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Full catalog/MOD06_L2
MOD06_L2·v6.1·dataset

Cloud properties like height and thickness (Terra, 1-5 km)

MODIS/Terra Clouds 5-Min L2 Swath 1km and 5km
atmosphere NASA LAADS Level 2 active HDF-EOS
In plain English

What it measures. Properties of clouds such as their top temperature and height, optical thickness, particle size, water-versus-ice makeup, and how much of the sky they cover, at 1- to 5-kilometer detail.

How it's made. Derived from the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite, combining infrared, visible, and near-infrared light readings to work out each cloud's characteristics.

How & where you'd use it. Used to study clouds and their role in weather and climate, including seasonal and year-to-year changes in cloud cover and behavior.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › ATMOSPHERIC EMITTED RADIATIONATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › EMISSIVITYATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESSATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › RADIATIVE FLUXATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › REFLECTANCEATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION › TRANSMITTANCEATMOSPHERE › CLOUDSATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD CONDENSATION NUCLEIATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD DROPLET CONCENTRATION/SIZEATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD LIQUID WATER/ICEATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESSATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD MICROPHYSICS › CLOUD PRECIPITABLE WATERATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD PROPERTIES › CLOUD ASYMMETRYATMOSPHERE › CLOUDS › CLOUD PROPERTIES › CLOUD CEILING

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 Clouds 5-Min L2 Swath 1km and 5km product (MOD06_L2) 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 level-2 MODIS cloud product is MOD06_L2. MOD06_L2 consists of parameters at a spatial resolution of either 1- km or 5-km (at nadir). Each MOD06_L2 product file covers a five-minute time interval. This means that for 5-km resolution parameters, the output grid is 270 pixels in width by 406 pixels in length. C6.1 changes for the cloud optical property retrievals are low-impact, and are limited primarily to ancillary product usage, the Quality Assurance (QA), and handling of cloud top (CT) properties fill values; no updates to retrieval science are implemented. The MODIS Cloud Product is used to investigate seasonal and inter-annual changes in cirrus (semi-transparent) global cloud cover and cloud phase with multispectral observations at high spatial (1 kilometer) resolution. For more information about the MOD06_L2 product, visit the MODIS-Atmosphere site at: https://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/products/cloud

Get the data

mod06_l2_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MOD06_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.