A method has been developed for estimating new production in upwelling systems from remotely sensed surface temperatures. A shift-up model predicts the rate of adaptation of nitrate uptake. The time base for the production cycle is obtained from a knowledge of surface heating rates and differences in temperature between the point of upwelling and each pixel. Nitrate concentrations are obtained from temperature-nitrate regression equations. Surface distributions of new production as nitrate uptake are produced. The model was developed for the northwest Africa upwelling region, where shipboard measurements of new production were available. It can be employed in two modes, the first using only surface temperatures, and the second in which CZCS color data are incorporated. The color data provide an estimate of chlorophyll which is used to estimate the diffuse attenuation coefficient and the particulate nitrogen concentration pixel by pixel. Vertical integrations for each pixel can be made when the euphotic zone is well mixed and homogeneous for phytoplankton. Future applications of the model should be on a region-by-region basis where shipboard measurements are available to calibrate the algorithms and validate the results. The major advance offered by this method is the capability to estimate new production on spatial and time scales inaccessible with shipboard approaches. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1989