MODIS/Aqua Atmospheric Data for 400 Flux Tower Sites

The dataset provides subsets of MODIS/Aqua atmosphere and ancillary products for a global network of micrometeorological flux measurement sites. It contains around 55 science data sets per site, including at-aperture radiances for 36 discrete MODIS bands, cloud mask, and water vapor, covering approximately 400 FLUXNET locations. The product is generated by the LAADS organization, with metadata last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived atmospheric parameters like water vapor and cloud cover against in-situ flux tower measurements.
• Analyzing spectral radiance from 36 MODIS bands to study surface reflectance and atmospheric conditions at specific FLUXNET sites.
• Investigating the relationship between micrometeorological fluxes and coincident satellite observations within 0.5 x 0.5 degree cutouts.
• Developing models that fuse high-temporal-resolution flux data with spatially explicit MODIS atmospheric products.

Strengths

• Provides data for approximately 400 globally distributed FLUXNET sites, enabling broad ecological and climatic studies.
• Includes around 55 distinct science data sets per site, offering a multi-parameter atmospheric snapshot.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its established importance and reliability for the research community.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and total dataset size are not provided by any source platform.
• Sources conflict on license information, with one specifying 'other-license-specified' and another listing 'None'.

Provenance

Source

LAADS

Collection Method

Subsets generated by locating FLUXNET sites within 5-minute Level 2 MODIS granules and extracting 0.5 x 0.5 degree cutouts.

Freshness

2026-03-12 23:53:40.752424

Geography

Global coverage across FLUXNET tower sites.