CHIRPS Precipitation, Copernicus DEM, (Ag)ERA5 Meteorological Data, GEOS-5 Meteorological Data, IMERG Precipitation, Landsat satellites, MODIS sensors, MSG satellites, Sentinel-2 satellites, VIIRS sensors and WorldCover Land Cover

MODIS

NASA’s Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor is the secondary remote sensing data source for optical data at 300m resolution used at Level 1.

Purpose of the data

MODIS TERRA data is used together with VIIRS data to produce the following data components:
- Surface Albedo for level 1.
- NDVI for level 1.

Approach

The first Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument was launched on board of the Terra satellite in December 1999, and the second was launched on the Aqua platform in May 2002. VIIRS was developed based on the experiences and lessons from both Terra and Aqua MODIS.

MODIS has 36 spectral bands ranging from 0.4 μm to 14.4 μm. Two of these bands are high resolution image bands (250m), five bands are at 500m and 29 bands serve as moderate-resolution bands (1km).

For the calculation of Albedo and NDVI the 250m and 500m MOD09 products are used.

All MODIS data are freely available from several ftp archives such as Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive & Distribution System (LAADS) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) platform.

Challenges

Both sensors have reached the end of their design life time: Terra MODIS will remain operational and generate the full suite of products until the end of the mission in December 2025.Aqua MODIS will remain operational and generate the full suite of products until the end of the mission in August 2026 (https://nsidc.org/data/modis).

Alternative sensors

Alternatives for MODIS are its predecessor VIIRS, launched in 1999, and Sentinel-3, launched in 2016. However, the lack the historical archive offered by MODIS