Bonney Coast Upwelling Spatial and Temporal Variability from MODIS, 2002-2016

Over 170 sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a images from July 2002 to December 2016, with a spatial resolution of approximately 1 kilometer, were used to map the Bonney Coast upwelling. The data was processed by Geoscience Australia using Topographic Position Index and image segmentation techniques to extract upwelling signatures. The results confirm the upwelling is a seasonal system occurring between November and April, with strong inter-annual variation.

Use Cases

• Mapping the spatial extent of seasonal upwelling based on SST and chlorophyll-a signatures.
• Analyzing inter-annual variability in upwelling intensity and duration based on the multi-year time series.
• Investigating correlations between upwelling events and marine life aggregations mentioned in the description, such as krill swarms and blue whale presence.
• Studying the potential influence of climate patterns like ENSO on upwelling dynamics based on the noted inter-annual variation.

Strengths

• Contains more than 170 satellite images providing a long-term record from 2002 to 2016.
• Data has a spatial resolution of approximately 1 kilometer, allowing for detailed coastal analysis.
• Study quantifies upwelling impact, noting it can influence over 10,000 km2 with SST anomalies over 1°C and chlorophyll-a concentrations over 0.8 mg/m3.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Processed from MODIS satellite imagery using Topographic Position Index and image segmentation techniques.

Time Range

July 2002 to December 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 03:56:59.597470; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Bonney Coast, Australian southern shelves from Cape Jaffa, South Australia to Cape Nelson, Victoria