Measurements of ocean color provide information on ocean biological parameters such as the quantity of phytoplankton. These plants are of great importance not only because they form the lowest level of the marine food chain, but they also play a role in many geochemical processes such as converting dissolved CO₂ into other components.
At a local scale, satellite observations of ocean color, usually in conjunction with sea surface temperature measurements, may be used as a indication of the presence of fish stocks. Measurements may also be used to monitor water quality and to give an indication of the pollution by identifying algal blooms.
Measurements of ocean color are particularly important in coastal regions to identify erosion and sediment transfer.
The launch of POLDER on ADEOS has provided interesting sources of data that have been missing since many years.

Sea surface wind data of high quality and high temporal resolution are required for operational weather forecasting and to enable understanding of the large scale air-sea fluxes which are vital for climate prediction.
With these data, scientists are now increasing their understanding and ability to predict cyclones, hurricanes and other intense wind patterns.

Measurements of sea surface temperature are very important for the studies of coupled atmosphere-ocean phenomena. Sea surface temperature is a major factor in the processes of the surface energy balance. It is also central to the circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, and hence plays a fundamental role in regulating weather and climate.
These data are also indicators of environmental change such as El Nino event. They have also been used to monitor a variety of phenomena such as river outflow and the intrusion of the Gulf Stream water into coastal regions.
In conjunction with ocean color measurements, sea surface temperature can be used to improve estimates of ocean biological productivity and to monitor global phytoplankton distributions.
IASI on METOP will provide ocean surface temperature measurements using thermal infrared channel, the expected accuracy is better than 0.5°C.

Measurements of wave height and spectrum are used by oceanographers to investigate large scale ocean features such as fronts and eddies. These data are also important for climate purposes as they are needed for the correct representation of turbulent air-sea fluxes.
These measurements, with information on wind speeds and surface temperatures, allow an improved understanding of the air-sea interactions in order to forecast the behavior of ocean waves. Such forecasts are of great interest to a variety of marine and coastal activities (ocean bound shipping, off-shore drilling installations).
Information on wave heights is obtained from altimeters such as SSALT on TOPEX-POSEIDON and JASON 1satellites.

Ocean circulation is of critical importance to the earth's climate system. Ocean currents transport a amount of energy from the tropics towards the pole leading to a moderation of the climate at high altitudes.
Using satellite altimetry, large scale changes in ocean topography, such as those in the tropical Pacific related to El Niño events may be observed, and the mean level of the oceans may be measured (information which is of particular interest to low-lying countries).
On a local scale, topographic information from satellite may be used in support of off-shore exploration for resources and for optimizing pipeline routing on the sea floor.
Altimeters, such as those on TOPEX-POSEIDON and its successors JASON 1, JASON 2 and JASON 3, are capable of measuring ocean topography to around 3 cm.