MODIS Derived Sea Surface Temperature Seasonal Means for Australian Waters

Monthly sea surface temperature images from July 2002 to December 2017 are processed to calculate long-term seasonal means for austral seasons. The dataset covers the entire Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding waters, with values in degrees Celsius. This research is supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal warming patterns based on austral season definitions
• Model climate change impacts on marine ecosystems based on long-term temperature means
• Validate oceanographic models using satellite-derived sea surface temperature data
• Study regional temperature variations within the Australian EEZ and surrounding waters

Strengths

• Provides a 15-year time series from July 2002 to December 2017
• Covers a defined geographic extent: the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding waters
• Derived from MODIS (Aqua) satellite imagery using NASA's SeaDAS software

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

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 2026-05-05 00:57:41.473567; freshness should be verified

Geography

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