Himawari-8 Sea Surface Temperature Data for Dynamic Ocean Phenomena, 2015-2017

Himawari-8 satellite data provides sea surface temperature (SST) observations at 10-minute frequency and approximately 2-kilometer resolution. The dataset was used in a 2019 AMSA conference presentation to investigate upwelling events along the Bonney Coast, seasonal variations of the East Australian Current, and diurnal SST patterns linked to the Madden-Julian Oscillation between 2015 and 2017. The data is associated with the Australian Ocean Data Network and is intended for integration into Geoscience Australia's Digital Earth Australia platform.

Use Cases

• Monitoring coastal upwelling events based on the high-frequency SST data mentioned for the Bonney Coast.
• Analyzing seasonal and intra-seasonal variations of western boundary currents like the East Australian Current (EAC).
• Investigating diurnal sea surface temperature (dSST) cycles and their correlation with atmospheric forcing like wind speed and heat flux.
• Studying the influence of large-scale climate oscillations, such as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), on regional ocean temperatures.

Strengths

• High temporal resolution of 10-minute observations enables tracking of rapid oceanographic changes.
• Spatial resolution of approximately 2 kilometers allows for analysis of mesoscale phenomena.
• Data covers a multi-year period from at least July 2015 to September 2017, capturing seasonal cycles.

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.
• The primary described formats are PDF and HTML, suggesting the raw numerical data may not be directly accessible.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, utilizing Himawari-8 satellite data.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing.

Time Range

Analysis periods include summer 2016–17, July 2015 to September 2017, and summers 2015–16 and 2016–17.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 18:00:16.743386; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Focus areas include the Bonney Coast, East Australian Current region, northwest shelf of Australia, and coastal areas of northern NSW and eastern Tasmania.