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

Australian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding waters, including the southern ocean, are covered by this dataset. It measures long-term seasonal variations in sea surface temperature derived from MODIS (Aqua) satellite images processed with NASA's SeaDAS software. The data consists of standard deviations calculated for austral seasons from monthly images between July 2002 and December 2017, with units in degrees Celsius.

Use Cases

• Modeling seasonal ocean temperature cycles based on the calculated standard deviations for austral seasons.
• Analyzing long-term climate trends in the Southern Ocean based on the 15-year time series from MODIS.
• Mapping thermal habitats within the Australian EEZ based on the geospatial sea surface temperature data.
• Validating regional ocean circulation models based on the satellite-derived temperature standard deviations.

Strengths

• Data spans over 15 years, from July 2002 to December 2017.
• Geographic extent covers the entire Australian EEZ and surrounding waters, including the southern ocean.
• Derived from MODIS (Aqua) satellite imagery using NASA's SeaDAS processing software, suggesting a standardized methodology.

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; the last metadata update is dated 2026-04-30.

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 2026-04-30 13:59:53.489467

Geography

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