The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a satellite-based sensor used for earth and climate measurements. There are two MODIS sensors in Earth orbit: one on board the Terra (EOS AM) satellite, launched by NASA in 1999; and one on board the Aqua (EOS PM) satellite, launched in 2002. Since 2011, MODIS operations have been supplemented by VIIRS sensors, such as the one aboard Suomi NPP. The systems often conduct similar operations due to their similar designs and orbits (with VIIRS data systems designed to be compatible with MODIS), though they have subtle differences contributing to similar but not identical uses.
The MODIS instruments were built by Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. They capture data in 36 spectral bands ranging in wavelength from 0.4 μm to 14.4 μm and at varying spatial resolutions (2 bands at 250 m, 5 bands at 500 m and 29 bands at 1 km). Together the instruments image the entire Earth every 1 to 2 days. They are designed to provide measurements in large-scale global dynamics including changes in Earth's cloud cover, radiation budget and processes occurring in the oceans, on land, and in the lower atmosphere.
Support and calibration is provided by the MODIS characterization support team (MCST).
Applications
With its high temporal resolution although low spatial resolution, MODIS data are useful to track changes in the landscape over time. Examples of such applications are the monitoring of vegetation health by means of time-series analyses with vegetation indices,LU, L., KUENZER, C., WANG, C., GUO, H., Li, Q., 2015: Evaluation of three MODIS-derived Vegetation Index Time Series for Dry land Vegetation Dynamics Monitoring. Remote Sensing, 2015, 7, 7597–7614; doi:10.3390/rs70607597 long term land cover changes (e.g. to monitor deforestation rates),LEINENKUGEL; P., WOLTERS, M., OPPELT, N., KUENZER, C., 2014: Tree cover and forest cover dynamics in the Mekong Basin from 2001 to 2011. Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol. 158, 376–392KLEIN, I., GESSNER, U. and C. KUENZER, 2012: Regional land cover mapping in Central Asia using MODIS time series. Applied Geography 35, 1–16LU, L., KUENZER, C., GUO, H., Li, Q., LONG, T., LI, X., 2014: A Novel Land Cover Classification Map Based on MODIS Time-series in Nanjing, China. Remote Sensing, 6, 3387–3408; doi:10.3390/rs6043387GESSNER, U.; MACHWITZ, M.; ESCH, T.; TILLACK, A.; NAEIMI, V.; KUENZER, C.; DECH, S. (2015): Multi-sensor mapping of West African land cover using MODIS, ASAR and TanDEM-X/TerraSAR-X data. Remote Sensing of Environment. 282–297 global snow cover trends, water inundation from pluvial, riverine, or sea level rise flooding in coastal areas,KUENZER, C, KLEIN, I., ULLMANN; T., FOUFOULA-GEORGIOU, E., BAUMHAUER, R., DECH, S., 2015: Remote Sensing of River Delta Inundation: exploiting the Potential of coarse spatial Resolution, temporally-dense MODIS Time Series. Remote Sensing, 7, 8516–8542 change of water levels of major lakes such as the Aral Sea,KLEIN, I., DIETZ, A., GESSNER, U., DECH, S., KUENZER, C., 2015: Results of the Global WaterPack: a novel product to assess inland water body dynamics on a daily basis. Remote Sensing Letters, Vol. 6, No. 1, 78–87"Shrinking Aral Sea."NASA Earth Observatory. Retrieved: 30 September 2014. and the detection and mapping of wildland fires in the United States. The United States Forest Service's Remote Sensing Applications Center analyzes MODIS imagery on a continuous basis to provide information for the management and suppression of wildfires."MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program FAQs." United States Forest Service. Retrieved: 30 September 2014.
Specifications Specifications Orbit 705 km, 10:30 a.m. descending node (Terra) or 1:30 p.m. ascending node (Aqua), Sun-synchronous, near-polar, circular Scan rate 20.3 rpm, cross trackSwath2330 km (cross track) by 10 km (along track at nadir) DimensionsTelescope17.78 cm diam. off-axis, afocal (collimated), with intermediate field stopSize1.0 × 1.6 × 1.0 mWeight228.7 kgPower162.5 W (single orbit average)Data rate10.6 Mbit/s (peak daytime); 6.1 Mbit/s (orbital average)Quantization 12 bitsSpatial resolution250 m (bands 1–2) 500 m (bands 3–7) 1000 m (bands 8–36)Temporal resolution1–2 days NASA.govDesign life6 years
Calibration MODIS utilizes four on-board calibrators in addition to the space view in order to provide in-flight calibration: solar diffuser (SD), solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM), spectral radiometric calibration assembly (SRCA), and a v-groove black body. MODIS has used the marine optical buoy for vicarious calibration.
MODIS bands
BandWavelength(nm)Resolution(m)Primary use1620–670250Land/cloud/aerosolsboundaries2841–8762503459–479500Land/cloud/aerosolsproperties4545–56550051230–125050061628–165250072105–21555008405–4201000Ocean color/phytoplankton/biogeochemistry9438–448100010483–493100011526–536100012546–556100013662–672100014673–683100015743–753100016862–877100017890–9201000Atmosphericwater vapor18931–941100019915–9651000BandWavelength(μm)Resolution(m)Primary use203.660–3.8401000Surface/cloudtemperature213.929–3.9891000223.929–3.9891000234.020–4.0801000244.433–4.4981000Atmospherictemperature254.482–4.5491000261.360–1.3901000Cirrus cloudswater vapor276.535–6.8951000287.175–7.4751000298.400–8.7001000Cloud properties309.580–9.8801000Ozone3110.780–11.2801000Surface/cloudtemperature3211.770–12.27010003313.185–13.4851000Cloud topaltitude3413.485–13.78510003513.785–14.08510003614.085–14.3851000
MODIS data
MODIS Level 3 datasets
The following MODIS Level 3 (L3) datasets are available from NASA, as processed by the Collection 5 software.
Daily 8-day 16-day 32-day Monthly Yearly Grid Platform Description MxD08_D3 MxD08_E3 — — MxD08_M3 — 1° CMG Terra, Aqua Aerosol, cloud water vapor, ozone MxD10A1 MxD10A2 — — — — 500 m SIN Terra, Aqua Snow cover MxD11A1 MxD11A2 — — — — 1000 m SIN Terra, Aqua Land surface temperature/emissivity MxD11B1 — — — — — 6000 m SIN Terra, Aqua Land surface temperature/emissivity MxD11C1 MxD11C2 — — MxD11C3 — 0.05° CMG Terra, Aqua Land surface temperature/emissivity — — MxD13C1 — MxD13C2 — 0.05° CMG Terra, Aqua Vegetation indices MxD14A1 MxD14A2 — — — — 1000 m SIN Terra, Aqua Thermal anomalies, fire — — — — MCD45A1 — 500 m SIN Terra+Aqua Burned area
250 m SIN 500 m SIN 1000 m SIN 0.05° CMG 1° CMG Time window Platform Description MxD09Q1 MxD09A1 — — — 8-day Terra, Aqua Surface reflectance — — — MxD09CMG — Daily Terra, Aqua Surface reflectance — MCD12Q1 — MCD12C1 — Yearly Terra+Aqua Land cover type — MCD12Q2 — — — Yearly Terra+Aqua Land cover dynamics (global vegetation phenology) MxD13Q1 MxD13A1 MxD13A2 MxD13C1 — 16-day Terra, Aqua Vegetation indices — — MxD13A3 MxD13C2 — Monthly Terra, Aqua Vegetation indices — MCD43A1 MCD43B1 MCD43C1 — 16-day Terra+Aqua BRDF/albedo model parameters — MCD43A3 MCD43B3 MCD43C3 — 16-day Terra+Aqua Albedo — MCD43A4 MCD43B4 MCD43C4 — 16-day Terra+Aqua Nadir BRDF-adjusted reflectance
See also Imaging spectroscopy NASA WorldWind Aqua (satellite) Terra (satellite) Fire Information for Resource Management System
References
External links
ECHO Reverb – the next generation metadata and service discovery tool, which has replaced the former Warehouse Inventory and Search Tool (WIST); LAADS Web – Level 1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS) web interface; LANCE-MODIS – Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS – LAADS underlying FTP server; https://e4ftl01.cr.usgs.gov/ – Earth land surface datasets; – snow and ice datasets.
Official NASA site MODIS bands and spectral ranges (broken link) (archived 15 July 2007) MODIS Images of the Day MODIS Image of the Day – Google Gadget referring to MODIS image of the day. Gallery of Images of Interest (archived 25 August 2001) MODIS Land Product Subsetting Tool for North America from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (archived 27 May 2010) MODIS Rapid Response system (near real time images) NASA OnEarth (Web service for MODIS imagery) (archived 12 July 2003) Visible Earth: Latest MODIS images (archived 1 July 2006) MODIS Sinusoidal: Projection 6842 – MODIS Sinusoidal Python: accessing near real-time MODIS images and fire data from NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites (Python)
Modis has 36 spectral bands