Dataset of five years of and satellite derived chlorophyll concentrations and its spatiotemporal variability in the Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes, New Zealand.

Horizontal patchiness of water quality attributes in lakes substantially influences the ability to accurately determine an average condition of a lake from traditional in situ sampling. Monitoring programmes for lake water quality often rely on water samples from one or few locations but the assumption of representativeness is seldomly tested. Satellite observations can support environmental monitoring by detecting horizontal variability of water quality attributes over entire lakes.