Aqua MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity 8-Day Global 0.05 Degree Grid

The Aqua MODIS MYD11C2 product provides Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity values on a 0.05 degree latitude/longitude Climate Modeling Grid covering the entire globe. Each granule has 7,200 columns and 3,600 rows and consists of 17 layers composited from eight daily files. This Version 6.1 dataset is produced by NASA and includes daytime and nighttime observations of LST, quality control, observation times, view zenith angles, and emissivities from specific bands.

Use Cases

• Modeling global climate patterns based on averaged 8-day land surface temperature composites.
• Analyzing land surface emissivity variations based on data from MODIS bands 20, 22, 23, 29, 31, and 32.
• Assessing surface thermal properties for environmental monitoring based on quality-controlled daytime and nighttime observations.
• Studying view zenith angle effects on temperature readings for sensor calibration studies.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage on a consistent 0.05 degree (approximately 5,600-meter) grid.
• Each product granule consists of 17 layers, including LST, quality control, and emissivity data.
• Data is derived from compositing and averaging eight daily files, likely reducing noise from single observations.
• Version 6.1 incorporates calibration improvements including RVS and polarization corrections.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Known issues exist, requiring consultation of the external MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived by compositing and averaging values from eight daily Aqua MODIS MYD11C1 files.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:24:07.930076; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global