Sentinel-3 OLCI: Daily Coastal Water Quality Maps

CSIRO's eReefs Phase 5 dataset provides daily, reprojected Level 2P water quality parameters from Sentinel-3 OLCI satellite imagery at approximately 300-meter resolution. It includes concentrations of Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS), processed using the FUB-CSIRO Coastal Water Processor. The data incorporates standard Level 1 quality flags and additional algorithm out-of-range flags for quality control.

Use Cases

• Monitoring algal bloom dynamics based on Chlorophyll-a concentrations.
• Tracking sediment plumes and coastal erosion using Total Suspended Solids data.
• Assessing dissolved organic matter transport in coastal waters via CDOM measurements.
• Validating hydrodynamic and biogeochemical models with daily satellite-derived water quality maps.

Strengths

• Provides daily temporal resolution for monitoring dynamic coastal processes.
• Uses a peer-reviewed processing algorithm detailed in a scientific publication (doi:10.1016/j.rse.2021.112848).
• Includes multiple quality flag layers (Level 1 and algorithm out-of-range) for data reliability assessment.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as specific column names, row counts, file sizes, and license information is missing from all platform entries.
• The spatial coverage is implied but not explicitly stated, limiting clarity on the exact geographic extent.
• Platform entries show a conflict in the 'last updated' timestamp (2026-06-23 vs 2026-03-21), indicating potential metadata inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

CSIRO under the eReefs Phase 5 project

Collection Method

Derived from Sentinel-3 OLCI Level 2 geophysical quantities using the FUB-CSIRO Coastal Water Processor and nearest neighbor resampling.

Freshness

2026-06-23

Geography

Australia (implied by the Australian Ocean Data Network organization and eReefs project focus)