The present review describes progress in addressing and solving several fundamental and applied problems involving optical oceanography. These problems include: primary productivity, ecosystem dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, upper ocean heating, and the impacts of anthropogenic disturbances on ocean dynamics. Technological advances in optical sensors and ocean observing platforms are being used to increase the variety and quantity of optical observations and to greatly expand their sampling capabilities in time and space. Remote sensing of ocean color from aircraft- and satellite-borne instruments is vital to obtain regional- and global-scale optical data synoptically. In situ observations provide complementary subsurface data sets with high temporal and spatial resolution. In situ observations are also essential for calibration and validation of remotely sensed data as well as for algorithm development and data assimilation models. Important challenges remain to synthesize regional and global optical data sets obtained from optical sensors and oceanographic platforms and to utilize these data sets in predictive models of oceanic optical, physical, and biogeochemical dynamics.