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Full catalog/MOD09GQ
MOD09GQ·v006·dataset

True surface colors, daily (Terra, 250 m)

MODIS/Terra Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 250m SIN Grid V006
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 2G HDF-EOS2
In plain English

What it measures. Daily surface reflectance for MODIS bands 1 and 2 at 250-meter resolution, corrected for haze, gases, and scattering so colors reflect what's actually on the ground. Note: this older Version 6 was retired in July 2023.

How it's made. Created from the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite and gridded daily, with atmospheric corrections applied.

How & where you'd use it. Historically used for land and vegetation monitoring, but users are now directed to the newer Version 6.1. It was designed to be paired with the 500-meter MOD09GA product for quality and viewing details.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2000-02-24 → 2023-02-17
  • Measured byTerra (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2G
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsHDF-EOS2
  • StatusDEPRECATED

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 MOD09GQ Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the [MOD09GQ Version 6.1](https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD09GQ.061) data product. The MOD09GQ Version 6 product provides an estimate of the surface spectral reflectance of Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250 meter (m) bands 1 and 2, corrected for atmospheric conditions such as gasses, aerosols, and Rayleigh scattering. Along with the 250 m surface reflectance bands are the Quality Assurance (QA) layer and five observation layers. This product is intended to be used in conjunction with the quality and viewing geometry information of the 500 m product (MOD09GA). Known Issues * Striping due to a dead detector is noticeable for bands 5, 6, and 7 in scenes acquired February 24 through October 31, 2000. Corrections were implemented to reduce the striping in data acquired after November 1, 2000. Users should always check the band quality for dead detectors even though reflectance values may be in the valid range. * The Collection 6 MODIS Land Surface Reflectance product (MOD09) may [incorrectly flag retrievals as ‘High Aerosol’](https://landweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/displayissue?id=86) over brighter surfaces and at higher view angles. This will impact the downstream MODIS BRDF/Albedo (MCD43) and Vegetation Index (MOD13 and MYD13) data products which use the aerosol quantity flag to screen out high aerosol values. * [Corrections](https://landweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/data/userguide/LSRHighAerosolFlagFinal.pdf) were implemented in Collection 6.1 reprocessing. * 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=6).

Get the data

mod09gq_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MOD09GQ",
    version="006",
    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.