Imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging 
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was chosen as the most 
suitable data source for this project. MODIS data has 
become a key source in providing global environmental 
data for a vast range of scientific and monitoring 
applications. MODIS data is freely available in a wide 
variety of formats and temporal bins. Its time-series 
spanning several years and ongoing supply of data makes it 
suitable for temporal investigations. 
The MODIS sensor encompasses atmospheric, land and 
ocean imaging in a single instrument. There are two 
processes such as surface water movement (i.e. currents and 
eddies) are indirectly detected through the effects they have 
on SST or Ocean Colour. Satellite imagery can also show 
evidence of oceanic events, such 
as upwellings, which occur through the water column from 
depths greater than ones where satellite sensors can directly 
detect. The MODIS SST and Ocean Colour data have 
proven to be reliable (EOS Aqua in particular) and widely 
used in oceanographic research. The combination of near 
global coverage and relatively high resolution has made 
MODIS a valuable source of environmental data. 
SST indicates the temperature of the very thin surface layer 
of water (less than 1mm thick). It is often slightly cooler 
than the ‘bulk’ sea surface temperature, which is taken from 
the top several meters of ocean surface. Satellite SST is 
essentially measuring the temperature at the transition point 
between the ocean and atmosphere, which makes it very 
(A) 
  
(B) 
  
Figure 1, June 2004 data, (A) Original and (B) Linear Least 
Squares residuals 
of the major challenges to CSAT accuracy is situations 
where non-phytoplankton contaminates in the ocean alter 
pixel values. These contaminates are often suspended 
particulates or dissolved organic matter (CDOM). CDOM is 
essentially made up of disturbed substrate and/or detritus 
resulting from a myriad of shelf/coastal processes. In order 
to minimise large regions of no data in the final results, 
efforts have been made to fill cloud cover pixels from the 
average value of nearby valid pixels. A neighbourhood 
MODIS instruments on board the Earth Observing System 
(EOS) satellites, which are aimed at furthering knowledge 
of global dynamics and process. The EOS satellites are in 
circular, sun-synchronous, near-polar orbits approximately 
705km from the Earth's surface. Almost all of the Earth is 
covered every 1-2 days. The MODIS instrument has a 
swath at 10km along track and 2330km across track. There 
are 36 spectral bands covering wavelengths of 0.4um to 
14.5um. 
The SST and Ocean Colour data, available through 
MODIS, are two of the key oceanic properties that enable 
global insight into oceanic surface processes. Many of the 
important in oceanic/atmospheric transfer research. SST has 
become one of the most important climate and 
oceanographic variables available (Kapalan 1998). 
Initially, SST was processed in its raw form using the 
degree Celsius values. Data in this form are largely affected 
by the first order latitudinal trend of the Earth’s temperature 
gradients. While this approach eventually provided useful 
results in identifying the latitudinal gradients in SST, it did 
not satisfy the effort to identify oceanographic features such 
as currents, eddies, etc. that may have proved more useful 
and relevant at a regional scope. A simple approach to 
removing the first order latitudinal trend was by obtaining 
the residuals from a Least Squares Linear Regression fit 
between raw temperature values and latitude. These SST 
residuals enhanced clarification of SST water bodies and 
allowed interpretation without the influence of latitude 
(Figure 1). 
A key goal of ocean colour sensing is the determination of 
phytoplankton chlorophyll-a concentration in the near 
surface of ocean waters (Yoder and Kennelly 2006). 
Phytoplankton are microscopic plants and principle 
photosynthetic organisms in the oceans which form the 
basis for many food webs and primary production (Yoder 
and Kennelly 2003). The concentration of the active 
vi photosynthetic agent, chlorophyll-a, in phytoplankton is 
derived from ocean colour values giving a proxy for the 
level of primary biological activity (Ryther and Yentsch 
1957). 
Ocean colour data has been collected via a variety of 
satellite sensors since the late 1970s. Over this time the 
accuracy and limitations of ocean colour data has been 
determined and examined widely. Ocean colour is detected 
in the visible wavelength spectrum, with the concentration 
of chlorophyll-a derived from the green and blue spectrum 
bands (Robinson 2004, Yoder and Kennelly 2006). As with 
g most remotely sensed properties, there are contaminates 
,| which decrease the accuracy of detected pixel values. Since 
"ocean colour is detected in the visible spectrum, cloud 
cover plays a major contaminate role with sometime vast 
areas completely masked. Sun glint from waves is also 
another source of reflectance contamination. Probably one 
interpolation from the averaged value of valid pixels in a 
nine pixel radius (—42km) was found suitable to fill small to 
medium sized regions of cloud cover, while maintaining an 
indicative pixel value reflecting an appropriate influence of 
its surrounds. 
A monthly time-series of MODIS satellite imagery from 
July 2002 to June 2006 was used in this study. The 
standardised principle component analysis (sPCA) was used