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Full catalog/MYD16A2
MYD16A2·v061·dataset

How much water plants and soil release (Aqua, 8-day, 500 m)

MODIS/Aqua Net Evapotranspiration 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V061
atmosphere NASA LPCLOUD Level 4 active HDF-EOS2
In plain English

What it measures. How much water plants and soil release into the air through evaporation and transpiration, summarized over 8-day stretches at 500-meter detail. It also reports the related latent heat and the potential rate under ideal conditions.

How it's made. Derived from the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite combined with daily weather data, run through a physically based equation that links vegetation, sunlight and surface conditions to water loss.

How & where you'd use it. Managing water resources and irrigation, tracking drought stress in crops and forests, and studying the water cycle and how landscapes exchange moisture with the atmosphere.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR › WATER VAPOR PROCESSES › EVAPOTRANSPIRATIONATMOSPHERE › PRECIPITATION › PRECIPITATION PROFILES › LATENT HEAT FLUX

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2021-01-01 → ongoing
  • Measured byAqua (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 4
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsHDF-EOS2
  • 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 Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MYD16A2 Version 6.1 Evapotranspiration/Latent Heat Flux product is an 8-day composite dataset produced at 500 meter (m) pixel resolution. The improved algorithm is based on the logic of the Penman-Monteith equation, which includes inputs of daily meteorological reanalysis data along with MODIS remotely sensed data products such as vegetation property dynamics, albedo, and land cover. Provided in the MYD16A2 product are layers for composited Evapotranspiration (ET), Latent Heat Flux (LE), Potential ET (PET) and Potential LE (PLE) along with a quality control layer. Two low resolution browse images, ET and LE, are also available for each MYD16A2 granule. The pixel values for the two Evapotranspiration layers (ET and PET) are the sum of all eight days within the composite period, and the pixel values for the two Latent Heat layers (LE and PLE) are the average of all eight days within the composite period. Note that the last acquisition period of each year is a 5 or 6-day composite period depending on the year. Known Issues * Operational and uncertainty issues are provided under Section 3 in the User Guide. * 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=Aqua&as=61).

Get the data

myd16a2_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MYD16A2",
    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.