Project Description

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a 36-channel visible to thermal-infrared sensor that was first launched as part of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra payload on 18 December 1999.   A second MODIS was launched as part of the payload on the Aqua satellite on May 4, 2002.   A variety of snow and ice products is produced from the MODIS sensors, and the products are available at a variety of spatial and temporal resolutions as shown in the table below.   The MODIS snow product suite begins with a 500-m resolution, 2330-km swath snow-cover map which is then gridded to a sinusoidal grid. The sequence proceeds to climate-modeling grid (CMG) products on a latitude/longitude (cylindrical equidistant projection). Most of the products are archived at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, CO.

The globe images included on the top of this page are examples of the data collected by MODIS on the Terra satellite. See full story at Earth Observatory: "The Blue Marble".