Great Barrier Reef Benthic Light Estimates from MODIS, 2002-2019

Daily integrated benthic photosynthetically active radiation (bPAR) estimates for the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea on a 1km grid from July 2002 to December 2019. The data product was developed by NESP TWQ projects 2.3.1 and 5.3, AIMS, Go2Q Consulting, and JCU using NASA MODIS Ocean Color and bathymetric data. It serves as a first step toward an ecologically relevant water quality indicator based on benthic light.

Use Cases

• Modeling coral reef health based on estimated daily benthic light (bPAR).
• Analyzing seasonal and spatial variations in light availability for seagrass habitats.
• Developing water quality indicators for the Great Barrier Reef based on the described algorithm.
• Studying long-term trends in benthic light as a function of water depth and quality.

Strengths

• Data spans over 17 years, from July 2002 to December 2019.
• Spatial coverage includes the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Coral Sea on a 1km grid.
• Methodology is peer-reviewed and published in Optics Express (Magno-Canto et al., 2019).
• Data has been evaluated against in situ PAR observations at four sites with good results.

Limitations

• Data contains gaps due to cloud cover, sun angle, and sensor degradation on MODIS satellites.
• Accuracy has not been evaluated in muddy nearshore waters or deeper offshore waters.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN), aggregated from NESP TWQ projects 2.3.1 and 5.3, AIMS, Go2Q Consulting, and JCU.

Collection Method

Derived from NASA MODIS Ocean Color data and bathymetry using the SWIM and Magno-Canto et al. algorithms.

Time Range

July 2002 to December 2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-10 18:15:12.044377; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Coral Sea