuak
• Biologia
• Astronautika

The Envisat satellite of the European agency ESA has detected from the space floating algae in the sea of the Sargazos. These algae are famous for forming meshes on the surface of the sea as to “catch” the boats. The sea of the sargazos has taken the name of these algae hunters, which are named this way to these floating brown algae. From a biological point of view, flotation allows sargazos to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and grow through photosynthesis. Taking advantage of these characteristics, the Envisat satellite has detected the presence of chlorophyll molecule A in the sea of Sargazos, one of the molecules involved in photosynthesis. This molecule emits light through the fluorescence of certain wavelengths, so its search allows to detect the plant itself spatially. ESA ESA