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Full catalog/MOD09GQ
MOD09GQ·v061·dataset

True surface color each day (Terra, 250 m)

MODIS/Terra Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 250m 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 in two bands (red and near-infrared) at a sharp 250-meter resolution, after the blurring effects of the atmosphere have been removed. It comes with quality and viewing details.

How it's made. Derived daily from the Terra satellite's MODIS instrument and mapped onto a global grid, with atmospheric corrections for gases, aerosols and scattering applied.

How & where you'd use it. Used for tracking vegetation greenness, crop and forest conditions, and land cover. It is meant to be used alongside the companion 500-meter product for full quality information.

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 MOD09GQ Version 6.1 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 * 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

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

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