MCD18A1: MODIS Terra+Aqua Daily and 3-Hour Surface Radiation at 1km Resolution

MCD18A1 Version 6.2 is a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) combined Terra and Aqua satellite product providing Downward Shortwave Radiation (DSR) estimates. The dataset is produced daily at 1 kilometer pixel resolution with 3-hourly DSR arrays and is generated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The latest update for this record was on 2026-03-12.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating land-surface models based on incident solar radiation data.
• Analyzing diurnal solar radiation patterns based on the 3-hourly DSR estimates.
• Studying surface radiative properties under varying aerosol and cloud conditions based on the algorithm's look-up table approach.
• Improving climate and weather forecasting models by incorporating high-resolution surface radiation inputs.

Strengths

• Algorithm improvements in Version 6.2 include MODIS shortwave infrared bands, which reportedly reduce estimation uncertainties in cloud- and snow-covered pixels.
• Provides data at a 1 kilometer pixel resolution, which suggests a relatively fine spatial scale for global analysis.
• Includes both instantaneous measurements from individual satellite overpasses and synthesized 3-hourly arrays.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Known data issues are documented on an external website, requiring manual inspection for complete quality assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from MODIS Terra and Aqua satellite data using a prototyping algorithm with multi-temporal signatures and look-up tables for aerosols, clouds, and geometry.

Time Range

Daily production suggests ongoing temporal coverage, but specific start date is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:21:39.216258; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global