MODIS/Terra+Aqua Daily and 3-Hour Surface Radiation at 5km Global Scale

A decommissioned Version 6 product, users are encouraged to use the updated MCD18A1 Version 6.2. This dataset provides daily and 3-hourly estimates of Downward Shortwave Radiation (DSR) over global land surfaces at a 5-kilometer pixel resolution, derived from combined MODIS Terra and Aqua satellite data. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) using an algorithm that incorporates multi-temporal signatures and look-up tables for aerosols and clouds.

Use Cases

• Modeling land-surface energy budgets based on incident solar radiation data.
• Analyzing diurnal solar radiation patterns based on 3-hourly DSR estimates.
• Studying the impact of aerosols and clouds on surface radiation based on the algorithm's multi-temporal signatures.
• Validating and calibrating other satellite-derived radiation products based on the MODIS-based methodology.

Strengths

• Provides data at a 5-kilometer spatial resolution for global land surfaces.
• Offers temporal granularity with both daily and 3-hourly radiation estimates.
• Algorithm incorporates considerations for different aerosol and cloud loadings and viewing geometries.

Limitations

• This specific version (V006) was decommissioned on October 28, 2022, indicating it is not the current standard.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Known issues exist, requiring users to consult external quality assessment resources.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from MODIS Terra and Aqua satellite data using a prototyping algorithm with look-up tables.

Time Range

Daily and 3-hourly temporal resolution.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:21:52.887816; freshness should be verified as the data product version is decommissioned.

Geography

Global coverage over land surfaces.