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

Monthly chlorophyll a concentration images from July 2002 to December 2017, derived from NASA MODIS (Aqua) satellite imagery. The dataset calculates standard deviations for austral seasons across the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding waters, with units in mg/m3. This research was supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub.

Use Cases

• Modeling phytoplankton bloom seasonality based on chlorophyll a concentration.
• Assessing ocean health and productivity trends based on long-term satellite-derived data.
• Studying climate change impacts on marine ecosystems based on 15-year seasonal variations.
• Mapping biogeographic regions based on chlorophyll a patterns within the Australian EEZ.

Strengths

• Covers a 15-year time range from July 2002 to December 2017.
• Spatial extent includes the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding southern ocean waters.
• Data derived from established NASA MODIS (Aqua) sensor and SeaDAS processing software.
• Seasonal analysis defined 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.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the satellite source and processing method.

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06 27 17:14:57.974793; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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