High concentrations or "blooms" of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi can significantly affect a region by acting as a source of organic sulfur (i.e. dimethyl sulfide, DMS) to the atmosphere and calcium carbonate to the sediments, and by altering the optical properties of the surface layer. Documenting the occurrence of blooms in time and space, is consequently essential in characterizing the biogeochemical environment of a region. Furthermore, their distribution pattern can be employed to define the environmental conditions favorable for their occurrence. E. huxleyi blooms have been recorded to achieve cell concentrations of up to 115 million cells per liter (Berge, 1962).

Determining how prevalent these blooms are in the global ocean will help to estimate the magnitude of bloom produced CaCO3 and DMS in the ocean relative to other sources and assess their affect on regional CO2 dynamics and planetary albedo. In addition, the inter-annual variability of the blooms could conceivably be used, when correlated to physical parameters, to understand the conditions favorable for the bloom's initiation and growth. Several investigators have observed coccolithophore blooms in visible satellite imagery (Ackleson and Holligan, 1989; Balch et al., 1991; Brown and Yoder, 1993; Brown and Yoder, 1994a; Brown and Yoder, 1994b; Fukushima, 1991; Holligan and Groom, 1986; Holligan et al., 1983). The spatial and temporal variability of their blooms during 1978 to 1986 has recently been determined on both a regional (Brown and Yoder, 1994b) and global (Brown and Yoder, 1994a) scale.