MODIS Optical Water Type Classification for Ocean Color

Satellite-derived optical water type data uses the Aqua MODIS sensor to measure reflected sunlight spectra from the ocean surface layer. The product applies a CSIRO implementation of the Moore et al. (2009) algorithm to classify spectra into 8 discrete optical water types. It is provided by the AODN organization under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Classifying ocean water optical properties based on MODIS-derived spectral measurements.
• Monitoring marine biogeochemical processes based on the shape of the light spectrum leaving the water.
• Comparing optical water type algorithms based on the CSIRO implementation versus the original NASA SeaDAS package.
• Extending optical water type analysis to VIIRS sensor data based on the algorithm's adaptability.

Strengths

• Algorithm is validated against the original NASA SeaDAS implementation.
• Product is designed for extension to the VIIRS sensor.
• Data is openly available under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

AODN

Collection Method

Satellite observations from the Aqua MODIS sensor processed using a CSIRO implementation of the Moore et al. (2009) clustering algorithm.

Geography

Global ocean coverage.