East Australian Current Shoreward Intrusion Mapped from 26 Years of Satellite SST Data

Geoscience Australia Data provides a dataset mapping the seasonal shoreward intrusion of the East Australian Current (EAC) off northern New South Wales. The analysis uses a 26-year remotely sensed AVHRR Sea Surface Temperature dataset spanning 1992-2018, processed with a Topographic Position Index technique. It quantifies the EAC's distance-to-coast and shelf area occupation, showing closer intrusion in austral summer and autumn.

Use Cases

• Modeling seasonal coastal upwelling patterns based on the quantified shoreward intrusion of the East Australian Current.
• Analyzing long-term ocean current variability based on the 26-year sea surface temperature time series.
• Validating hydrodynamic models of the East Australian Current using direct measurements of distance-to-coast and shelf area.
• Investigating bio-physical shelf dynamics based on the seasonal migration pattern of the current.

Strengths

• 26-year temporal coverage from 1992 to 2018 provides a long-term perspective.
• Quantitative mapping enables direct measurement of intrusion area and distance-to-coast.
• Analysis reveals a specific seasonal pattern with a mean distance ~6 km shorter and shelf area ~12% larger in summer/autumn.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is derived from a single sensor type (AVHRR SST) and a specific processing technique (TPI).

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Remotely sensed AVHRR Sea Surface Temperature data processed with a Topographic Position Index (TPI) image processing technique.

Time Range

1992-2018

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-25 16:26:29.035983; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Coastal ocean off northern New South Wales, Australia, between 28°S - 32.5°S.