MODIS Chlorophyll a: Seasonal Variations in Australian Waters, 2002-2017

Monthly MODIS satellite images from July 2002 to December 2017 are processed to show seasonal chlorophyll a concentrations in ocean surface waters. The dataset covers the entire Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding southern ocean, with measurements in milligrams per cubic meter. This research was supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub.

Use Cases

• Modeling phytoplankton bloom cycles based on seasonal chlorophyll a concentrations.
• Assessing long-term ocean health trends in the Australian EEZ based on a 15-year satellite record.
• Studying the impact of climate variability on marine primary productivity based on seasonal standard deviations.
• Calibrating biogeochemical ocean models with satellite-derived surface chlorophyll a data.

Strengths

• Data spans over 15 years, from July 2002 to December 2017.
• Spatial coverage includes the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding southern ocean.
• Derived from MODIS (Aqua) satellite imagery using NASA's SeaDAS processing software.
• Calculates standard deviations for four distinct austral seasons.

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.
• Freshness should be verified; last metadata update was 2026-04-20.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

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

Time Range

July 2002 to December 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 02:18:55.730950

Geography

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