CAMEL: Monthly Global Land Surface Emissivity Coefficients at 5km

Global monthly Principal Components Analysis (PCA) coefficients for land surface emissivity at a 0.05-degree (~5 km) resolution. This dataset, part of NASA's MEaSUREs program, combines ASTER and MODIS satellite data to support high spectral resolution algorithms. The provided layers include PCA coefficients, snow fraction, laboratory version, and quality information.

Use Cases

• Validating high spectral resolution (HSR) emissivity algorithms using the provided PCA input coefficients.
• Analyzing seasonal and interannual changes in land surface properties using the monthly time series.
• Incorporating snow fraction data derived from MODIS (MOD10) into surface energy balance studies.
• Assessing data quality for specific regions and time periods using the CAMEL quality information layer.

Strengths

• Provides a long-term, monthly global record at a consistent 5km spatial resolution.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance as a benchmark dataset.
• Version 3 incorporates updated MODIS calibration corrections and new input data products.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is medium; specific column names and total row/file counts are not provided.
• Contains missing monthly granules for specific years between 2000 and 2016.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between sources (2024-01-01 and 2026-04 10).

Provenance

Source

NASA MEaSUREs program, produced by LPCLOUD.

Collection Method

Derived from combined ASTER and MODIS satellite observations using a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) methodology.

Time Range

Monthly data with granules missing for specific months between 2000 and 2016.

Freshness

2026-04-10 16:48:24.447211

Geography

Global