The highly variable nature of T-N relationships in oceanic waters has restricted nitrate (N) measurements from remotely sensed sea surface temperature (SST) to small time and space domains. Here we show that if changes in T-N relationships resulting from phytoplankton (chlorophyll a) are taken into account, remote sensing can be exploited to provide high resolution maps of sea surface nitrate (SSN) that are valid over much larger scales than has been previously possible. We illustrate the potential of the method for monitoring basin scale, interannual variations in SSN in the north Pacific Ocean using co-registered imagery of SST and chl a and demonstrate the usefulness of such data for estimating basin scale annual new production. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union