SNPP VIIRS Satellite Data: 01-Day Optical Water Type Classification

Optical water type data derived from the VIIRS sensor aboard the SNPP satellite platform. The product uses a CSIRO implementation of the Moore et al. (2009) algorithm to classify ocean water into 8 discrete optical types based on reflected sunlight spectra. It is provided by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated in July 2026.

Use Cases

• Classifying ocean water masses based on optical properties derived from VIIRS sensor data.
• Monitoring coastal and open-ocean water quality changes using the 8 discrete optical water types.
• Validating and comparing ocean color algorithms by testing against the CSIRO implementation of the Moore et al. method.

Strengths

• Algorithm is based on a peer-reviewed method (Moore et al., 2009) that identifies 8 optical water types.
• Product testing shows it closely reproduces results from the original NASA SeaDAS implementation.
• Implementation was updated and extended for the VIIRS sensor, as noted in the description.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified; last update is listed as 2026-07-10 17:07:31.475819.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network via data_gov_au

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the VIIRS sensor on the SNPP platform, processed with a CSIRO algorithm.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-10 17:07:31.475819

Geography

Likely global ocean coverage from the SNPP satellite, but specific area is not stated.