The Closed-Loop Ocean Simulation for Evaluation of ocean color retrieval algorithms (CLOSE) Level-3 binned collection provides spatially aggregated ocean-color products generated from the CLOSE Level-2 observations using an equal-area global binning structure. Products include hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance, chlorophyll-a concentration, diffuse attenuation coefficients, aerosol optical properties, and derived absorption and backscattering properties. These data support statistical analysis, evaluation of spatial aggregation effects, and generation of Level-3 mapped products.

Geophysical variables in this suite include:

• Rrs_346 through Rrs_719 — Hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance at OCI wavelengths (sr⁻¹)
• chlor_a — Chlorophyll-a concentration (mg m⁻³)
• Kd — Diffuse attenuation coefficients (m⁻¹)
• a — Total absorption (m⁻¹)
• adg — Absorption due to colored dissolved and detrital material (m⁻¹)
• aph — Absorption due to phytoplankton (m⁻¹)
• bb — Total backscattering (m⁻¹)
• bbp — Particulate backscattering (m⁻¹)
• angstrom — Aerosol Ångström exponent
• aot_865 — Aerosol optical thickness at 865 nm
• BinIndex and BinList — Level-3 bin indexing and observation-assignment information