MOD09 UserGuide v1 3 PDF

MODIS Surface Reflectance Users Guide
MODIS Land Surface Reflectance Science Computing Facility
Principal Investigator: Dr. Eric F. Vermote
Web site: http://modis-sr.ltdri.org
Correspondence e-mail address: mod09@ltdri.org
Prepared by E. F. Vermote, S. Y. Kotchenova and J. P. Ray
Version 1.3
February, 2011
Table of Contents
1. Product description .......................................................................................................................... 4

2. Overview of MODIS processing ...................................................................................................... 4
3. Detailed product descriptions ....................................................................................................... 10
3.1. Description and Science Data Sets (Collection 5) ................................................................... 10
3.1.1. MOD09 ............................................................................................................................ 10
3.1.2. MOD09GQ ..................................................................................................................... 13
3.1.3. MOD09GA ..................................................................................................................... 14
3.1.4. MOD09Q1 ...................................................................................................................... 16
3.1.5. MOD09A1 ....................................................................................................................... 17
3.1.6. MOD09CMG .................................................................................................................. 18
3.2. Description and Science Data Sets (Collection 4) .................................................................... 20
3.2.1. MOD09GQK ................................................................................................................... 20
3.2.2. MOD09GHK ................................................................................................................... 21
3.2.3. MOD09Q1 ....................................................................................................................... 22
3.2.4. MOD09A1 ...................................................................................................................... 23
3.2.5. MOD09GST .................................................................................................................... 24
3.3. Data product quality ................................................................................................................ 25
3.3.1. 250 m resolution QA ........................................................................................................ 25
3.3.2. 500 m, 1 km and coarse resolution QA ............................................................................. 27
3.4. Data product state flags ........................................................................................................... 28
3.4.1. State QA (Collection 5) .................................................................................................... 28
3.4.2. 1 km resolution data state QA (Collection 4) .................................................................... 29
3.5. Internal CM (Collection 5) ...................................................................................................... 30
3.6. Geolocation flags (Collection 5) .............................................................................................. 31
3.7. Scan value information (Collection 5) ..................................................................................... 31
3.8. Orbit and coverage (Collection 4)............................................................................................ 32
4. Frequently asked questions.................................................................................................................33
4.1. How are MODLAND QA bits set, and how should they be used? ......................................... 33
4.1.1. So from where should cloud information be taken? ......................................................... 34
4.2. How do you unpack Level 2G or Level 2G-lite's compact data? ............................................ 34
4.3. Of what does the atmospheric correction algorithm consist? .................................................. 35
4.4. What is surface reflectance? What are its units? ................................................................... 36
4.5. All I've seen in thie document is MOD, meaning Terra what about Aqua (MYD)? ...... 36
5. Caveats and Known Problems.............................................................................................................37
6. Data ordering (& browsing)..............................................................................................................37
6.1 Where to get data from.....37
6.2. Data product granule ID ......................................................................................................... 38
6.3. Data viewing tools ................................................................................................................. 39
7. Useful links.................................................................................................................................... 40
2
List of Tables
1. Inputs and outputs of MODIS surface reflectance programs ............................................................. 5

2. Science Data Sets for MOD09............................................................................................................10
3. Science Data Sets for MOD09GQ .................................................................................................. 13
4. Science Data Sets for MOD09GA .................................................................................................. 14
5. Science Data Sets for MOD09Q1 ................................................................................................... 16
6. Science Data Sets for MOD09A1 ................................................................................................... 17
7. Science Data Sets for MOD09CMG ............................................................................................... 18
8. Science Data Sets for MOD09GQK ............................................................................................... 20
9. Science Data Sets for MOD09GHK ............................................................................................... 21
10. Science Data Sets for MOD09Q1 (Collection 4) .......................................................................... 22
11. Science Data Sets for MOD09A1 (Collection 4) .......................................................................... 23
12. Science Data Sets for MOD09GST .............................................................................................. 24
13. 250 m Level 2G Surface Reflectance Band Quality Description (16-bit) ...................................... 25
14. 250 m Level 3 Surface Reflectance Band Quality Description (16-bit) ......................................... 26
15. 500 m,1 km and Coarse Resolution Surface Reflectance Band Quality Description (32-bit) ......... 27
16. State QA Description (16-bit) ...................................................................................................... 28
17. 1 km Surface Reflectance State QA Description Differences for Collection 4 .............................. 29
18. Internal CM (16-bit) ..................................................................................................................... 30
19. 1 km Geolocation Flags (16-bit) ................................................................................................... 31
20. 250 m Scan Value Information Description (8-bit) ....................................................................... 31
21. Orbit and Coverage ..................................................................................................................... 32
3
1. Product description
MOD09 (MODIS Surface Reflectance) is a seven-band product computed from the MODIS Level
1B land bands 1 (620-670 nm), 2 (841-876 nm), 3 (459-479), 4 (545-565 nm), 5 (1230-1250 nm), 6
(1628-1652 nm), and 7 (2105-2155 nm). The product is an estimate of the surface spectral reflectance
for each band as it would have been measured at ground level as if there were no atmospheric scatter-
ing or absorption. It corrects for the effects of atmospheric gases and aerosols.
2. Overview of MODIS processing

Most satellite data processing systems recognize five distinct levels of processing. Level 0 data is
raw satellite feeds: level 1 data has been radiometrically calibrated, but not otherwise altered. Level 2
data is level 1 data that has been atmospherically corrected to yield a surface reflectance product. Lev-
el 3 data is level 2 data that has been gridded into a map projection, and usually has also been tempo-
rally composited or averaged. Level 4 data are products that have been put through additional
processing. All data up to and including level 2 are in an ungridded orbital swath format, with each
swath typically cut into small segments, or granules, to facilitate processing. Data at level 3 and up
are geolocated into a specific map projection, with the geolocated products typically in a set of non-
overlapping tiles (figure 1).
The advantage of level 3 data over less processed forms of data is that each pixel of L3 data is pre-
cisely geolocated; a disadvantage is that the process of compositing or averaging that results in L3 data
limits the usefulness of the L3 product. The Level 2G format, consisting of gridded Level 2 data, was
developed as a means of separating geolocating from compositing and averaging. The L2G format
preserves all the data that maps to a given pixel as observations at that pixel. Programs which produce
level 3 data can then have all available data at each pixel to choose from, without having to geolocate
everything themselves. An additional step of processing, level 2G-lite, provides a minimal level of
compositing of daily level 2G data.
2.1. MODIS surface reflectance data products

MODIS surface reflectance data are found in the MOD09 series of data products, including a lev-
el 2 product (MOD09, generated by PGE11's MOD_PR09.exe program), level 2G daily products
(MOD09GHK, MOD09GQK, and MOD09GST, generated by PGE12's MOD_PRMGR.exe program),
level 2G-Lite daily products (MOD09GA and MOD09GQ, generated by PGE13's MOD_PR09G.exe
program), level 3, 8-day composited products (MOD09A1 and MOD09Q1, generated by PGE21's
MOD_PR09A.exe program), and daily level 3 CMG (climate modeling grid) products (MOD09CMG
and MOD09CMA, generated by PGE75's MOD_PR09C.exe program). See Table 1:
4
Table 1: Inputs and outputs of MODIS surface reflectance programs.
input output
program file level res. publically not publical- level res. collection
available ly available
MOD_PR09.exe MOD021KM 1B 1 MOD09 2 1,H,Q all
MOD02HKM 1B H MOD09IDT 3 5 4 and up
MOD02QKM 1B Q MOD09IDN 3 5 4 and up
MOD03 1A 1 MOD09IDS 3 5 4 and up
MOD35_L2 2 1
MOD_PRMGR.exe MOD09 2 1,H,Q MOD09GHK none 2G H all
MOD09GQK 2G Q all
MOD09GST 2G 1 all
MOD_PR09A.exe MOD09GHK 2G H MOD09A1 none 3 H up to/and 4
MOD09GQK 2G Q MOD09Q1 3 Q up to/and 4
MOD09GST 2G 1
MOD_PR09G.exe MOD09GHK 2G H MOD09GA none 2GL 1,H 5 and up
MOD09GQK 2G Q MOD09GQ 2GL Q 5 and up
MOD09GST 2G 1
MOD_PR09A.exe MOD09GA 2GL 1,H MOD09A1 none 3 H 5 and up

MOD09GQ 2GL Q MOD09Q1 3 Q 5 and up
MOD_PR09C.exe MOD09IDT 3 5 MOD09CMG MOD09CMA 3 5 4 and up
MOD09IDN 3 5
MOD09IDS 3 5
where '2GL' stands for level 2G-lite and resolutions (res.) are 5, 0.05, Q, 250 m, H, 500 m, and 1, 1 km..
Please note:
1) A collection is a MODIS data archive that has been reprocessed in order to incorporate better cali-
bration, algorithm refinements, and improved upstream products into all MODIS products. The cur-
rent collection is 5. Later collections supersede all earlier collections.
2) This table focuses upon MOD09-related products, and for purposes of clarity omits pointer files,
coarse-resolution files, browse files, ancillary data files, destriped L1B input files, subsets, et cetera.
3) The "MOD" prefix should be taken as referring to the dataset in general, not to Terra-derived data in
particular. All programs discussed in this document process either Terra- or Aqua-derived data. All
datasets referred to in this document will be referred to as "MOD" data, but meaning either Terra- or
Aqua-derived data.
Please also note that not all MOD09 products are publically available. This User's Guide is meant to
be a guide for the use of publically available MOD09 products, so it is the publically available prod-
ucts that are described here in detail. Other products are described for the sake of completeness (e. g.,
the MOD09IDN, -IDT and -IDS products).
2.2. Products of MOD_PR09.exe -- levels 2 and 3

MOD_PR09.exe is run on whole orbit's worth of level 1B calibrated radiance data at each availa-
ble resolution (1 km, 500 m and 250 m). Daytime data is corrected for the effects of atmospheric gases
and aerosols. Specifically, bands 1 and 2 at 250 m, bands 1 through 7 at 500 m, and bands 1 through
5
16 at 1 km are corrected, yielding an estimate of the surface spectral reflectance for each band as it
would be measured at ground level if there were no atmospheric scattering or absorption. Band quality
control information for the correction is also generated (e. g., flags denoting if ancillary data is un-
available, if L1B data is faulty, etc.), for each resolution, and for bands 1 through 7.
The level 2 MOD09 output includes all corrected bands and band quality data, as well as aerosol re-
trieval data and data for assessing the quality of the aerosol retrieval algorithm (brightness temperature
data from thermal bands 20, 31 and 32, water vapor data, path radiance data, et cetera). Data is written
to the output files as Scientific Data Sets (SDSs). One additional data set of importance is the 1 km
State QA SDS. While band quality SDSs contain information about the quality of the atmospheric cor-
rection of each pixel, the State QA SDS contains information about the pixel's state -- that is, characte-
ristics of each pixel that are not dependent upon band or resolution. Each State QA pixel contains data
such as whether the pixel has been flagged as land, deep ocean, shallow ocean, or as containing cloud,
high aerosol, low aerosol, snow, or fire. State QA data reflects the qualities of the pixel itself, not the
quality of any of the surface reflectance data.
One other output of MOD_PR09.exe are the MOD09 Intermediate Surface Reflectance datasets
(MOD09IDN, -IDT and -IDS), in which all surface reflectance data and band quality data for each or-
bit is geolocated into a linear latitude and longitude projection at 5 km (0.05) resolution. Data in
these files is averaged. These files are intermediate in the sense that they serve as inputs to
MOD_PR09C.exe, which composites MOD09IDN, -IDT and -IDS files for each orbit into daily
MOD09CMG and MOD09CMA files.
2.3. Products of MOD_PRMGR.exe -- level 2G

MOD_PRMGR.exe is run for each tile in the MODIS sinusoidal grid (figure 1) for each day, and
is run on all MOD09 level 2 granules which map to the tile for that day. The number of observations
at each pixel are determined not only by the number of orbits at that location (one at the equator and up
to 15 at the poles), but also by the spread of observational coverage of off-nadir pixels.
6
Figure 1. The MODIS sinusoidal grid consists of 460 nonoverlapping tiles which measure approximately 10 x 10. Data
from an example tile (tile h11v05, derived from MOD09A1.A2000337.h11v05.005.2006342055602.hdf) is shown as a
RGB-image.
The resulting data can be conceived of as forming a three-dimensional cube, with its depth determined
by the number of observations at each pixel. The L2G data is written to output files in two parts: the
first part consisting of "first layer" data, data at zero depth in the cube, as a 2-dimensional SDSs; and
the second part as either "full format" data (the rest of the observations as 3-dimensional SDSs) or as
"compact format" data (the rest of the observations with all fill values removed and written as one-
dimensional SDSs). The format operationally generated is the compact format.
The level 2G output includes MOD09GHK (500 m surface reflectance and band quality data),
MOD09GQK (250 m surface reflectance and band quality data), and MOD09GST (1 km State QA da-
ta). These datasets were archived until collection 5, when they were superseded by level 2G-lite prod-
ucts (see below). Apart from having been geolocated, the 1 km State QA dataset is identical to the
State QA in MOD09 files.
2.4. Products of MOD_PR09A.exe -- level 3

MOD_PR09A.exe is run for each tile in the MODIS sinusoidal grid for each 8-day period. Up to
and including collection 4, it was run on all MOD09GHK, -GQK and -GST files for that tile and 8-day
period. As of collection 5, it is run on all MOD09GA and MOD09GQ files for that tile and 8-day pe-
riod.
7
All data in input files that map to a given pixel are called observations. The MOD_PR09A compositing
process selects the best observation for each pixel. The criteria for selection include observational
coverage and view angle, and whether the observation is flagged as cloudy, clear, containing high
aerosol or low aerosol, or in cloud shadow.
For each pixel, the compositing steps are
1) Observations from the same orbit are composited by observational coverage. Observations with the
highest coverage are saved, and the rest discarded. This yields a list of one observation from each or-
bit.
2) Each orbit's observation is then assigned a score, based upon whether it is flagged for cloud, cloud
shadow, high aerosol or low aerosol, or contains high view angle or low solar zenith angle. The lowest
score, 0, is assigned to observations with fill values for data. The remaining scores are
1 BAD data derived from a faulty or poorly corrected L1B pixel

2 HIGHVIEW data with a high view angle (60 degrees or more)
3 LOWSUN data with a high solar zenith angle (85 degrees or more)
4 CLOUDY data flagged as cloudy
5 SHADOW data flagged as containing cloud shadow
6 UNCORRECTED data flagged as uncorrected
7 CLIMAEROSOL data flagged as containing the default level of aerosols
8 HIGHAEROSOL data flagged as containing the highest level of aerosols
9 GOOD data which meets none of the above criteria
The observation with the highest score and the lowest view angle is selected for the MOD09A1 and
MOD09Q1 outputs.
The MOD09A1 outputs also contain a 500 m version of the 1 km State QA composited from all 8-day
inputs.
2.5. Products of MOD_PR09G.exe -- level 2G-lite

Each observation in the L2G 'cube' is added not in any meaningful order, but in the order it is
read from level 2 files -- so, data in the "first layer" is not inherently more useful than the compact
format data. In spite of this, however, in time the "first layer" of the L2G outputs became all that most
users paid attention to. In the level 2G-lite format, efforts were made to improve the quality of the
"first layer" data by sorting the observations in a manner similar to the selection process of
MOD_PR09A.exe (above). The sorting of observations also eliminated the need for several SDSs in
the level 2G pointer files, which reduced the overall volume of each days data.
2.6. Products of MOD_PR09C.exe -- level 3 CMG

The MODIS Surface Reflectance Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) format is level 3 and global; its
projection is in linear latitude and longitude (Plate Carre), and its resolution is 0.05 (figure 2). It is
derived from MOD09IDN, MOD09IDT and MOD09IDS files for each orbit by compositing the data
in these files on the basis of minimum band 3 (459 - 479 nm band) values (after excluding pixels
flagged for clouds and high solar zenith angles). The MOD09CMG file contains surface reflectance
for bands 1 through 7, band quality data and other important information, but does not contain re-
trieved aerosol data -- aerosol data is put into a separate file, the MOD09CMA file.
8
Figure 2. An RGB-image derived from MOD09CMG.A2000338.005.2006332091104.hdf.
9
3. Detailed product descriptions
3.1. Description and Science Data Sets (Collection 5)
3.1.1. MOD09
MODIS Terra/Aqua Surface Reflectance 5-minute L2 Swath
Product description: MOD09 provides MODIS surface reflec-

tance for bands 1 and 2 (at 250m), bands 1 7 (at 500 m) and
bands 1 16 (at 1 km resolution), multiresolution QA, and 1
km observation statistics.
Figure 3. A MOD09 RGB-image composed of surface reflec-

tance measured by MODIS bands 1 (red), 4 (green) and 3 (blue)
on January 26, 2011 over northern Australia and Borneo. Prod-
uct granule ID:
MOD09.A2011026.0035.005.2011027195038.hdf
Table 2. Science Data Sets for MOD09.

Data Science Data Sets Fill Val- Scale Fac-
Units Data Type Valid Range
Group (HDF Layers (43)) ue tor
1km Atmospheric Optical Depth
Band 1: (AOT retrieval residual 16-bit signed
1 km none 60 0 - 5000 0.001
values) integer

16-bit signed
Band 3 none 60 0 - 5000 0.001
integer

Band 8: (Angstrom exponent val- 16-bit signed
none 60 0 - 5000 0.001
ues) integer
1km Atmospheric Optical Depth 8-bit un-

Model none signed 0 1-5 1
integer
16-bit un-
1km water_vapor g/cm2 0 0 - 5000 0.01
signed integer
Bit Field 0 0 - 65535 1
Band QA (see Table 18) signed integer
none 0 0 - 19 1
Band CM signed integer
250 m 250m Surface Reflectance Band 1: Reflectance 16-bit signed -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
10
(620-670 nm) integer
250m Surface Reflectance Band 2: 16-bit signed
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
250m Reflectance Band Quality 16-bit un-
Bit Field 2995 NA NA
(see Table 13) signed integer
500 m Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
500m Surface Reflectance Band 5 16-bit signed
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
500m Reflectance Band Quality 32-bit un-
Bit Field 3 NA NA
1km Surface Reflectance Band 1: 16-bit signed
1 km Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
1km Surface Reflectance Band 5 16-bit signed
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
11
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
16-bit un-
BAND20: (3.66-3.84 m) Degrees K 0 0 - 33300 0.01
signed integer
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
(1.36-1.39 m) integer
16-bit un-
BAND31: (10.78-11.284 m) Degrees K 0 0 - 33300 0.01
signed integer
16-bit un-
BAND32: (11.77-12.27 m) Degrees K
signed integer
0 0 - 33300 0.01
BAND20ALBEDO: (3.66-3.84 16-bit signed

Reflectance -28672 -100 - 5000 0.0001
m) integer
Latitude Degrees 32-bit float 0.0 -90.0 90.0 1.0
Longitude Degrees 32-bit float 0.0 -180 180 1.0
1km Reflectance Band Quality (see 32-bit un-
Bit Field 3 NA NA
Table 15) signed integer
1km Reflectance Data State QA 16-bit un-
Bit Field 0 NA NA
16-bit signed
1km Band 3 Path Radiance Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
integer
Note: Tables 2 12 list what data fill values should be, but bugs in some programs can result in different fill values for
band quality SDSs.
12
3.1.2. MOD09GQ
MODIS Terra/Aqua Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global
250 m
Product description: MOD09GQ provides MODIS band

1-2 daily surface reflectance at 250 m resolution. This
product is meant to be used in conjunction with the
MOD09GA where important quality and viewing geometry
information is stored.
Figure 4. An example of MOD09GQ surface reflectance

product. The corresponding MODIS data were collected on
December 3, 2000 over Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
Product Granule ID:
MOD09GQ.A2000339.h10v05.005.2006339053418.hdf.
Upper image: Band 2 (near-infrared) surface reflectance
shown on a gray scale. Lower image: A false-color RGB
combination of bands 2, 1, and 1. Vegetation appears red,
water appears black, and clouds appear white.
Table 3. Science Data Sets for MOD09GQ. (Only 2-

dimensional SDSs are listed.)
Science Data Sets Fill

Units Data Type Valid Range Scale Factor
(HDF Layers) (5) Value
num_observations: number of 8-bit signed
none -1 0-127 NA
observations within a pixel integer
250m Surface Reflectance Band 16-bit signed
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
1 (620-670 nm) integer
250m Surface Reflectance Band 16-bit signed
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
2 (841-876 nm) integer
250m Reflectance Band 16-bit unsigned
Quality (see Table 13) integer
obs_cov: Observation Coverage
8-bit signed
(percentage of the grid cell area Percent -1 0 - 100 0.01
integer
covered by the observation)
13
3.1.3. MOD09GA
MODIS Terra/Aqua Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 500 m and 1 km
Product description: MOD09GA provides MODIS band

1-7 daily surface reflectance at 500 m resolution and 1 km
observation and geolocation statistics.
Figure 5. A MOD09GA RGB-image composed of surface

reflectance measured by MODIS bands 1 (red), 4 (green)
and 3 (blue) on December 6, 2000 over the US East coast.
Product granule ID:
MOD09GA.A2000340.h11v05.005.2006339102700.hdf
Table 4. Science Data Sets for MOD09GA. (Only 2-dimensional SDSs are listed.)
Data Science Data Sets Scale Fac-
Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range
Group (HDF Layers (21)) tor
num_observations_1km: 8-bit signed
1 km none -1 0 - 127 NA
Number of Observations integer
State_1km: Reflectance 16-bit unsigned
Data State (see Table 16) integer
16-bit signed
Sensor Zenith Angle Degree -32767 0 - 18000 0.01
integer
16-bit signed
Sensor Azimuth Angle Degree -32767 -18000 - 18000 0.01
integer
16-bit unsigned
Range: pixel to sensor Meter 65535 27000 - 65535 0.04
integer
16-bit signed
Solar Zenith Angle Degree -32767 0 - 18000 0.01
integer
16-bit signed
Solar Azimuth Angle Degree -32767 -18000 - 18000 0.01
integer
gflags: Geolocation flags Bit Field
8-bit unsigned
255 0 - 248 NA
(see Table 19) integer
8-bit signed
orbit_pnt: Orbit Pointer none -1 0 - 15 NA
integer
14
8-bit signed
500 m num_observations_500m none -1 0 - 127 NA
integer
sur_refl_b01: 500m Surface
16-bit signed
Reflectance Band 1 (620- Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
integer
670 nm)
16-bit signed
integer
876 nm)
16-bit signed
integer
479 nm)
16-bit signed
integer
565 nm)
16-bit signed
integer
1250 nm)
16-bit signed
integer
1652 nm)
16-bit signed
integer
2155 nm)
QC_500m: 500m Reflec-
32-bit unsigned
tance Band Quality (see Bit Field 787410671 NA NA
integer
Table 15)
Obs_cov_500m: Observa- 8-bit signed
Percent -1 0 - 100 0.01
tion coverage integer
iobs_res: Observation num- 8-bit unsigned
none 255 0 - 254 NA
ber integer
q_scan: 250m scan value 8-bit unsigned
none 255 0 - 255 NA
information (see Table 20) integer
15
3.1.4. MOD09Q1
MODIS Terra/Aqua Surface Reflectance 8-Day L3 Global 250 m
Product description: MOD09Q1 provides MODIS band 1-

2 surface reflectance at 250 m resolution. It is a level 3
composite of MOD09GQ. Each MOD09Q1 pixel contains
the best possible L2G observation during an 8-day period as
selected on the basis of high observation coverage, low
view angle, the absence of clouds or cloud shadow, and
aerosol loading.
Figure 6. An example of MOD09Q1 surface reflectance

product. The corresponding MODIS data were collected in
December, 2000 over Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
Product Granule ID:
MOD09Q1.A2000337.h10v05.005.2006342044337.hdf.
Upper image: Band 2 (near-infrared) surface reflectance
combination of bands 2, 1, and 1. Vegetation appears red,
water appears black, and clouds appear white.
Table 5. Science Data Sets for MOD09Q1

Science Data Sets
Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
(HDF Layers (3))
250m Surface Reflectance
Reflectance 16-bit signed integer -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Band 1 (620-670 nm)
Band 2 (841-876 nm)
250m Reflectance Band 16-bit unsigned
Bit Field 65535 0 - 32767 NA
Quality (see Table 14) integer
16
3.1.5. MOD09A1
Product description: MOD09A1 provides MODIS band 1-7 surface reflectance at 500 m resolution.
It is a level-3 composite of 500 m resolution MOD09GA. Each
product pixel contains the best possible L2G observation dur-
ing an 8-day period as selected on the basis of high observa-
tion coverage, low view angle, absence of clouds or cloud sha-
dow, and aerosol loading.
Figure 7. A MOD09A1 RGB image composed of surface ref-

lectance data measured by bands 1 (red), 4 (green) and 3(blue)
in December, 2000 over the US East coast. Granule ID:
MOD09A1.A2000337.h11v05.005.2006342055602.hdf
Table 6. Science Data Sets for MOD09A1

Science Data Sets Scale Fac-
(HDF Layers (13)) tor
Band 1 (620-670 nm)
Band 2 (841-876 nm)
Band 3 (459-479 nm)
Band 4 (545-565 nm)
Band 5 (1230-1250 nm)
Band 6 (1628-1652 nm)
Band 7 (2105-2155 nm)
500m Reflectance Band
Bit Field 32-bit unsigned integer 4294967295 NA NA
Quality (see Table 15)
Solar Zenith Angle Degree 16-bit signed integer 0 0 - 18000 0.01
View Zenith Angle Degree 16-bit signed integer 0 0 - 18000 0.01
Relative Azimuth Angle Degree 16-bit signed integer 0 -18000 - 18000 0.01
500m State Flags (see Table
Bit field 16-bit unsigned integer 65535 NA NA
16)
Day of Year Julian day 16-bit unsigned integer 65535 1 - 366 NA
17
3.1.6. MOD09CMG
MODIS Terra/Aqua Surface Reflectance Daily L3 Global 0.05 Deg CMG
Product description: MOD09CMG provides MODIS band 1-7 surface reflectance at 0.05-degree res-
olution. This product is based on a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) for the purpose of being used in
climate simulation models.
Figure 8. A MOD09CMG RGB-image composed of surface reflectance data measured by bands 1

(red), 4 (green) and 3 (blue) on December 7, 2000. The MODIS product granule ID is
MOD09CMG.A2000341.005.2006347161131.hdf.
Table 7. Science Data Sets for MOD09CMG.

Science Data Sets Fill Val- Scale
Units Data Type Valid Range
(HDF Layers (19)) ue Factor
Coarse Resolution Surface Reflectance 16-bit signed
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Band 1 (620-670 nm) integer
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
16-bit signed
Coarse Resolution Solar Zenith Angle Degree 0 0 - 18000 0.01
integer
Coarse Resolution View Zenith Angle Degree 16-bit signed 0 0 - 18000 0.01
18
integer
Coarse Resolution Relative Azimuth 16-bit signed
Degree 0 -18000 - 18000 0.01
Angle integer
8-bit unsigned
Coarse Resolution Ozone cm atm 0 0 -255 0.0025
integer
Coarse Resolution Brightness Tempera- 16-bit unsigned
degrees K 0 0 - 40000 0.01
ture Band 20 (3.360-3.840 m) integer
degrees K 0 0 - 40000 0.01
degrees K 0 0 - 40000 0.01
degrees K 0 0 - 40000 0.01
Coarse Resolution Granule Time HHMM 16-bit integer 0 0 - 2355 1
16-bit signed
Coarse Resolution Band 3 Path Radiance Reflectance -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
integer
32-bit unsigned
Coarse Resolution QA (see Table 15) Bit Field 0 NA NA
integer
Coarse Resolution Internal CM (see Ta- 16-bit unsigned
Bit Field 0 NA NA
ble 18) integer
Coarse Resolution State QA (see Table 16-bit unsigned
Bit Field 0 NA NA
16) integer
8-bit unsigned
Number of Pixels Averaged unitless 0 1 - 40 NA
integer
19
3.2. Description and Science Data Sets (Collection 4)
3.2.1. MOD09GQK
MODIS Terra/Aqua Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 250 m
Product description: MOD09GQK provides MODIS

band 1-2 daily surface reflectance at 250 m resolution.
The best observations during a 24-hour period, as deter-
mined by overall pixel quality and observational coverage,
are matched geographically according to corresponding
250 m Pointer Files (MODPTQKM; see Section 7). Quali-
ty information for this product is provided at three differ-
ent levels of detail: for individual pixels, for each band
and each resolution, and for the whole file.
Figure 9. An example of MYD09GQK surface reflectance

product. The corresponding MODIS data were collected
on May 26, 2004 over Brazil. Granule ID:
MYD09GQK.A2004148.h12v09.004.2004151002653.hdf.
Upper image: Band 2 (near-infrared ) Surface Reflectance
combination of bands 2, 1, and 1. Vegetation appears red
and clouds appear white.
Table 8. Science Data Sets for MOD09GQK (Only 2-

dimensional SDSs are listed.)
Science Data Sets Fill
Units Data Type Valid Range Scale Factor
(HDF Layers) (5) Value
250m Surface Reflectance Band 1
(620-670 nm)
250m Surface Reflectance Band 2
(841-876 nm)
250m Reflectance Band Quality
(see Table 13)
Orbit and coverage (see Table 21) Bit field 8-bit unsigned integer 15 0 - 255 NA
Number of Observations none 8-bit signed integer -1 0 - 127 NA
20
3.2.2. MOD09GHK
MODIS Terra/Aqua Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 500 m
Product description: MOD09GHK provides surface reflectance data at 250 m resolution for bands 1-
2 and at 500 m resolution for bands 3-7. The best observa-
tions during a 24-hour period, as determined by overall pixel
quality and observational coverage, are matched geographi-
cally according to corresponding 500 m Pointer Files
(MODPTHKM; see Section 7). Quality information for this
product is provided at three different levels of detail: for in-
dividual pixels, for each band and each resolution, and for
the whole file.
Figure 10. A MOD09GHK RGB-image composed of sur-

face reflectance measured by bands 1 (red), 4 (green) and 3
(blue) on December 17, 2000 Sahara, Africa. Granule ID:
MOD09GHK.A2006351.h18v06.004.2006353163945.hdf
Table 9. Science Data Sets for MOD09GHK. (Only 2-dimensional SDSs are listed.)
Science Data Sets
(HDF Layers (10))
Band 1 (620-670 nm)
Band 2 (841-876 nm)
Band 3 (459-479 nm)
Band 4 (545-565 nm)
Band 5 (1230-1250 nm)
Band 6 (1628-1652 nm)
Band 7 (2105-2155 nm)
500m Reflectance Band 32-bit unsigned in-
Bit field 787410671 NA NA
Quality (see Table 15) teger
Orbit and coverage (see Ta-
Bit field 8-bit unsigned integer 15 0 - 255 NA
ble 21)
Number of Observations NA 8-bit signed integer -1 0 - 127 NA
21
3.2.3. MOD09Q1
Product description: MOD09Q1 provides band 1-2 surface

reflectance at 250 m resolution. It is a level-3 composite of
MOD09GQK. The best observations during an 8-day period,
as determined by overall pixel quality and observational
coverage, are matched geographically according to corres-
ponding 250 m Pointer Files (MODPTQKM (see Section
7)). Quality information for the MOD09Q1 product is pro-
vided at three different levels of detail: for individual pixels,
for each band and each resolution, and for the whole file.
Figure 11. An example of MYD09Q1 surface reflectance

product. The corresponding MODIS data were collected in
May 2004 mostly over Brazil, South America. Granule ID:
MYD09Q1.A2004145.h12v10.004.2004157154243.hdf.
Upper image: Band 2 (near-infrared ) surface reflectance
combination of bands 2, 1, and 1.
Table 10. Science Data Sets for MOD09Q1 (Collection 4)
Science Data Sets

(HDF Layers (3))
Surface Reflectance for band
1 (620-670 nm)
Surface Reflectance for band
2 (841-876 nm)
Surface reflectance 250m
16-bit unsigned
quality control flags (see Ta- Bit field 65535 NA NA
integer
ble 14)
22
3.2.4. MOD09A1
Product description: MOD09A1 is a composite of MOD09GHK. The best observations during an 8-

day period, as determined by the overall pixel quality and observational coverage, are matched geo-
graphically according to corresponding 500 m Pointer Files
(MODPTHKM (see Section 7)). Quality information for the
MOD09A1 product is provided at three different levels of
detail: for individual pixels, for each band and each resolu-
tion, and for the whole file.
Figure 12. A MOD09A1 RGB-image composed of surface

reflectance measured by bands 1 (red), 4 (green) and 3(blue)
in May 2004 mostly over Brazil, South America. Granule ID:
MYD09A1.A2004145.h12v10.004.2004157154243.hdf.
Table 11. Science Data Sets for MOD09A1 (Collection 4)

Science Data Sets Scale
(HDF Layers (13)) Factor
Surface Reflectance for band 1
reflectance 16-bit signed integer -28672 -100 - 16000 0.0001
(620-670 nm)
(841-876 nm)
(459-479 nm)
(545-565 nm)
(1230-1250 nm)
(1628-1652 nm)
(2105-2155 nm)
Surface reflectance 500m quali-
ty control flags (see Table 15)
Solar zenith Degree 16-bit signed integer 0 0 - 18000 0.01
View zenith Degree 16-bit signed integer 0 0 - 18000 0.01
Relative azimuth Degree 16-bit signed integer 0 -18000 - 18000 0.01
Surface reflectance 500m state
Bit field 16-bit unsigned integer 65535 0 NA
flags (see Table 16)
Surface reflectance day of year Julian Day 16-bit unsigned integer 65535 0 - 366 NA
23
3.2.5 MOD09GST
MODIS Terra/Aqua Surface Reflectance Quality Daily L2G Global 1 km
Product description: MOD09GST is a restructured version of the State QA quality data in level 2 sur-
face reflectance. It summarizes the status of each pixel, specifically containing information pertaining
to cloud and cloud shadow, land and water designations, aerosol quantity, and the results of fire and
snow detection algorithms.
MOD09GHK RGB-image Corresponding information from MOD09GST

Figure 13. Daily level 2G data RGB (left) and corresponding State QA data (right; from tile h08v05),
where clouds over land are in red, cloud-free land is in green, cloud-free moderate ocean is in blue, etc.
Table 12. Science Data Sets for MOD09GST. (Only 2-dimensional SDSs are listed.)
Science Data Sets
(HDF Layers (3))
1km Reflectance Data State QA
Bit field 16-bit unsigned integer 65535 NA
(see Tables 16 and 17)
Orbit and coverage (see Table 21) Bit field 8-bit unsigned integer 15 0 - 255
Number of Observations NA 8-bit signed integer -1 0 - 127
24
3.3. Data product quality
3.3.1. 250 m resolution QA
Table 13. 250 m Level 2/Level 2G Surface Reflectance Band Quality Description (16-bit). Note that
bit 0 is the Least Significant Bit (LSB).
Bit Bit
Parameter Name QC_250m
No. Comb.
00 corrected product produced at ideal quality all bands
01 corrected product produced at less than ideal quality some or all bands
0-1 MODLAND QA bits 10 corrected product not produced due to cloud effects all bands
corrected product not produced due to other reasons some or all bands
11
may be fill value [Note that a value of (11) overrides a value of (01)].
00 clear
2-3 cloud state
(spare) 01 cloudy
10 mixed
11 not set; assumed clear
0000 highest quality
0111 noisy detector
1000 dead detector; data interpolated in L1B
1001 solar zenith >= 86 degrees
1010 solar zenith >= 85 and < 86 degrees
band 1 data quality
4-7 1011 missing input
four bit range
internal constant used in place of climatological data for at least one at-
1100
mospheric constant
1101 correction out of bounds, pixel constrained to extreme allowable value
1110 L1B data faulty
1111 not processed due to deep ocean or clouds
band 2 data quality
8-11 SAME AS BAND ABOVE
four bit range
atmospheric correc- 1 yes

12
tion performed 0 no
adjacency correction 1 yes

13
performed 0 no
14-
spare (unused) - ---
15
25
Table 14. 250 m Level 3 Surface Reflectance Band Quality Description (16-bit). Bit 0 is LSB.
Bit Bit
Parameter Name sur_refl_qc_250m
No. Comb.
00 corrected product produced at ideal quality all bands
01 corrected product produced at less than ideal quality some or all bands
0-1 MODLAND QA bits 10 corrected product not produced due to cloud effects all bands
corrected product not produced due to other reasons some or all bands
11
may be fill value [Note that a value of (11) overrides a value of (01)].
00 clear
2-3 cloud state
(spare) 01 cloudy
10 mixed
11 not set; assumed clear
0111 noisy detector
band 1 data quality
4-7 1011 missing input
four bit range
internal constant used in place of climatological data for at least one at-
1100
mospheric constant
1101 correction out of bounds, pixel constrained to extreme allowable value
band 2 data quality
8-11 SAME AS BAND ABOVE
four bit range
atmospheric correc- 1 yes

12
tion performed 0 no
adjacency correction 1 yes

13
performed 0 no
different orbit from 1 yes

14
500 m 0 no
15 spare (unused) - ---
26
3.3.2. 500 m, 1km and coarse resolution QA
Table 15. 500 m, 1 km and Coarse Resolution Surface Reflectance Band Quality Description (32-bit).
Bit 0 is LSB.
QC_500m / Coarse Resolution QA /
Bit Bit
Parameter Name surf_refl_qc_500m/ 500m Reflectance Band Quality /
No. Comb.
1km Reflectance Band Quality
00 corrected product produced at ideal quality -- all bands
corrected product produced at less than ideal quality --
01
some or all bands
0-1 MODLAND QA bits corrected product not produced due to cloud effects -- all
10
bands
corrected product not produced for other reasons -- some
11 or all bands, may be fill value (11) [Note that a value of
(11) overrides a value of (01)].
0111 noisy detector
2-5 band 1 data quality, four bit range 1011 missing input
internal constant used in place of climatological data for at
1100
least one atmospheric constant
correction out of bounds, pixel constrained to extreme al-
1101
lowable value
6-9 band 2 data quality four bit range same as band above
1 yes
30 atmospheric correction performed
0 no
1 yes
31 adjacency correction performed
0 no
27
3.4. Data product state flags
3.4.1. State QA (Collection 5)
Table 16. State QA description (16-bit). Bit 0 is LSB.
state_1km / Coarse Resolution State QA /
Bit No. Parameter Name Bit Comb. surf_refl_state_500m / 1km Reflectance
Data State QA
00 clear
01 cloudy
0-1 cloud state
10 mixed
11 not set, assumed clear
1 yes
2 cloud shadow
0 no
000 shallow ocean
001 land
010 ocean coastlines and lake shorelines
011 shallow inland water
3-5 land/water flag
100 ephemeral water
101 deep inland water
110 continental/moderate ocean
111 deep ocean
00 climatology
01 low
6-7 aerosol quantity
10 average
11 high
00 none
01 small
8-9 cirrus detected
10 average
11 high
1 cloud
10 internal cloud algorithm flag
0 no cloud
1 fire
11 internal fire algorithm flag
0 no fire
1 yes
12 MOD35 snow/ice flag
0 no
13 Pixel is adjacent to cloud 1 yes
28
0 no
1 yes
14 BRDF correction performed
0 no
1 snow
15 internal snow mask
0 no snow
3.4.2. 1 km resolution data state QA (Collection 4)

Table 17. 1 km Surface Reflectance State QA Description Differences for Collection 4.
Bits 10-15 contain different information in Collection 4 product compared to Collection 5 product. Bit
0 is LSB.
1 clear
10 PGE11 cloud algorithm flag
0 cloudy
1 fire
11 PGE11 fire algorithm flag
0 no fire
1 yes
12 MOD35 snow/ice flag
0 no
00 no
13-14 BRDF correction performed 01 Montana methodology
10 Boston methodology
1 snow
15 PGE11 snow algorithm flag
0 no snow
29
3.5. Internal CM (Collection 5)
Table 18. Coarse Resolution Internal CM, 1km Atmospheric Optical Depth Band QA (16-bit). Bit 0 is
LSB.
Bit No. Description Bit Comb. state
1 yes
0 cloudy
0 no
1 yes
1 clear
0 no
1 yes
2 high clouds
0 no
1 yes
3 low clouds
0 no
1 yes
4 snow
0 no
1 yes
5 fire
0 no
1 yes
6 sun glint
0 no
1 yes
7 dust
0 no
1 yes
8 cloud shadow
0 no
1 yes
9 pixel is adjacent to cloud
0 no
00 none
01 small
10-11 cirrus
10 average
11 high
1 salt pan
12 pan flag
0 no salt pan
1 criterion 2
13 criteria used for aerosol retrieval
0 criterion 1
1 yes
14 AOT (aerosol optical thickness) has climatological values
0 no
15 Unused - -
30
3.6. Geolocation flags (Collection 5)
Table 19. 1 km Geolocation Flags (16-bit). Bit 0 is LSB.
Bit No. Description Bit Comb. state_1km
0-2 Fill 00 Fill
0 Valid
3 Sensor range validity flag
1 Invalid
0 Valid
4 Digital elevation model quality flag
1 Missing/inferior
0 Valid
5 Terrain data validity
1 Invalid
0 Valid intersection
6 Ellipsoid intersection flag
1 No intersection
0 Valid
7 Input data flag
1 Invalid
3.7. Scan value information (Collection 5)

Table 20. 250 m Scan Value Information Description (8-bit). Bit 0 is LSB.
Bit No. Parameter Name Bit Comb. q_scan
1 yes
0 missing observation in quadrant 4 [+0.5 row, +0.5 column]
0 no
1 yes
1 missing observation in quadrant 3 [+0.5 row, -0.5 column]
0 no
1 yes
2 missing observation in quadrant 2 [-0.5 row, +0.5 column]
0 no
1 yes
3 missing observation in quadrant 1 [-0.5 row, -0.5 column]
0 no
1 same
4 scan of observation in quadrant 4 [+0.5 row, +0.5 column]
0 different
1 same
5 scan of observation in quadrant 3 [+0.5 row, -0.5 column]
0 different
1 same
6 scan of observation in quadrant 2 [-0.5 row, +0.5 column]
0 different
1 same
7 scan of observation in quadrant 1 [-0.5 row, -0.5 column]
0 different
31
Note: The 250 m samples are for each of four quadrants within a 500 m cell. The first line/sample is in
the upper left (north-west) corner of the image.
0 -- first 250m line (row), first 250m sample (column)

1 -- first 250m line, second 250m sample
2 -- second 250m line, first 250m sample
3 -- second 250m line, second 250m sample
3.8. Orbit and coverage (Collection 4)

Table 21. Orbit and coverage data set (8-bit) for Collection 4 (the orbit the observation came from and
the observation coverage). Bit 0 is LSB.
Bit No. Parameter Name Bit Comb. orb_cov_1
range: from 0 to 13
0-3 orbit number
key: from 0000 (0) to 1011 (13)
0 top half
4 scan half flag
1 bottom half
000 0.0 12.5%
001 12.5 25.0%
010 25.0 37.5%
011 37.5 50.0%
6-7 land/water flag
100 50.0 62.5%
101 62.5 75.0%
110 75.0 87.5%
111 87.5 100.0%
Note: The orbit number is not the absolute orbit number but a relative orbit number in the file. In addi-
tion a flag is stored which distinguishes between observations which are in the top half of the scan (the
first 5 1 km scan lines in the along track direction) and the bottom half of the scan (the last 5 1 km scan
lines). The observation coverage is the area of intersection of observation footprint and cell divided by
the area of the observation.
32
4. Frequently asked questions.
4.1. How are MODLAND QA bits set, and how should they be used?
The MODLAND QA bits are bits 0 and 1 of the band quality SDS pixel values. They are meant as a
brief summary of quality control aspects of each pixel, with 00 meaning the best possible atmospher-
ic correction and any other value indicating errors or problems, and serving as a flag to check other QA
data in more detail. Although the MODLAND QA bits are still set in this manner, other band quality
bits and other QA products (e. g., the State QA) have superseded the MODLAND QA bits in impor-
tance.
a) MOD_PR09.exe processing.
In the MOD_PR09.exe program, the MODLAND QA bits are initialized to '00' and then set in three
passes:
Pass #1:
The MODLAND QA bits are set to '11' for pixels over oceans, if pixels over
oceans are not being atmospherically corrected.
or else, they are set to '10' for pixels over clouds, if pixels over clouds
are not being atmospherically corrected.
However, since at least collection 3 and up to the present, atmospheric correction is being performed
over clouds and ocean, so the MODLAND QA bits are not being set in pass #1.
In other words, the description "corrected product not produced due to cloud effects" for bits '10' in the
MODLAND QA bits is relevant only for PGEs that process cloudy pixels differently than non-cloudy
pixels; but this description is no longer relevant for PGE11, which applies an atmospheric correction
algorithm to both cloudy and non-cloudy pixels. PGE11 produces the level 2 MOD09 product from
which L2G and L3 MOD09 products are in turn produced. For MOD09 products the MODLAND QA
bits are not to be used for determining whether a pixel is cloudy or not. Other QA products (e. g., the
state QA) contain cloud information (below).
Pass #2:
The MODLAND QA bits are then set to '11' for pixels that have not been at-
mospherically corrected.
Pass #3:
Note that passes 1 and 2 are with respect to each pixel, but not with respect to each band. The next
pass goes through each band at that pixel and resolution and resets the MODLAND QA bits like this:
'11' - for any band

that is a fill value (after processing), and not because of
clouds or ocean (band quality value 15).
that has a solar zenith angle above 86 (band quality value 9)
that corresponds to missing L1B input (band quality value 11).
that corresponds to faulty L1B input (band quality value 14).
or '01' (if it hasn't been set to '11' already), for any band
33
that has a solar zenith angle between 85 and 86 (band quality
value 10)
in which an internal constant was used in place of climatological
data for an atmospheric constant (band quality value 12)
in which the atmospherically-corrected value is out of bounds
and has been constrained to an extreme allowable value (either
-100 or 16000) (band quality value 13)
In summary: the MODLAND QA bits default to '00' (ideal quality), are set to '01' (less than ideal
quality, some or all bands) for data corrected with an internal constant, or data constrained to extreme
allowable values, or to data at a high solar zenith angle; and are set to '11' (corrected product not pro-
duced for other reasons, some or all bands) for uncorrected data, missing L1B, faulty L1B, or data at
solar zenith angles beyond 86.
b) MOD_PRGR.exe processing.
The MOD_PRGR.exe program grids data from level 2 MOD09 files into MOD09GA and MOD09GQ
files. Regions of L2G files that are not populated with MOD09 data (e. g., missing orbits, spaces be-
tween orbits) contain fill values for reflectance data and for band quality data. In these places all band
quality data bits have a value of 1, and the MODLAND QA bits are '11'. However these regions are
clearly flagged for non-use (e. g., containing zeros in the 'num_observations' SDSs).
4.1.1. So from where should cloud information be taken?

All cloud information should be derived from State QA SDSs. Information labeled as cloud informa-
tion in band quality SDSs is not to be considered as reliable as State QA cloud information. In particu-
lar,
1) bits labeled as "cloud state" in MOD09GQ or MOD09GQK files (SDS 'QC_250m')

or in MOD09Q1 files (SDS 'sur_refl_qc_250m') are to be ignored: they have
not been populated since Collection 3.
2) the MODLAND QA bits are also not to be taken as denoting cloud status.
They are meant to denote whether a pixel was not processed because of cloud
effects, but PGE11 has been doing atmospheric correction over clouds since
at least Collection 3. (See above.)
All cloud information should be derived from State QA SDSs, and in particular, the SDS 'state_1km' in
MOD09GA or MOD09GST files, and/or SDS 'sur_refl_state_500m' in MOD09A1 files. In these
SDSs, each pixel contains two cloud masks: one that is read from MOD35 (bits 0-1) and one that is
generated by PGE11's internal cloud algorithm (bit 10).
4.2. How do you unpack Level 2G or Level 2G-lite's compact data?

Compact data is written to one-dimensional SDSs in observation order; that is, all the additional obser-
vations for row 0, column 0 are written, then all additional observations for row 0, column 1, and so
on. If a pixel has no additional observations, nothing is written to the compact SDS for that pixel. The
number of additional observations written to the compact data at each pixel is stored in the 2-
dimensional SDS 'num_observations'.
34
To expand the compact data to its original three-dimensional form, the compact data and the
'num_observations' SDSs must have memory allocated for them and must be read. Additionally;
1) Determine the number of additional layers in the L2G file.
This value can be read from the metadatum ADDITIONALLAYERS
in each L2G file. (In the example below, variable depth is set to that value.)
2) For each additional layer, allocate memory for the uncompacted data (variable
uncompact_data[][] below):
e. g., for integer data:
uncompact_data = (int **)malloc(depth*sizeof(int *));
for(i=0;i<depth;i++) {
uncompact_data[i] = (int *)malloc(rows*columns*sizeof(int));
}
3) Then, for each column in each row:

l=0;
x=0;
for(i=0;i<rows;i++) {
for(j=0;j<columns;j++) {
nobs = number_of_observations[l];
for (k=0;k<nobs-1;k++) uncompact_data[k][l] = compact_data[x++];
for ( ;k<depth;k++) uncompact_data[k][l] = fill_value;
l++;
}
}
4.3. Of what does the atmospheric correction algorithm consist?

Calibrated radiance data is scaled and divided by the cosine of the solar zenith angle, yielding a top-of-
atmosphere value. Parameters related to atmospheric scattering and absorption (atmospheric intrinsic
reflectance, gaseous transmission, atmospheric transmission, and spherical albedo) are computed by
interpolation from precomputed look-up tables, and applied to the top-of-atmosphere data.
Ancillary data is either read from coarse resolution meterological data and interpolated spatially and
temporally (surface pressure, ozone), or is calculated within MOD_PR09.exe (water vapor, aerosol
optical thickness). Aerosol optical thickness (AOT) is estimated by comparing actual corrected top-of-
atmosphere values to modeled top-of-atmosphere values with known amounts of AOT added. The de-
rived AOT is then used in a second pass of atmospheric correction.
[see also
Vermote E.F. and Saleous, N., 2006, Operational Atmospheric Correction of MODIS Visible to Mid-
dle Infrared Land Surface Data in the Case of an Infinite Lambertian Target, chapter 8 in "Earth
Science Satellite Remote Sensing, Vol. 1: Science and Instruments" John J. Qu et al., Springer Berlin
Heidelberg.
Vermote E.F., El Saleous N., Justice C., 2002, Atmospheric correction of the MODIS data in the visi-
ble to middle infrared: First results, Remote Sensing Of Environment, 83, 1-2, 97-111.
Petitcollin F. and Vermote E. F., 2002, Land Surface Reflectance, Emissivity and Temperature from
MODIS Middle and Thermal Infrared data, Remote Sensing Of Environment, 83, 1-2,112-134.]
35
4.4. What is surface reflectance? What are its units?
Surface reflectance is the amount of light reflected by the surface of the earth; it is a ratio of surface
radiance to surface irradiance, and as such is unitless, and typically has values between 0.0 and 1.0.
MOD09's surface reflectance values are scaled by 10000 and then cast to 16-bit integers, so surface
reflectance values in MOD09 files are typically between 0 and 10000. The atmospheric correction al-
gorithm that is used results in values normally between -100 and 16000. Any values outside of this
range are either uncorrected L1B data (e. g., data at high solar zenith angles) or fill values (e. g., data
between orbits in L2G or L2G-lite files).
4.5. All I've seen in this document is "MOD", meaning Terra -- what about Aqua (MYD)?
The "MOD" prefix should be taken as referring to the datasets in general, not to Terra-derived data in
particular. All programs discussed in this document process either Terra- or Aqua-derived data. All
datasets referred to in this document will be referred to as "MOD" data, but meaning either Terra- or
Aqua-derived data.
No combined Terra+Aqua MOD09 products are available or planned for.
36
5. Caveats and Known Problems
The performance of the atmospheric correction algorithm degrades as the view and solar zenith angles
get larger and as aerosol optical thickness gets larger; the algorithm is also less accurate for bands at
shorter wavelengths. The level of accuracy of the atmospheric correction is typically
(0.005 + 0.05*reflectance)
under favorable conditions (not high aerosol). The look-up tables used in the atmospheric correction
algorithm also assume upper limits of 5.0 for aerosol optical thickness and 75 for solar zenith angles.
6. Data ordering (& browsing)

6.1. Where to get data from
All of the file types listed as publically available in Table 1 can be obtained from one or more of the
following websites:
a) EOS (Earth Observing System) Data Gateway

The main source of data, a place an order database, a quick-start tutorial.
Link: http://edcimswww.cr.usgs.gov/pub/imswelcome/
b) LP DAAC (Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center)
Useful information and links, ftp-access to a subset of MODIS land products.
Link: http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/main.asp
c) US Geological Survey (USGS) Global Visualization (GloVIS)
Access to selected MODIS land products with browse capability.
Link: http://glovis.usgs.gov/
d) MODIS Land Global Browse Images
5-km versions of selected product to enable synoptic quality assessment.
Link: http://landweb.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/browse/browse.cgi
e) Earth Science Data Interface (ESDI) at the Global Land Cover Facility
32-day composites, images in GeoTiff format, limited products.
Link: http://landcover.org/index.shtml
37
6.2. Data product granule ID
All archived data is accessed by its LOCALGRANULEID. For data in the sinusoidal grid, the LO-
CALGRANULEID is constructed like this:
Example 1: MOD09GHK.A2006351.h18v06.004.2006353163945.hdf
MOD09GHK: product name (MODIS Terra Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 500 m)
A2000351: Acquisition year (2006) and Julian day (351)
h18v06: tile ID (see figure 1)
004: Collection 4
2006353163945: Production year (2006), Julian day (353), and time (16:39:45)
For Climate Modeling Grid data (CMGs), the LOCALGRANULEID is constructed like this:
Example 2: MOD09CMG.A2000338.005.2006332091104.hdf
MOD09CMG: product name (MODIS Terra Surface Reflectance Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg. CMG)
A2000338: Acquisition year (2000) and Julian day (338)
005: Collection 5
2006332091104: Production year (2006), Julian day (332), and time (09:11:04)
38
6.3. Data viewing tools
a) Imager (platform: Linux)
A software tool specifically designed by the MODIS LSR SCF for viewing surface reflectance suites.
Link: http://modis-sr.ltdri.org/software/IMAGER.html
b) HDFLook (platforms: SUN, AIX, SGI, Linux, MacOSX, Cygwin)
A multifunctional data processing and visualization tool for land, ocean and atmosphere MODIS data.
Link: http://www-loa.univ-lille1.fr/Hdflook/hdflook_gb.html
c) ENVI (platforms: Windows & Linux)
A software for the visualization, analysis, and presentation of all types of digital imagery.
Link: http://www.ittvis.com/envi/
d) HDF Explorer (platform: Windows)
A software environment where data are first viewed in a tree-like interface, and then optionally loaded
and visualized in a variety of ways.
Link: http://www.space-research.org/
39
7. Useful links
a) 250 m Pointer Files (MODPTQKM):
Link: http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/modis/modptqkmv4.asp
b) 500 m Pointer Files (MODPTQKM):
Link: http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/modis/modptqkmv4.asp
c) Detailed description of changes in the MOD09 algorithm and other MODIS land science algorithms
at the MODIS Land Quality Assessment website:
Link: http://landweb.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/QA_WWW/newPage.cgi
d) The MODIS Land Surface Reflectance Science Computing Facilitys website:
Link: http://modis-sr.ltdri.org.
E-mail: mod09@ltdri.org
40

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MODIS Surface Reflectance Users Guide

MODIS Land Surface Reflectance Science Computing Facility

Principal Investigator: Dr. Eric F. Vermote

Web site: http://modis-sr.ltdri.org

Correspondence e-mail address: mod09@ltdri.org

Prepared by E. F. Vermote, S. Y. Kotchenova and J. P. Ray

1. Product description .......................................................................................................................... 4

1. Inputs and outputs of MODIS surface reflectance programs ............................................................. 5

2. Overview of MODIS processing

2.1. MODIS surface reflectance data products

MOD_PR09A.exe MOD09GA 2GL 1,H MOD09A1 none 3 H 5 and up

2.2. Products of MOD_PR09.exe -- levels 2 and 3

2.3. Products of MOD_PRMGR.exe -- level 2G

2.4. Products of MOD_PR09A.exe -- level 3

For each pixel, the compositing steps are

1 BAD data derived from a faulty or poorly corrected L1B pixel

2.5. Products of MOD_PR09G.exe -- level 2G-lite

2.6. Products of MOD_PR09C.exe -- level 3 CMG

Product description: MOD09 provides MODIS surface reflec-

Figure 3. A MOD09 RGB-image composed of surface reflec-

Table 2. Science Data Sets for MOD09.

1km Atmospheric Optical Depth

1km Atmospheric Optical Depth

1km Atmospheric Optical Depth 8-bit un-

BAND20ALBEDO: (3.66-3.84 16-bit signed

Product description: MOD09GQ provides MODIS band

Figure 4. An example of MOD09GQ surface reflectance

Table 3. Science Data Sets for MOD09GQ. (Only 2-

Science Data Sets Fill

Product description: MOD09GA provides MODIS band

Figure 5. A MOD09GA RGB-image composed of surface

Product description: MOD09Q1 provides MODIS band 1-

Figure 6. An example of MOD09Q1 surface reflectance

Table 5. Science Data Sets for MOD09Q1

Figure 7. A MOD09A1 RGB image composed of surface ref-

Table 6. Science Data Sets for MOD09A1

Figure 8. A MOD09CMG RGB-image composed of surface reflectance data measured by bands 1

Table 7. Science Data Sets for MOD09CMG.

Product description: MOD09GQK provides MODIS

Figure 9. An example of MYD09GQK surface reflectance

Table 8. Science Data Sets for MOD09GQK (Only 2-

Figure 10. A MOD09GHK RGB-image composed of sur-

Product description: MOD09Q1 provides band 1-2 surface

Figure 11. An example of MYD09Q1 surface reflectance

Table 10. Science Data Sets for MOD09Q1 (Collection 4)

Science Data Sets

Product description: MOD09A1 is a composite of MOD09GHK. The best observations during an 8-

Figure 12. A MOD09A1 RGB-image composed of surface

Table 11. Science Data Sets for MOD09A1 (Collection 4)

MOD09GHK RGB-image Corresponding information from MOD09GST

atmospheric correc- 1 yes

adjacency correction 1 yes

atmospheric correc- 1 yes

adjacency correction 1 yes

different orbit from 1 yes

3.4.2. 1 km resolution data state QA (Collection 4)

3.7. Scan value information (Collection 5)

0 -- first 250m line (row), first 250m sample (column)

3.8. Orbit and coverage (Collection 4)