Skip to main content

Description

The Aqua MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) Surface Reflectance products provide an estimate of the surface spectral reflectance parameter as if it were measured at ground level in the absence of atmospheric scattering or absorption. The MODIS Level 1B (L1B) top-of-atmosphere calibrated instrument data are corrected for atmospheric gases and aerosols to produce this Level 2 (L2) product. These L2 inputs are used to generate higher-level gridded products.

MYD09 is the product short name for the L2 orbital swath-based atmospherically corrected surface reflectance product, generated daily at 250-meter, 500-meter and 1-kilometer resolutions. MYD09 contains 5-minute datasets for every 24-hour cycle that yields 288 granules.

Spectral Band Coverage

MYD09 offers surface reflectance values for the following resolutions and bands: 

  • 250-meter resolution: Bands 1 and 2  
  • 500-meter resolution: Bands 1 – 7 
  • 1-kilometer resolution: Bands 1 – 16 and Band 26 

This product also contains multi-resolution Quality Assurance (QA) layers, and 1-kilometer observation statistics besides solar-zenith and view-zenith angles.

Product Validation and Data Record

The version 6.1 (v6.1) surface reflectance products are validated to Stage 3, meaning that the uncertainties in this product are well-quantified through comparison with both in situ (ground-based) measurements and other reference data. These uncertainties are characterized in a statistically rigorous manner over multiple global locations and time periods. The spatial and temporal consistency of this product has also been evaluated over a set of globally representative locations and time periods. The v6.1 MYD09 collection’s data record starts from July 4, 2002 (2002–185).

Science Data Sets

The L2 MYD09 product, in Hierarchical Data Format (HDF4), contains the following Science Data Sets (SDS):

  1. 250m_Surface_Reflectance_Band_1
  2. 250m_Surface_Reflectance_Band_2
  3. 250m_Reflectance_Band_Quality
  4. 500m_Surface_Reflectance_Band_1
  5. 500m_Surface_Reflectance_Band_2
  6. 500m_Surface_Reflectance_Band_3
  7. 500m_Surface_Reflectance_Band_4
  8. 500m_Surface_Reflectance_Band_5
  9. 500m_Surface_Reflectance_Band_6
  10. 500m_Surface_Reflectance_Band_7
  11. 500m_Reflectance_Band_Quality
  12. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_1
  13. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_2
  14. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_3
  15. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_4
  16. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_5
  17. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_6
  18. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_7
  19. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_8
  20. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_9
  21. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_10
  22. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_11
  23. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_12
  24. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_13
  25. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_14
  26. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_15
  27. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_16
  28. 1km_Surface_Reflectance_Band_26
  29. 1km_b16_Reflectance_Band_Quality
  30. 1km_b8-15_Reflectance_Band_Quality
  31. 1km_Band_3_Path_Radiance
  32. 1km_Reflectance_Band_Quality
  33. 1km_Reflectance_Data_State_QA
  34. 1km_water_vapor
  35. 1km_Atmospheric_Optical_Depth_Band_1
  36. 1km_Atmospheric_Optical_Depth_Band_3
  37. 1km_Atmospheric_Optical_Depth_Band_8
  38. 1km_Atmospheric_Optical_Depth_Band_CM
  39. 1km_Atmospheric_Optical_Depth_Band_QA
  40. 1km_Atmospheric_Optical_Depth_Model
  41. Band20
  42. Band20Albedo
  43. Band31
  44. Band32

Version Description

Aqua MODIS Version 6.1 Data Collection Processing and Reprocessing

Product Summary

Platforms
Aqua
Instruments
MODIS
Projects
Aqua
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
250 Meters x 250 Meters
500 Meters x 500 Meters
1 Kilometers x 1 Kilometers
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2002-07-04 to Present
Data Partner
L1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System,Biospheric Information Systems Branch, Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/H
Concept ID
C1713215948-LAADS
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
1391390
Processing Level
2
Published
Science Keywords
Reflectance

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

MODIS Land Science Team. (2020). MODIS/Aqua Atmospherically Corrected Surface Reflectance 5-Min L2 Swath 250m, 500m, 1km [Dataset]. NASA Level 1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD09.061 Date Accessed: 2026-09-14

File Naming Convention

Syntax: ESDT.AYYYYDDD.HHMM.CCC.YYYYDDDHHMMSS.Format
Example: MYD09.A2025103.1120.061.2025105030330.hdf

* MYD09 = ESDT/Shortname
* AYYYYDDD = Acquisition Year and Day of Year 
* HHMM = Acquisition Hour and Minute
* CCC = Version ID of the data collection
* YYYYDDDHHMMSS = Processing year, Day-of-year, UTC time (hour, minutes, seconds)
* Format = File format suffix, which in the above case represents HDF4

Documents

No Results

QUESTIONS & SUPPORT

Have a question?

Get help with NASA Earth science data, datasets, tools, services, and metadata on the Earthdata Forum. Experienced staff in the data user community review and answer questions.

Get help on Earthdata Forum
Earthdata
Forum

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Reconstructing savannah wildfire events using a deep learning framework Ramsey, Simon, Reinke, Karin, Edwards, Andrew, Jones, Simon Reflectance
Early yield estimation in wheat using open access global datasets and Akcapnar, Muhammed Cem, Apaydin, Halit Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Reflectance
A dataset of the daily edge of each polynya in the Antarctic Lin, Yichen, Nakayama, Yoshihiro, Liang, Kaixin, Huang, Yongtao, Chen, Dake, Yang, Qinghua Reflectance, Infrared Radiance, REFLECTED INFRARED, Visible Radiance
You're viewing 3 of 3