MODIS Terra Atmospheric Temperature and Water Vapor Profiles

5-minute intervals of atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles are provided at 20 vertical pressure levels from 5 to 1000 mbar. The MOD07_L2 product contains 30 gridded parameters, including stability indices and total ozone, at a 5-km pixel resolution for both day and night. This Level-2 data is produced by the MODIS science team led by Dr. Paul Menzel.

Use Cases

• Analyze vertical temperature profiles from the 20 pressure levels to study atmospheric stability and boundary layer dynamics.
• Correlate total column precipitable water vapor with surface temperature and solar zenith angle to model evaporation and moisture transport.
• Validate weather forecasts by comparing retrieved dew point temperature profiles and lifted index with model outputs.
• Map total ozone burden using the 9.6 micron thermal band retrieval to monitor stratospheric ozone distribution.
• Assess diurnal cycles by comparing daytime and nighttime retrieved skin temperature and solar/sensor geometry parameters.

Strengths

• 30 distinct atmospheric parameters per observation, including profiles, stability indices, and trace gases.
• 5-km spatial resolution at nadir, providing detailed regional coverage.
• Data is produced for both daytime and nighttime conditions, enabling diurnal analysis.

Limitations

• Profiles are only retrieved when at least 9 fields of view are cloud-free, creating gaps in cloudy regions.
• The cloud mask is derived from a 1-km product remapped to 5-km, potentially losing sub-pixel cloud information.

Provenance

Source

NASA MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite.

Collection Method

Remote sensing retrievals from infrared and other spectral bands.

Time Range

Continuous operation since Terra launch; data provided in 5-minute granule intervals.

Freshness

Near Real-Time (NRT)

Geography

Global coverage.