CLAMS MODIS L2: Aerosol Optical Thickness Over North America, July-August 2001

The Chesapeake Lighthouse and Aircraft Measurements for Satellites (CLAMS) experiment collected Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 2 aerosol data from July 10 to August 2, 2001. The data covers a region from -106 to -42 degrees longitude and 57 to 18 degrees N latitude, providing aerosol optical thickness over oceans and continents. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration produced these daily data products at a spatial resolution of a 10x10 1-km pixel array.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite aerosol retrieval algorithms based on the aircraft measurements from the CLAMS experiment
• Analyze aerosol optical thickness distribution over oceans and continents based on the MODIS spectral band measurements
• Study aerosol size distribution over oceans based on the derived parameters mentioned in the description
• Map aerosol types over continents based on the derived classification mentioned in the description
• Assess the radiometric sensitivity of MODIS instrument data across its 36 spectral bands

Strengths

• Data has high radiometric sensitivity (12 bit) across 36 spectral bands ranging from 0.4 µm to 14.4 µm
• Provides global coverage approximately every two days due to a 2,330-km swath
• Includes multiple spatial resolutions: two bands at 250 m, five bands at 500 m, and 29 bands at 1,000 m

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Temporal coverage is limited to a specific 24-day period in 2001

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument during the CLAMS experiment.

Time Range

July 10, 2001 (Julian day 191) to August 2, 2001 (Julian day 214)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:34:50.091366; freshness should be verified

Geography

Spatial region normally from -106 degree longitude to -42 degree longitude and from 57 degree N latitude to 18 degree N latitude