Abstract:

This dataset contains Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-derived seasonal climatology of color index (CI) and sea surface temperature (SST) frontal density in the southeast Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits, at 1-km spatial resolution. This product was generated and processed based on MODIS-derived CI and SST that distributed by Optical Oceanography Lab (https://optics.marine.usf.edu/) at University of South Florida. The original data have been cut to the southeast Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits region (22.5N to 28N and 85W to 79.5W) to calculate the seasonal climatology of frontal density over the 2002-2019 period. Figures illustrating the distributions for the southeast Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits region are included for all data.

Suggested Citation:

Zhang, Yingjun and Chuanmin Hu. 2021. MODIS-derived frontal density in the southeast Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits during 2002-2019. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/n7-3fvz-at94

Purpose:

The systematic documentation of frontal density distributions in the southeast Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits between 2002 and 2019 using MODIS satellite ocean color measurements.

Data Parameters and Units:

Seasonal climatology distributions: frontal_density (front density, [%]), Lat (latitude, [degrees N]), Lon (longitude, [degrees E]), palette (rgb values, [0-255])

Methods:

This ocean color data products generated from satellite measurements using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The front lines were determined through an edge detection method which outlined in Canny (1986). The front lines derived from individual MODIS CI and SST images are weighted by the front strength, and then aggregated in time to derive frontal density maps. In this study, frontal density maps were derived for each climatological season: spring (March, April and May), summer (June, July and August), fall (September, October and November) and winter (December, January and February). The CI data products were derived through using the approaches outlined in Hu (2011) and are accessible at https://optics.marine.usf.edu/. The SST data products were processed and distributed by Optical Oceanography Lab at University of South Florida based on low-level data downloaded from NASA website https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov, and are accessible at https://optics.marine.usf.edu/. The seasonal climatology of CI and SST frontal density data products are gridded to 1-km resolution for the region of 22.5N to 28N and 85W to 79.5W.

Instruments:

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)

Provenance and Historical References:

Canny, John F. 1986. A computational approach to edge detection. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 8(6): 679–698. DOI: 10.1109/TPAMI.1986.4767851 Hu, Chuanmin. 2011. An empirical approach to derive MODIS ocean color patterns under severe sun glint. Geophysical Research Letters 38(1). DOI: 10.1029/2010GL045422

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