Upwelling Frequency Along South-eastern Australia from 14 Years of MODIS SST

A GIS data layer mapping the frequency of coastal upwelling along the south-eastern coast of Australia. The data was generated using 14 years of monthly MODIS sea surface temperature data, with values indicating persistent, semi-persistent, and seasonal upwelling areas. The dataset is provided by Geoscience Australia Data and is associated with a 2019 publication in Remote Sensing of Environment.

Use Cases

• Identify persistent upwelling zones based on the frequency data values.
• Study seasonal oceanographic patterns based on areas of medium data values indicating seasonal upwelling.
• Model marine ecosystem productivity based on upwelling frequency as a proxy for nutrient supply.
• Validate regional ocean circulation models based on the spatial and temporal upwelling variability.

Strengths

• Derived from 14 years of MODIS satellite data, providing a long-term climatological perspective.
• Spatial data distinguishes between persistent, semi-persistent, and seasonal upwelling regimes.
• Methodology is detailed in a peer-reviewed publication (Huang & Wang, 2019).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and data size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Freshness should be verified as the last update timestamp is 2026-04-30.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Generated using 14 years of monthly MODIS sea surface temperature data and an upwelling mapping method.

Time Range

Covers a 14-year period (specific years not stated).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 14:26:50.004220

Geography

South-eastern coast of Australia.