Satellite thermal imagery is combined with automated chemical analysis of surface waters of central California to detect and better understand a 'nutrient upwelling' entering the California Current system. While thermal surface water features have been mapped successfully from satellites for a number of years, the relationship of satelite thermal imagery to nutrients, such as nitrates and phosphates, has not been established. As a result of such efforts, satellite remote sensors may help to explain the relationship between chemical mesoscale and pelagic ecosystems of the ocean.