MODIS Sea Surface Temperature Seasonal Variations for Australian Waters, 2002-2017

The MODIS Derived Sea Surface Temperature dataset measures long-term seasonal variations in ocean surface waters. It is derived from NASA MODIS (Aqua) satellite imagery processed with SeaDAS software, covering the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding waters from July 2002 to December 2017. This research was supported by the National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine Biodiversity Hub.

Use Cases

• Modeling climate change impacts on marine ecosystems based on long-term seasonal temperature deviations.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of ocean warming based on data covering the Australian EEZ and southern ocean.
• Calibrating other ocean temperature models based on MODIS satellite-derived data processed with NASA's SeaDAS.
• Studying inter-annual variability of austral seasons based on standard deviations calculated for winter, spring, summer, and autumn.

Strengths

• Covers a 15.5-year time series from July 2002 to December 2017.
• Spatial extent includes the entire Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding waters.
• Derived from MODIS (Aqua) satellite imagery using NASA's standardized SeaDAS processing software.

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 freshness should be verified as the last metadata update is listed as 2026-04-16.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

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

Time Range

July 2002 to December 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 09:58:41.183796; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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