MCD18C1: Daily and 3-Hour Downward Solar Radiation at 0.05 Degree Global Scale

MCD18C1 Version 6.2 is a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra and Aqua combined Downward Shortwave Radiation (DSR) Level 3 product. It provides daily and 3-hour estimates of incident solar radiation over global land surfaces on a 0.05-degree Climate Modeling Grid. The dataset is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Calibrating land-surface models based on incident solar radiation data.
• Analyzing diurnal solar energy patterns based on 3-hour DSR estimates.
• Studying aerosol and cloud loading effects on surface radiation using the algorithm's multi-temporal signatures.
• Improving surface reflectance estimates for snow- and cloud-covered pixels using the included shortwave infrared bands.

Strengths

• Algorithm improvements from Version 6.2 include MODIS shortwave infrared bands, which significantly reduce estimation uncertainties in cloud- and snow-covered pixels.
• Data is produced on a global 0.05-degree (approximately 5,600-meter) Climate Modeling Grid.
• Provides both instantaneous DSR for MODIS overpasses and 3-hour DSR arrays.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Known issues are documented on an external website, requiring manual inspection.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Generated from MODIS and geostationary satellite data using a prototyping algorithm with multi-temporal signatures and look-up tables.

Time Range

Daily and 3-hour temporal resolution.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:22:46.541670; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global land surfaces.