Key characteristics of MODIS data products

Abstract

Forty science products totaling 600 GB of storage volume per day will be produced from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Eighty-five percent of this data volume is in products that are in the instrument's scan geometry (processing Levels 1 and 2) that are not Earth located. Before ordering MODIS data products, users should consider processing level, data formats, product size, and the unique characteristics of MODIS products. Given the data volumes associated with the MODIS Levels 1 and 2 products, the resources required to process them and the issues associated with the scanning geometry of the instrument, users are encouraged to order data products that are Earth located. These include Level 3 products, which are produced on fixed global grids and Level 2G products, in which observations and their Earth location have been stored in bins of the MODIS global grids.