MAC04S1: MODIS/Aqua Aerosol Subset Along CloudSat Track

A wide-swath subset of the MODIS/Aqua Level 2 atmospheric aerosol product, created by NASA. The data provides retrieved aerosol optical properties, mass concentration, and ancillary parameters globally, with a cross-track width of about 200 kilometers centered on the CloudSat satellite's field of view. The dataset was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing aerosol optical thickness and size distribution based on the retrieved atmospheric aerosol properties.
• Studying the spatial relationship between aerosols and clouds based on the co-location with the CloudSat track.
• Modeling atmospheric radiative fluxes based on the look-up table derived reflected and transmitted flux data.
• Assessing regional air quality and aerosol transport based on the global over-ocean and near-global over-land coverage.

Strengths

• Data is spatially aligned with the CloudSat satellite track, facilitating aerosol-cloud interaction studies.
• Provides a wide swath of about 200 km cross-track, offering contextual atmospheric data.
• Includes quality assurance parameters for data reliability assessment.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale statistical analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing from the MODIS instrument aboard the Aqua spacecraft, subset along the CloudSat track.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:25:23.924842; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global over ocean and near-global over land.