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Full catalog/MAC06S1
MAC06S1·v002·dataset

Cloud details along the CloudSat track (Aqua MODIS, 1-5 km)

MODIS/Aqua Clouds 1km and 5km 5-Min L2 Wide Swath Subset along CloudSat V002 (MAC06S1) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 2
In plain English

What it measures. Cloud properties in a narrow strip following the CloudSat satellite's path, including cloud-top temperature and height, whether clouds are ice or water, cloud thickness, and droplet size.

How it's made. A trimmed-down subset of the standard Aqua MODIS cloud product, keeping only the roughly 200 km-wide band lined up with CloudSat's track, derived from MODIS infrared and visible measurements.

How & where you'd use it. Lets researchers compare MODIS cloud views directly with CloudSat's radar for studying cloud structure and improving cloud models.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD PROPERTIES › CLOUD FREQUENCYATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD RADIATIVE TRANSFER › CLOUD EMISSIVITYATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD LIQUID WATER/ICEATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESSATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD RADIATIVE TRANSFER › CLOUD REFLECTANCEATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD PROPERTIES › CLOUD TOP PRESSUREATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD PROPERTIES › CLOUD TOP TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD DROPLET CONCENTRATION/SIZE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2006-06-02 → 2018-02-28
  • Measured byAqua (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • StatusCOMPLETE

What you can do with it

  • Map air pollutants — NO₂, aerosols, ozone
  • Track greenhouse gases and Earth's energy budget
  • Feed weather and air-quality analysis
Official description

This is the wide-swath MODIS/Aqua subset along CloudSat field of view track. The goal of the wide-swath subset is to select and return MODIS data that are within +-100 km across the CloudSat track. I.e. the resultant MODIS subset swath is sought to be about 200 km cross-track. However, the original MYD06_L2 has data of 5- and 1-km pixels. Thus, MAC06S1 cross-track width is 41- and 201-pixels, depending on the parameter.Along-track, all MODIS pixels from the original product are preserved. In the standard product, the level-2 MODIS cloud product consists of cloud optical and physical parameters. These parameters are derived using remotely sensed infrared, visible and near infrared solar reflected radiances. MODIS infrared channel radiances are used to derive cloud top temperature, cloud top height, effective emissivity, cloud phase (ice vs. water, opaque vs. non-opaque), and cloud fraction under both daytime and nighttime conditions. MODIS visible radiances are used to derive cloud optical thickness and effective particle radius and cloud shadow effects. Near infrared solar reflected radiance provides additional information in the retrieval of cloud particle phase (ice vs. water, clouds vs. snow). (The shortname for this product is MAC06S1).

Get the data

mac06s1_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MAC06S1",
    version="002",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.