East Australian Current Sea Surface Temperature Maps from Himawari-8 Satellite, 2015-2017

Himawari-8 satellite data with very high spatiotemporal resolution enabled mapping of the dynamic East Australian Current using a Topographic Position Index method. The dataset captures sea surface temperature signatures from July 2015 to September 2017, documenting meanders, offshoots, separation, eddies, and extensions. Xie et al. published the associated research in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans in 2020.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the spatial variability and temporal evolution of the East Australian Current based on sea surface temperature signatures.
• Investigating eddy-shedding timescales and seasonal cycles of current encroachment using wavelet analysis.
• Relating sea surface temperature signatures to surface current speed signatures using an eddy-resolving ocean model.
• Mapping complex oceanographic features like meanders, offshoots, and eddies via a Topographic Position Index method.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 26-month study period from July 2015 to September 2017.
• Uses Himawari-8 SST images described as having 'very high spatiotemporal resolution'.
• Method validation shows an overall area ratio of overlap ~60% between SST and surface current speed signatures.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific region of the East Australian Current.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Derived from time series Himawari-8 sea surface temperature data, processed using a Topographic Position Index method.

Time Range

July 2015 to September 2017

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 04:22:01.445856; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southeast coast of Australia, including the East Australian Current path and the eastern coast of Tasmania.