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Full catalog/MOD09GA
MOD09GA·v061·dataset

True surface color each day (Terra, 500 m)

MODIS/Terra Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 1km and 500m SIN Grid V061
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 2G active HDF-EOS2
In plain English

What it measures. An estimate of the true color of the land surface across seven bands at 500-meter resolution, with atmospheric effects removed, plus a set of coarser 1-kilometer observation layers and geolocation flags.

How it's made. Derived daily from the Terra MODIS instrument and gridded globally, after correcting for atmospheric gases, aerosols and scattering.

How & where you'd use it. A foundational layer feeding many MODIS land products and used directly for vegetation, snow, fire and land-cover work that needs clear, atmosphere-corrected surface color.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2000-02-24 → ongoing
  • Measured byTerra (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2G
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsHDF-EOS2
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

The MOD09GA Version 6.1 product provides an estimate of the surface spectral reflectance of Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Bands 1 through 7, corrected for atmospheric conditions such as gasses, aerosols, and Rayleigh scattering. Provided along with the 500 meter (m) surface reflectance, observation, and quality bands are a set of ten 1 kilometer (km) observation bands and geolocation flags. The reflectance layers from the MOD09GA are used as the source data for many of the MODIS land products. Known Issues * For complete information about known issues please refer to the [MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website](https://landweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/knownissue?sensor=MODIS&sat=Terra&as=61).

Get the data

mod09ga_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MOD09GA",
    version="061",
    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 LPCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.