MODFDS_SDV_GLB_L3: Global Dust Storm Frequency Variability

Standard deviation of monthly dust storm frequency from 2000 to 2022 reveals interannual variability in dust activity across eight intensity thresholds. This Level 3 product is derived from MODIS Terra Deep Blue aerosol data at a 0.1-degree spatial resolution over global land areas. The dataset provides separate quality flags for dust source regions and remote or polluted areas, guiding appropriate application.

Use Cases

• Assessing interannual variability in dust storm intensity based on eight optical depth thresholds.
• Validating regional dust emission models using the 0.1-degree resolution climatology.
• Analyzing seasonal dust patterns over 23 years (2000-2022) for climate studies.
• Applying quality flag guidance to select appropriate data for source regions versus remote areas.

Strengths

• Covers a 23-year time series from 2000 to 2022, providing a long climatological baseline.
• Offers data at eight distinct dust optical depth thresholds (0.025 to 2.0) for intensity analysis.
• Provides explicit guidance on using different quality flags (1 and 3) for different geographic contexts.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are unspecified across all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-04-09 on datagov vs. 2022-12-31 on nasa_earthdata) create uncertainty about metadata freshness.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Derived from Level 2 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Deep Blue aerosol products Collection 6.1 from Terra (MOD04_L2).

Time Range

2000 to 2022

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:48:43.818323 (datagov), but conflicts with nasa_earthdata date.

Geography

Global land from 175°W to 175°E and 80°S to 80°N