Torres Strait Landsat 5 Satellite Composite, 1993-2009

A composite of 8 Landsat 5 satellite scenes provides a cloud-free, clear-water seamless image of the Torres Strait region, including parts of Cape York and Papua New Guinea. The image has a resolution of approximately 30 meters and a positional accuracy better than 50 meters. The composite was created by the Australian Ocean Data Network using imagery selected from 1993 to 2009 and processed for sun glint, haze, and tonal consistency.

Use Cases

• Monitor changes in reef and sand bar morphology based on the clear water imagery.
• Analyze coastal and island land cover using the 30-meter resolution true-color composite.
• Use as a baseline geospatial reference for the region, given its cloud-free and mosaicked nature.

Strengths

• Composite is cloud-free and clear-water optimized, created from 8 Landsat scenes.
• Imagery has a resolution of approximately 30 meters and positional accuracy better than 50 meters.
• Processing corrected for sun glint, thin clouds, and haze, and scenes were blended to remove visual artifacts.

Limitations

• Data is based on Landsat 5 imagery from 1993-2009 and may not reflect current conditions.
• A higher-resolution Sentinel 2 dataset for 2015-2021 is noted as available, suggesting this dataset is older.
• Column-level documentation and specific file sizes are unknown, requiring inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, sourced from NASA Landsat 5 imagery.

Collection Method

Composite created by selecting clearest 2-3 images per scene from the Landsat 5 archive, processing for true color and corrections, and blending in Photoshop and GDAL.

Time Range

1993 to 2009

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 16:40:35.616006; freshness should be verified as the underlying imagery is from 1993-2009.

Geography

Torres Strait region, including parts of Cape York (Australia) and Papua New Guinea (e.g., Fly River).