Aerosol Optical Thickness: 10-Year MODIS Aqua Data Interpolated to 5km Grid

Entura accumulated Level 3 data over a 10-year period and interpolated it to a 5 km grid. Values of 'Deep Blue Aerosol Optical Depth' (AOT) from the MODIS Aqua data set are used, with a valid range of -0.5 to +5.0. The dataset was published by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling atmospheric pollution dispersion based on aerosol optical depth values.
• Assessing solar energy potential by analyzing aerosol concentrations that affect solar irradiance.
• Monitoring long-term air quality trends over a 10-year period using the gridded time-series data.
• Calibrating other remote sensing products using the validated MODIS Aqua AOT values.

Strengths

• Data spans a 10-year period, providing a substantial temporal baseline.
• Values are interpolated to a consistent 5 km spatial grid, facilitating analysis.
• Includes a detailed methodology report from Entura, documenting the data processing.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (data_gov_au).

Collection Method

Level 3 data from MODIS Aqua satellite, accumulated and interpolated to a 5 km grid by Entura.

Time Range

10-year period (specific years not stated).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 02:32:43.212180; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Likely covers Victoria, Australia, based on the linked report's title ('Solar Atlas Victoria'), but explicit geography is not stated in the provided metadata.