MODIS/Terra MOD09A1: Global 500m Surface Reflectance 8-Day Composites

Global satellite data provides surface spectral reflectance estimates for seven spectral bands at a 500-meter resolution, corrected for atmospheric gases, aerosols, and Rayleigh scattering. The MOD09A1 product is an 8-day composite where the best pixel is selected based on criteria including cloud cover and solar zenith angle. This version (6.1) incorporates calibration improvements for the Terra MODIS instrument, including updates for the period 2012-2017.

Use Cases

• Monitoring vegetation health and land cover change based on multi-spectral reflectance bands.
• Assessing atmospheric correction algorithms using the provided quality and observation layers.
• Tracking surface albedo and radiative properties over time using the 8-day composite temporal resolution.
• Calibrating or validating other satellite-derived products with the atmospherically corrected reflectance data.

Strengths

• Data is atmospherically corrected for gases, aerosols, and Rayleigh scattering, enhancing surface signal accuracy.
• Version 6.1 includes specific calibration improvements for Terra MODIS, such as corrections for optical crosstalk in IR bands and LUT updates for 2012-2017.
• Available under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license on multiple platforms, facilitating broad access and use.

Limitations

• Specific column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are not provided in any source, limiting precise technical assessment.
• Conflicting license information exists between 'CC-BY-4.0' and 'other-license-specified' across different datagov entries.
• The 'last updated' metadata (2026-04-10) appears to be a future date, which may indicate a metadata error or placeholder value.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite observation from the MODIS instrument aboard the Terra spacecraft, processed into Level-3 gridded products.

Freshness

2026-04-10 00:42:33.884623

Geography

Global