MODIS/Aqua Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 3km: High-Resolution Atmospheric Particle Data

MYD04_3K is a satellite-derived atmospheric aerosol dataset from NASA's MODIS/Aqua sensor, providing global aerosol optical properties at a 3-kilometer spatial resolution. The Collection 6.1 product includes algorithm improvements for Dark Target retrieval over urban areas and enhanced uncertainty estimates for Deep Blue retrievals. It is specifically intended for the air quality community, offering finer resolution than the legacy 10km product.

Use Cases

• Monitoring regional particulate matter (PM2.5) levels based on aerosol optical depth retrievals.
• Studying aerosol transport and pollution events using the 5-minute swath temporal resolution.
• Validating air quality models with spatially detailed aerosol optical properties over land and ocean.
• Analyzing urban air quality trends with improved Dark Target algorithm performance over cities.

Strengths

• Provides a high spatial resolution of 3km at nadir, a significant improvement over the previous 10km standard product.
• Implements algorithm improvements in Collection 6.1, including updates for urban area retrievals and uncertainty estimates.
• Has cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata, indicating established use and distribution.

Limitations

• Column names and data schema are not provided by any source, limiting precise understanding of contained variables.
• Metadata for size, row count, and specific license details are incomplete or conflicting across platforms.
• The 3km algorithm does not attempt 'poor quality' retrievals, which may reduce data coverage in challenging conditions.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the MODIS/Aqua instrument.

Freshness

2026-04-10 19:56:43.754796

Geography

Global coverage over ocean and land.