Seasonal Chlorophyll a Means for Australian Waters from MODIS, 2002-2017

Australian EEZ and surrounding waters are covered by this dataset of long-term seasonal means for chlorophyll a concentrations in ocean surface waters. The data is derived from MODIS (Aqua) satellite imagery processed with NASA's SeaDAS software, using monthly images from July 2002 to December 2017. This research was supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub.

Use Cases

• Modeling phytoplankton biomass dynamics based on seasonal chlorophyll a concentrations.
• Analyzing long-term trends in ocean productivity within the Australian EEZ based on the 15-year time series.
• Studying seasonal cycles in marine ecosystems based on the four austral season groupings.
• Calibrating or validating other ocean color satellite products based on the MODIS-derived data.

Strengths

• Covers a 15-year time series from July 2002 to December 2017.
• Spatial extent includes the entire Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding waters.
• Data is derived from a consistent source (MODIS Aqua) and processing pipeline (NASA SeaDAS).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to the specific 2002-2017 period and sensor availability.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Derived from MODIS (Aqua) satellite images using NASA's SeaDAS image processing software.

Time Range

July 2002 to December 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 21:51:15.239342; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding waters, including the southern ocean.