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Full catalog/MODFDS_MON_GLB_L3
MODFDS_MON_GLB_L3·v1·dataset

How often dust storms hit (Terra, monthly)

Monthly Frequency of Dust Storm over Land for Varying Intensities, Based on MODIS Terra Deep Blue Level 2 Aerosol Products MOD04_L2 Collection 6.1, on a Global 0.1 by 0.1 Degree Grid, Level 3 Version 1 (MODFDS_MON_GLB_L3) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 3
In plain English

What it measures. How often dust storms occur over land each month, counted as the number of dusty days, with separate files for different intensity thresholds.

How it's made. Derived from MODIS Deep Blue aerosol measurements on the Terra satellite, summarized into a monthly global grid at roughly 10 km resolution covering 2000 to 2022.

How & where you'd use it. Helps track where and when dust storms strike, useful for studying air quality, climate, and the regions that produce the most dust.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › DUST/ASH/SMOKEATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2000-01-01 → 2022-12-31
  • Measured byTerra (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-175, -80, 174.9, 79.9
  • StatusCOMPLETE

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

Version 1 is the current version of the dataset. This collection MODFDS_MON_GLB_L3 provides level 3 monthly frequency of dust storms (FDS) over land from 175°W to 175°E and 80°S to 80°N at a spatial resolution of 0.1˚ x 0.1˚. It is derived from Level 2, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Deep Blue aerosol products Collection 6.1 from Terra (MOD04_L2). The dataset covers the monthly mean from 2000 to 2022. The FDS is calculated as the number of days per month when the daily dust optical depth is greater than a threshold optical depth (e.g., 0.025) with two quality flags: the lowest (1) and highest (3). It is advised to use flag 1, which is of lower quality, over dust source regions, and flag 3 over remote areas or polluted regions. Eight thresholds (0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2) are saved separately in eight files. If you have any questions, please read the README document first and post your question to the NASA Earthdata Forum (forum.earthdata.nasa.gov) or email the GES DISC Help Desk (gsfc-dl-help-disc@mail.nasa.gov).

Get the data

modfds_mon_glb_l3_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MODFDS_MON_GLB_L3",
    version="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 GES_DISC
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.