MAPSS MOD04_L2: Aerosol and Cloud Data for Southern Africa

NASA's MODIS Atmosphere Products Subset Statistics (MAPSS) dataset provides daily time series of aerosol and cloud parameters from the MOD04_L2 product. Data is extracted for 17 AERONET sunphotometer sites in southern Africa from February 26, 2000, through December 31, 2001. The statistics are derived from a 50 x 50 km box centered on each site and include variables such as cloud fraction, aerosol optical depth, and particle effective radius.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived aerosol optical depth against ground-based AERONET measurements.
• Analyzing daily time series of cloud fraction and aerosol properties over specific geographic sites.
• Studying spatial variability of atmospheric parameters within a 50 x 50 km area around measurement stations.
• Integrating subset statistics into regional or global atmospheric models for southern Africa.

Strengths

• Provides data for 17 specific AERONET validation sites, enabling direct satellite-to-ground comparison.
• Covers a defined time period of nearly two years (Feb 2000 - Dec 2001) with daily temporal resolution.
• Includes multiple derived atmospheric variables such as optical depth (land and ocean) and cloud fraction.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low: specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by any source.
• Conflicting freshness information: one platform lists a last updated date of 2026-04-09, while the authoritative source indicates the data period ended in 2001.
• Spatial coverage is limited to 17 sites in southern Africa, not a global or continental scale.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), MODIS Atmosphere Group

Collection Method

Remote sensing algorithms applied to MODIS radiance data; statistics generated by extracting pixel values within a 50 x 50 km box centered on AERONET site coordinates.

Time Range

2000-02-26 to 2001-12-31

Freshness

2001-12-31 (Data period end); conflicting metadata update of 2026-04-09 noted.

Geography

Seventeen AERONET sunphotometer measurement sites in southern Africa.