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

Long-term seasonal means of chlorophyll a concentrations in ocean surface waters derived from MODIS (Aqua) satellite imagery. The dataset covers the entire Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding waters, including the southern ocean, from July 2002 to December 2017. This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal phytoplankton bloom patterns based on chlorophyll a concentrations.
• Monitor long-term changes in ocean productivity within the Australian EEZ.
• Correlate chlorophyll a levels with other oceanographic variables for climate studies.
• Assess marine ecosystem health and biodiversity based on primary productivity indicators.

Strengths

• Data spans over 15 years from July 2002 to December 2017.
• Covers a large geographic extent including the entire Australian EEZ and southern ocean.
• Derived from MODIS (Aqua) imagery using NASA's SeaDAS software, suggesting a standardized processing method.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last updated metadata date is 2026-05-05; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

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

Time Range

July 2002 to December 2017

Geography

Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding waters (including the southern ocean)