Australian Ocean Chlorophyll-a Seasonal Deviations from MODIS

Seasonal chlorophyll-a concentration data derived from MODIS satellite imagery for Australian waters. The dataset contains standard deviation calculations for four austral seasons, spanning from July 2002 to December 2017. It was produced by the Australian Ocean Data Network with support from the National Environmental Science Program.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal standard deviations of chlorophyll-a concentration to identify regions of high inter-annual variability in phytoplankton blooms.
• Model the relationship between austral seasons (winter, spring, summer, autumn) and surface ocean productivity across the Australian EEZ.
• Map long-term trends in chlorophyll-a concentration deviations for specific seasons between 2002 and 2017.
• Correlate seasonal chlorophyll-a patterns from MODIS data with other oceanographic variables like sea surface temperature.

Strengths

• 15-year temporal coverage from July 2002 to December 2017
• Spatial extent covers the entire Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding southern ocean waters
• Data derived from NASA's MODIS (Aqua) sensor using standardized SeaDAS processing software

Limitations

• Unknown total number of data points or image tiles
• Data is aggregated to monthly and seasonal scales, losing daily resolution
• Concentrations are for surface waters only, with no vertical profile data

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, supported by the NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub.

Collection Method

Derived from MODIS (Aqua) satellite images processed with NASA's SeaDAS software, calculating seasonal standard deviations from monthly chlorophyll-a composites.

Time Range

July 2002 to December 2017

Freshness

Dataset last updated in April 2026, but underlying imagery ends in December 2017.

Geography

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