Monthly Chlorophyll-a Climatology for Canadian Pacific EEZ (2003-2020)

Canadian Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone satellite data provides monthly climatological composites of chlorophyll-a concentration, a proxy for phytoplankton biomass, from 2003 to 2020 at 4 km resolution. Fisheries and Oceans Canada processed MODIS-Aqua data, calculating geometric means and standard deviations for each month, excluding January and December due to winter data gaps.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal phytoplankton biomass patterns using monthly geometric mean chlorophyll-a values across the EEZ.
• Assess data reliability for specific pixels by examining the number of occurrences of valid data over the 18-year period.
• Model spatial variability in chlorophyll-a concentration using the geometric standard deviation factor provided for each pixel and month.
• Study long-term chlorophyll-a climatology in the Pacific region by comparing geometric mean values from different months (February-November).

Strengths

• 18-year temporal coverage from 2003 to 2020 provides a long-term climatological baseline.
• 4 km spatial resolution offers detailed mapping of chlorophyll-a concentration across the Canadian Pacific EEZ.
• Data processing includes removal of unreliable pixels with fewer than two valid observations over the entire period.

Limitations

• January and December data are excluded, creating a gap in full annual cycle analysis for winter months.
• Averaging over time introduces uncertainty as each pixel has a differing number of observations, potentially missing short-lived events.
• Satellite-derived chlorophyll-a is a proxy for phytoplankton biomass and carries inherent measurement uncertainties.

Provenance

Source

NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group, MODIS-Aqua Level 2 Ocean Color Data Version R2018.0.

Collection Method

Chlorophyll-a concentration retrieved from MODIS-Aqua, processed to Level-3, averaged into monthly geometric mean and geometric standard deviation factor composites, cropped to the Canadian EEZ.

Time Range

2003 to 2020

Freshness

Data covers up to 2020; metadata was last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Canadian Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone