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Full catalog/MOD04_L2
MOD04_L2·v6.1·dataset

Haze, dust and smoke in the air (Terra MODIS, 10 km)

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

What it measures. Tracks haze, dust, and smoke in the air over the whole globe, describing aerosol properties over both ocean and land, including bright surfaces like deserts.

How it's made. Produced from the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite using two complementary algorithms (Dark Target and Deep Blue), reported on a roughly 10 km grid per five-minute pass.

How & where you'd use it. Widely used for air-quality monitoring, tracking dust and smoke plumes, and studying how aerosols affect climate.

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 › DUST/ASH/SMOKEATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › NITRATE PARTICLESATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › ORGANIC PARTICLESATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › PARTICULATE MATTERATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › SULFATE PARTICLESATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESSATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › RADIATIVE FLUX

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2000-02-24 → 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 MODIS/Terra Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 10km (MOD04_L2) product provides full global coverage of aerosol properties from the Dark Target (DT) and Deep Blue (DB) algorithms. The DT algorithm is applied over ocean and dark land (e.g., vegetation), while the DB algorithm now covers the entire land areas including both dark and bright surfaces. Both results are provided on a 10x10 pixel scale (10 km at nadir). Each MOD04_L2 product file covers a five-minute time interval. The output grid is 135 pixels in width by 203 pixels in length. Every tenth file has an output grid size of 135 by 204 pixels. MOD04_L2 product files are stored in Hierarchical Data Format (HDF-EOS). 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 in 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="6.1",
    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 LAADS
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.