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Full catalog/MOD04_L2
MOD04_L2·v6.1NRT·dataset

Haze, dust and smoke in the air, near real-time (Terra)

MODIS/Terra Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 10km - NRT
atmosphere NASA LANCEMODIS Level 2 HDF-EOS
In plain English

What it measures. Near-real-time readings of airborne particle properties like haze, dust, and smoke, globally over ocean and land at about 10-km resolution. This is the improved Collection 6.1 version with better handling of urban areas and uncertainty estimates.

How it's made. Retrieved from Terra MODIS using the Dark Target and Deep Blue methods and released quickly for near-real-time applications.

How & where you'd use it. Helps with air-quality alerts and tracking dust and smoke events; a separate finer 3-km product exists for the air-quality community.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL BACKSCATTERATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL EXTINCTIONATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESSATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS › ANGSTROM EXPONENTATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL PARTICLE PROPERTIESATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL RADIANCEATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › CARBONACEOUS AEROSOLSATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › CLOUD CONDENSATION NUCLEIATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › DUST/ASH/SMOKEATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › NITRATE PARTICLESATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › ORGANIC PARTICLESATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › PARTICULATE MATTERATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › SULFATE PARTICLESATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2017-10-11 → ongoing
  • Measured byTERRA (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsHDF-EOS
  • 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

The new Collection 6.1 (C61) MOD04_L2 product is an improved version based on algorithm changes in Dark Target (DT) Aerosol retrieval over urban areas and uncertainty estimates for Deep Blue (DB) Aerosol retrievals. The MODIS level-2 atmospheric aerosol product provides retrieved ambient aerosol optical properties, quality assurance, and other parameters, globally over ocean and land. In Collection 5, and earlier collections, there was only one aerosol product (MOD04_L2) at 10km (at nadir) spatial resolution. Starting from C6, the Dark Target (DT) Aerosol algorithm team provided a new 3 km spatial resolution product (MOD04_3k) intended for the air quality community. For more information visit the MODIS Atmosphere website at: https://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/products/aerosol And, for C6.1 changes and updates, visit: https://modis-atmosphere.gsfc.nasa.gov/documentation/collection-61

Get the data

mod04_l2_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MOD04_L2",
    version="6.1NRT",
    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 LANCEMODIS
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.