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Full catalog/MOD07_L2
MOD07_L2·v6.1NRT·dataset

Air temperature and water vapor layers, near real-time (Terra)

MODIS/Terra Temperature and Water Vapor Profiles 5-Min L2 Swath 5km - NRT
atmosphere NASA LANCEMODIS Level 2 HDF-EOS
In plain English

What it measures. Profiles of air temperature and water vapor at many altitude levels, plus total water vapor and overhead ozone, at 5 km detail in cloud-free spots, for both day and night. This is a near-real-time version.

How it's made. Retrieved from the MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite using its infrared readings, processed rapidly for near-real-time delivery.

How & where you'd use it. Supports time-sensitive weather monitoring and forecasting by giving a quick read on atmospheric temperature and humidity.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › TRACE GASES/TRACE SPECIESATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE › ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE MEASUREMENTSATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE › SURFACE PRESSUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › ATMOSPHERIC STABILITYATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATURE › AIR TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATURE › BOUNDARY LAYER TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATURE › MAXIMUM/MINIMUM TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › SURFACE TEMPERATURE › SKIN TEMPERATUREATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE › UPPER AIR TEMPERATURE › VERTICAL PROFILESATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR › PRECIPITABLE WATERATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY › OXYGEN COMPOUNDS › ATMOSPHERIC OZONE › TOTAL OZONEATMOSPHERE › WEATHER EVENTS › RAIN STORMSATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › CLOUD CONDENSATION NUCLEI

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 level-2 MODIS Temperature and Water Vapor Profile Product MOD07_L2 consists of 30 gridded parameters related to atmospheric stability, atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, total atmospheric water vapor, and total ozone. All of these parameters are produced for both daytime and nighttime conditions at 5-km pixel resolution when at least 9 FOVs are cloud free. The atmospheric profiles are produced at 20 vertical atmospheric levels (5., 10., 20., 30., 50., 70., 100., 150., 200., 250., 300., 400., 500., 620., 700., 780., 850., 920., 950., 1000. mbar) The water vapor parameter is an estimate of the total tropospheric column water vapor made from integrated MODIS infrared retrievals of atmospheric moisture profiles in clear scenes. The thermal band 9.6 micron is used for retrieving total ozone burden. The shortname for this Level-2 MODIS atmospheric profile product is MOD07_L2 and the principal investigator for this product is MODIS scientist Dr. Paul Menzel ( paulm@ssec.wisc.edu).The MODIS atmospheric profile (MOD07_L2) product contains data that has a spatial resolution (pixel size) of 5 x 5 kilometers (at nadir). Each MOD07_L2 product file covers a five-minute time interval, which means the MOD07_L2 output grid is 270 5-km pixels in width and 406 5-km pixels in length for nine consecutive granules. Every tenth granule has an output grid size of 270 by 408 pixels. MOD07_L2 product files are stored in Hierarchical Data Format(HDF-EOS). Twenty eight of the 30 gridded cloud parameters(5-kilometer pixel resolution) are stored as Scientific Data Sets (SDS) within the file, the remaining two algorithmic static parameters (band number and presure level) are stored as Vdata(table arrays). Cloud Mask SDS, derived from the 1-km MOD35_L2 Cloud Mask parameter, is remapped to 5-km resolution, by using only the center 1-km pixel in the 5x5 pixel retrieval array. The remaining two (band number and static pressure levels) are stored as Vdata(table arrays) Each file is roughly 8 MB in size, and the total data volume is approximately 2 GB/day. MOD07_L2 Data Group and Parameters: Spatial & Temporal Resolution: Latitude & LongitudeScan start time Solar and Sensor Viewing Geometry: Solar zenith & Solar azimuth angleSensor zenith & Sensor azimuth angle Static Algorithm Parameters: MODIS band number; Pressure levels Atmospheric & Surface Pressure: Retrieved Geopotential Height ProfileTropopause HeightSurface Elevation, Surface Pressure Atmospheric & Surface Temperature:Guess & Retrieved Temperature ProfilesBrightness Temperature and Skin Temperature Atmospheric Moisture: Guess Mixing ratio ProfileRetrieved Dew Point Temperature Profile Atmospheric Stability Indices: Total Totals, Lifted Index, and K-index Atmospheric Trace Gases: Total Ozone BurdenTotal Column Precipitable Water Vapor - IR RetrievalTotal Column Precipitable Water Vapor - Direct IR RetrievalWater Vapor(Low & High)Retrieved Water Vapour Mixing Ratio Profile Quality Assurance & Statistical Parameters:Quality Assurance Parameters Run time QA flags MODIS Cloud Mask Processing Flag These parameters are very essential in the characterization of the atmosphere, atmospheric correction of remotely sensed surface parameters, and prediction of convective clouds and thunderstorms. For more information about the MOD07_L2 product, visit the MODIS-Atmosphere site at: https://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/products/atm-profile

Get the data

mod07_l2_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MOD07_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.