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Full catalog/MI3DCLDN
MI3DCLDN·v002·dataset

Daily global cloud maps (MISR)

MISR Level 3 Global Cloud public Product in netCDF format covering a day V002
atmosphere NASA LARC_CLOUD Level 3 active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Daily global summaries of cloud conditions, laid out on a worldwide map grid. It boils down detailed cloud observations into averaged values you can scan across the planet.

How it's made. Derived from the MISR instrument on NASA's Terra satellite, which views each spot from nine angles; the detailed measurements are summarized and gridded into this daily product.

How & where you'd use it. Handy for studying how clouds behave globally and how sunlight interacts with Earth's atmosphere and surface over time.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › CLOUDSATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD PROPERTIES

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span1999-12-18 → ongoing
  • Measured byTerra (MISR)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

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

MI3DCLDN_2 is the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Level 3 Global Cloud public Product in netCDF format covering a day version 2. It contains the public MISR Level 3 Global Cloud Product in netCDF format covering a day and is a global summary of the Level 1 and Level 2 cloud parameters of interest averaged over a year and reported on a geographic grid; it has multiple data layers, with varying temporal resolutions of 0.5 degrees by 0.5 degrees as well as 2.5 degrees by 2.5 degrees. Data collection for this product is ongoing. The MISR instrument consists of nine push-broom cameras that measure radiance in four spectral bands. Global coverage is achieved in nine days. The cameras are arranged with one camera pointing toward the nadir, four forward, and four aftward. It takes seven minutes for all nine cameras to view the same surface location. The view angles relative to the surface reference ellipsoid are 0, 26.1, 45.6, 60.0, and 70.5 degrees. The spectral band shapes are nominally Gaussian, centered at 443, 555, 670, and 865 nm. MISR is designed to view Earth with cameras in 9 different directions. As the instrument flies overhead, each piece of Earth's surface below is successfully imaged by all nine cameras in 4 wavelengths (blue, green, red, and near-infrared). The goal of MISR is to improve our understanding of the effects of sunlight on Earth and distinguish different types of clouds, particles, and surfaces. Specifically, MISR monitors the monthly, seasonal, and long-term trends in three areas: 1) amount and type of atmospheric particles (aerosols), including those formed by natural sources and by human activities; 2) amounts, types, and heights of clouds, and 3) distribution of land surface cover, including vegetation canopy structure.

Get the data

mi3dcldn_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MI3DCLDN",
    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 LARC_CLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.