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Full catalog/XAERDT_L2_MODIS_Terra
XAERDT_L2_MODIS_Terra·v1·dataset

Haze, dust and smoke in the air (Terra, 10 km)

MODIS/Terra Dark Target Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 10 km
atmosphere NASA LAADS Level 2 netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Measurements of how much haze, dust, and smoke are in the air over dark land and water, given mainly as aerosol optical depth (a measure of how much airborne particles dim the view), at about 10-kilometer detail.

How it's made. Derived from the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite using the Dark Target retrieval method, as part of a project that produces consistent aerosol data across several satellites. This record covers 2019 to 2022.

How & where you'd use it. Helps track air pollution, dust storms, and smoke plumes, and supports air-quality and climate studies. Designed to match results from other satellites for consistent long-term comparison.

What's measured

ATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESSATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS › ANGSTROM EXPONENTATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLSATMOSPHERE › AEROSOLS › AEROSOL PARTICLE PROPERTIES

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2019-01-01 → 2023-01-01
  • Measured byTerra (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • 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 MODIS/Terra Dark Target Aerosol 5-Min L2 Swath 10 km product, short-name XAERDT_L2_MODIS_Terra is provided at 10-km spatial resolution (at-nadir) and a 5-minute cadence that typically yields about 140 granules over the daylit hours of a 24-hour period. The Terra/MODIS L2 collection record spans from January 2019 through December 2022. The XAERDT_L2_MODIS_Terra product is a part of the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO)–Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Dark Target Aerosol project under NASA’s Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) program, led by Robert Levy, uses a special version of the MODIS Dark Target (DT) aerosol retrieval algorithm to produce Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and other aerosol parameters derived independently from seven sensor/platform combinations, where 3 are in GEO and 4 are in LEO. The 3 GEO sensors include Advanced Baseline Imagers (ABI) on both GOES-16 (GOES-East) and GOES-17 (GOES-West), and Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) on Himawari-8. The 4 LEO sensors include MODIS on both Terra and Aqua, and VIIRS on both Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20. Adding the LEO sensors reinforces a major goal of this project, which is to render a consistent science maturity level across DT aerosol products derived from both types and sources of orbital satellites. The XAERDT_L2_MODIS_Terra product, in netCDF4 format, contains 45 Science Data Set (SDS) layers that include 8 geolocation and 37 geophysical SDSs. For more information consult LAADS [product description page](https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/missions-and-measurements/products/XAERDT_L2_MODIS_Terra) or [Dark Target aerosol team page](https://darktarget.gsfc.nasa.gov/)

Get the data

xaerdt_l2_modis_terra_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="XAERDT_L2_MODIS_Terra",
    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 LAADS
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.