Terra MODIS Surface Reflectance 8-Day Global Composite

250-meter resolution surface reflectance estimates for MODIS bands 1 and 2, corrected for atmospheric gases, aerosols, and Rayleigh scattering. LPCLOUD provides this product, which composites pixel selections from multiple acquisitions over an 8-day period based on criteria like cloud cover and solar zenith angle.

Use Cases

• Monitor vegetation health by analyzing temporal trends in the near-infrared (Band 2) surface reflectance.
• Assess land surface albedo changes using the corrected red (Band 1) and near-infrared reflectance values.
• Identify cloud-free observation periods for specific regions using the provided quality assurance layers.
• Study aerosol impacts by comparing the atmospherically corrected surface reflectance with raw satellite observations.
• Select minimum-blue-channel pixels within the 8-day composite for clear-sky analysis of surface features.

Strengths

• 250-meter spatial resolution provides detailed surface observation.
• Data is atmospherically corrected for gases, aerosols, and Rayleigh scattering.
• Pixel selection over an 8-day period minimizes cloud contamination.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column details, and temporal coverage are unknown.
• Product has known issues documented on a separate NASA assessment website.
• Pixel compositing method may introduce temporal blending artifacts.

Provenance

Source

LPCLOUD via NASA Earthdata (MODIS/Terra sensor).

Collection Method

Atmospherically corrected estimates from satellite acquisitions composited over 8-day periods.

Time Range

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Freshness

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Geography

Global.