MODIS/Aqua Daily Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity at 1km Global Scale

Global daily land surface temperature and emissivity data derived from MODIS/Aqua satellite observations. The dataset is produced by NASA using a physics-based Temperature/Emissivity Separation algorithm on three thermal infrared bands. This specific version (V006) was decommissioned on July 31, 2023, with users directed to a newer version.

Use Cases

• Modeling land-atmosphere energy exchange based on daily land surface temperature and emissivity.
• Monitoring surface temperature anomalies and trends based on global, 1km resolution data.
• Improving atmospheric correction for other satellite products based on the Water Vapor Scaling scheme.
• Filtering and quality control analysis based on the included quality control and emissivity band datasets.

Strengths

• Algorithm uses a physics-based Temperature/Emissivity Separation technique for simultaneous LST and emissivity retrieval.
• Product contains seven Science Datasets including LST, quality control, three emissivity bands, view angle, and observation time.
• Atmospheric correction uses an improved Water Vapor Scaling scheme to stabilize retrievals in warm, humid conditions.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Known issue of increased extreme high temperature outliers, especially over desert regions, requiring user QC filtering.
• Data has a two-month latency after acquisition, limiting near-real-time applications.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Daily aggregation from MODIS/Aqua swath granules mapped onto a sinusoidal grid, averaging cloud-free observations with >15% coverage.

Time Range

Daily coverage, specific date range unknown.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:23:17.117908; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global