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Full catalog/MYDFDS_MON_GLB_L3
MYDFDS_MON_GLB_L3·v1·dataset

How often dust storms hit (Aqua, monthly)

Monthly Frequency of Dust Storm over Land for Varying Intensities, Based on MODIS Aqua Deep Blue Level 2 Aerosol Products MYD04_L2 Collection 6.1, on a Global 0.1 by 0.1 Degree Grid, Level 3 Version 1 (MYDFDS_MON_GLB_L3) at GES DISC
atmosphere NASA GES_DISC Level 3
In plain English

What it measures. Monthly counts of how often dust storms occur over land, worldwide on a fine grid, separated by storm intensity.

How it's made. Derived from MODIS Deep Blue aerosol measurements on the Aqua satellite by counting the days each month when airborne dust crossed set thresholds, covering 2003 to 2022.

How & where you'd use it. Useful for studying dust-storm patterns, their sources, and their effects on air quality, health and climate.

What's measured

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

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2003-01-01 → 2022-12-31
  • Measured byAqua (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 MYDFDS_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 Aqua (MYD04_L2). The dataset covers the monthly mean from 2003 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

mydfds_mon_glb_l3_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MYDFDS_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.