The Lucinda Jetty Coastal Observatory (LJCO) is located in the coastal waters of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area near the Herbert River Estuary in Queensland, Australia. It acquires continuous above and in-water optical measurements to support satellite ocean color validation and algorithm development. The data is processed in delayed-mode with automatic quality control and made publicly available through the AODN portal.
Use Cases
- Validate satellite-derived ocean color products based on continuous above-water radiometry measurements.
- Develop atmospheric correction algorithms based on aerosol optical properties retrieved from autonomous CIMEL SeaPRISM data.
- Study coastal water bio-optical properties based on in-water measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence, CDOM, and spectral absorption.
- Analyze meteorological and sea state conditions for coastal modeling based on continuous weather and wave measurements.
Strengths
- The site is integrated into NASA's AERONET-OC global network, one of few in the southern hemisphere.
- Combines acquisition of both atmospheric and in-water optical measurements, a rare configuration globally.
- Instruments include hyperspectral radiometers (e.g., DALEC added in mid-2016) for continuous measurements.
- Data undergoes delayed-mode processing with automatic quality control.
Limitations
- Data collection was interrupted in 2011 due to tropical cyclone Yasi.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Continuous measurements from instruments mounted on the Lucinda Jetty Coastal Observatory.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-07-13 20:35:56.527662; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, near Herbert River Estuary, Queensland, Australia (18.52 S, 146.39 E).