Daytime Cloud Optical Depth for Australian Region from Himawari Satellites

Offering daytime cloud optical depth values derived from Himawari-8/9 satellite imagery for the Australian continent and surrounding waters. The data is generated using the Qin et al. (2019) algorithm and is available in both a regular latitude/longitude grid and the original geostationary projection. The product is part of a collection for which a near-real-time processor is under development.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of cloud optical depth over the Australian continent and surrounding waters.
• Validate or compare cloud property algorithms using data generated via the Qin et al. (2019) method.
• Monitor cloud optical properties for meteorological studies over the specified geographic region.
• Integrate cloud optical depth data with other atmospheric datasets for climate modeling over Australia.

Strengths

• Derived from Himawari-8/9 geostationary satellite imagery, providing consistent observation over a fixed region.
• Data is available in two spatial formats: a regular latitude/longitude grid and the original satellite projection.
• Part of a collection with planned improvements including a near-real-time processor and extension to Himawari-10 (2028-2045).

Limitations

• Data access requires contacting the authors, as it is hosted on the Australian National Computational Infrastructure (NCI).
• The dataset is limited to daytime observations only, excluding nighttime cloud properties.
• Specific technical details like spatial/temporal resolution, row count, and column structure are not provided in the input.

Provenance

Source

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network's Data Discovery

Collection Method

Generated from daytime Himawari-8/9 imagery using the Qin et al. (2019) algorithm.

Freshness

The metadata was last updated on 2026-03-20, indicating active maintenance.

Geography

Australian continent and surrounding waters.