Sentinel-3 OLCI: Daily Water Quality Maps for Australian Coastal Waters

CSIRO produces daily Level 2P water quality data from Sentinel-3 OLCI satellite imagery under the eReefs Phase 5 project. The dataset includes reprojected full-resolution (approximately 300m-pixel size) maps of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and total suspended solids (TSS). Standard Level 1 quality flags and algorithm-specific out-of-range flags are provided for data quality control.

Use Cases

• Monitoring coastal algal blooms based on chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations.
• Analyzing water clarity and sediment transport based on total suspended solids (TSS) data.
• Tracking dissolved organic matter in coastal waters based on colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) measurements.
• Developing remote sensing models for water quality using the provided quality control flags.

Strengths

• Data is reprojected onto a regular grid using nearest neighbor resampling.
• Includes multiple quality flag layers (standard Level 1 flags and algorithm-specific out-of-range flags) for data control.
• Derived from Sentinel-3 OLCI full-resolution imagery with approximately 300m-pixel size.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Australian Ocean Data Network source.

Provenance

Source

CSIRO via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Derived from Level 2 geophysical quantities using the FUB-CSIRO Coastal Water Processor.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 15:04:08.694703; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Likely covers Australian coastal waters, particularly relevant to the eReefs project.