Australian South-Eastern Coast Upwelling Systems Mapped from 14 Years of MODIS Data

The Australian Ocean Data Network provides a dataset mapping the spatial and temporal variability of coastal upwelling systems along Australia's south-eastern coast. It is derived from 14 years of monthly MODIS sea surface temperature data, covering a 4500 km coastline. The study identifies two persistent upwelling systems and analyzes their variability in area, SST anomaly, chlorophyll-a concentration, and speed.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial and temporal patterns of coastal upwelling based on the 14-year monthly SST time series.
• Comparing the intensity and drivers of the NSW and WVIC/SA upwelling systems based on mapped characteristics like area of influence and SST anomaly.
• Investigating the impact of ENSO events on upwelling intensity based on the described correlation with El Niño and La Niña phases.
• Modeling marine ecosystem productivity based on the described link between upwelling areas and elevated chlorophyll-a concentrations.

Strengths

• Covers a 4500 km coastline, providing a large spatial scale for analysis.
• Based on 14 years of monthly MODIS data, offering long-term temporal coverage.
• Maps multiple upwelling characteristics, including area, SST anomaly, chlorophyll-a, and speed.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset is presented in HTML format, which may not be optimal for direct computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Developed using a scale-independent, semi-automatic image processing technique on MODIS SST data.

Time Range

14 years (specific years not stated)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 13:38:31.209668; freshness should be verified.

Geography

South-eastern coast of Australia, approximately 4500 km long, covering New South Wales, western Victoria, and adjacent South Australia.