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Description

The MCD19A1 Version 6.1 data product is a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra and Aqua combined Land Surface Bidirectional Reflectance Factor (BRF) gridded Level 2 product produced daily at 500 meter (m) and 1 kilometer (km) pixel resolutions. The MCD19A1 product is corrected for atmospheric gases and aerosols using a Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm that is based on a time series analysis and a combination of pixel- and image-based processing. The MODIS MAIAC Land Surface BRF products provide an estimate of the surface spectral reflectance as it would be measured at ground-level in the absence of atmospheric scattering or absorption.

The MCD19A1 MAIAC Surface Reflectance data product includes 31 Science Dataset (SDS) layers: surface reflectance for bands 1-12, BRF uncertainty for bands 1-2, Quality Assessment (QA) bits at 1 km, surface reflectance for bands 1-7 at 500 m, cosine of solar zenith angle, cosine of view zenith angle, relative azimuth angle, scattering angle, solar azimuth angle, view azimuth angle, glint angle, RossThick/Li-Sparse (RTLS) volumetric kernel, and RTLS geometric kernel at 5 km. A low-resolution browse image is also included showing surface reflectance band combination 1, 4, 3 created using a composite of all available orbits.

Each SDS layer within each MCD19A1 Hierarchical Data Format 4 (HDF4) file contains a third dimension that represents the number of orbit overpasses. This factor could affect the total number of bands for each SDS layer.

Known Issues

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6.1 MAIAC Surface Reflectance data products: (1) Version 6.1 Level-1B (L1B) products have been improved by undergoing various calibration changes that include: changes to the response-versus-scan angle (RVS) approach that affects reflectance bands for Aqua and Terra MODIS, corrections to adjust for the optical crosstalk in Terra MODIS infrared (IR) bands, and corrections to the Terra MODIS forward look-up table (LUT) update for the period 2012 – 2017, (2) A polarization correction has been applied to the L1B Reflective Solar Bands (RSB), and (3) Snow Fraction, Snow Fit, and Snow Grain Size layers were moved from MCD19A1 to the MCD19A3D.

Product Summary

Platforms
Terra ,
Aqua
Instruments
MODIS
Spatial Extent

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

Spatial Resolution
500 Meters x 500 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
MODIS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2000-02-24 to Present
Temporal Resolution
1 Day
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
MODIS Adaptive Processing System, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/MODAPS)
Concept ID
C2484086031-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
2824023
Processing Level
2G
Published
Updated
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

Lyapustin, A., & Wang, Y. (2022). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Land Surface BRF Daily L2G Global 500m and 1km SIN Grid V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD19A1.061 Date Accessed: 2026-05-01

File Naming Convention

MCD19A1.A2025272.h00v10.061.2025273155842.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD19A1) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025272), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025273155842), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Multi-Frequency Radiometry for Multi-Year Monitoring of Relative Water Content In A Temperate Forest Hellwig, Florian M., Jagdhuber, Thomas, Fluhrer, Anke, Dubois, Clemence, Chaparro, David, Schellenberg, Konstantin, Piles, Maria, Schmullius, Christiane, Entekhabi, Dara Vegetation Water Content, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Skin Temperature, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
AnisoVeg: Anisotropy and Nadir-normalized MODIS MAIAC datasets for satellite vegetation studies in South America Dalagnol, Ricardo, Galvao, Lenio Soares, Wagner, Fabien Hubert, de Moura, Yhasmin Mendes, Goncalves, Nathan, Wang, Yujie, Lyapustin, Alexei, Yang, Yan, Saatchi, Sassan, Aragao, Luiz Eduardo Oliveira Cruz Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Regionalscale wilting point estimation using satellite SIF, radiativetransfer inversion, and soilvegetationatmosphere transfer simulation: A grassland study Kiyono, T., Noda, H. M., Kumagai, T., Oshio, H., Yoshida, Y., Matsunaga, T., Hikosaka, K. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, VEGETATION PRODUCTIVITY, Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Retrieval of UVvisible aerosol absorption using AERONET and OMIMODIS synergy: spatial and temporal variability across major aerosol environments Kayetha, Vinay, Torres, Omar, Jethva, Hiren Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
New generation geostationary satellite observations support seasonality in greenness of the Amazon evergreen forests Hashimoto, Hirofumi, Wang, Weile, Dungan, Jennifer L., Li, Shuang, Michaelis, Andrew R., Takenaka, Hideaki, Higuchi, Atsushi, Myneni, Ranga B., Nemani, Ramakrishna R. Reflectance, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Diurnal and seasonal trends and associated determinants of surface urban heat islands in large Bangladesh cities Dewan, Ashraf, Kiselev, Grigory, Botje, Dirk Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Exploratory analysis of carbonaceous PM2.5 species in urban environmentsRelationship with meteorological variables and satellite data Amarillo, Ana, Carreras, Hebe, Krisna, Trismono, Mignola, Marcos, Tavera Busso, Ivan, Wendisch, Manfred Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Forest Canopy Changes in the Southern Amazon during the 2019 Fire Season Zhang, Huixian, Hagan, Daniel Fiifi Tawia, Dalagnol, Ricardo, Liu, Yi Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Precipitation, Precipitation Amount, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Rain, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Burned Area
Importance of the legacy effect for assessing spatiotemporal correspondence between interannual tree-ring width and remote sensing products in the Sierra ... Wong, Christopher Y.S., Young, Derek J.N., Latimer, Andrew M., Buckley, Thomas N., Magney, Troy S. Photosynthesis, Primary Production, VEGETATION PRODUCTIVITY, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Improved 1-km-resolution hourly estimates of aerosol optical depth using conditional generative adversarial networks Zhang, Luo, Liu, Peng, Wang, Lizhe, Liu, Jianbo, Song, Bingze, Zhang, Yuwei, He, Guojin, Zhang, Hui Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Large-scale commodity agriculture exacerbates the climatic impacts of Amazonian deforestation Maeda, Eduardo Eiji, Abera, Temesgen Alemayehu, Siljander, Mika, Aragao, Luiz E. O. C., Moura, Yhasmin Mendes de, Heiskanen, Janne Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Prototyping of LAI and FPAR Retrievals From GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Chen, Yepei, Sun, Kaimin, Li, Wenzhuo, Chen, Chi, Li, Pengfei, Bai, Ting, Park, Taejin, Wang, Weile, Nemani, Ramakrishna R., Myneni, Ranga B. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Small anomalies in dry-season greenness and chlorophyll fluorescence for Amazon moist tropical forests during El Nino and La Nina Doughty, Russell, Xiao, Xiangming, Qin, Yuanwei, Wu, Xiaocui, Zhang, Yao, Moore, Berrien Total Surface Precipitation Rate, Reflectance, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Spatial covariation between solar-induced fluorescence and vegetation indices from Arctic-Boreal landscapes Maguire, Andrew J, Eitel, Jan U H, Magney, Troy S, Frankenberg, Christian, Kohler, Philipp, Orcutt, Erica L, Parazoo, Nicholas C, Pavlick, Ryan, Pierrat, Zoe A Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Land Surface Temperature Trend and Its Drivers in East Africa Abera, Temesgen Alemayehu, Heiskanen, Janne, Maeda, Eduardo Eiji, Pellikka, Petri K. E. Reflectance, Anisotropy, Albedo, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Adjustments to SIF Aid the Interpretation of Drought Responses at the Caatinga of Northeast Brazil Bontempo, Edgard, Dalagnol, Ricardo, Ponzoni, Flavio, Valeriano, Dalton Total Surface Precipitation Rate, Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Extensive 21st-century woody encroachment in South America's savanna Rosan, Thais M., Aragao, Luiz E.O.C., Oliveras, Imma, Phillips, Oliver L., Malhi, Yadvinder, Gloor, Emanuel, Wagner, Fabien H. Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
First Provisional Land Surface Reflectance Product from Geostationary Li, Shuang, Wang, Weile, Hashimoto, Hirofumi, Xiong, Jun, Vandal, Thomas, Yao, Jing, Qian, Lexiang, Ichii, Kazuhito, Lyapustin, Alexei, Wang, Yujie, Nemani, Ramakrishna Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Changes in leaf functional traits of rainforest canopy trees associated with an El Nino event in Borneo Nunes, M H, Both, S, Bongalov, B, Brelsford, C, Khoury, S, Burslem, D F R P, Philipson, C, Majalap, N, Riutta, T, Coomes, D A, Cutler, M E J Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
MODIS collection 6 MAIAC algorithm Lyapustin, Alexei, Wang, Yujie, Korkin, Sergey, Huang, Dong Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Life cycle of bamboo in the southwestern Amazon and its relation to fire events Dalagnol, Ricardo, Wagner, Fabien Hubert, Galvao, Lenio Soares, Nelson, Bruce Walker, Aragao, Luiz Eduardo Oliveira e Cruz de Fire Occurrence, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES, Reflectance, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
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Variables

The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables. Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data, user guide, and/or other product documentation.

For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor Offset
cosSZA Cosine of Solar zenith angle (5 km) N/A int16 -28672 0 to 10000 0.0001 N/A
cosVZA Cosine View zenith angle (5 km) N/A int16 -28672 0 to 10000 0.0001 N/A
Fg RTLS geometric kernel (5 km) N/A float32 -99999 -100 to 100 N/A N/A
Fv RTLS volumetric kernel (5 km) N/A float32 -99999 -100 to 100 N/A N/A
Glint_Angle Glint Angle (5 km) N/A int16 -28672 -18000 to 18000 0.01 N/A
RelAZ Relative azimuth angle (5 km) N/A int16 -28672 -18000 to 18000 0.01 N/A
SAZ Solar Azimuth Angle (5 km) N/A int16 -28672 -18000 to 18000 0.01 N/A
Scattering_Angle Scattering Angle (5 km) N/A int16 -28672 -18000 to 18000 0.01 N/A
Sigma_BRFn1 BRFn uncertainty over time, for band 1 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sigma_BRFn2 BRFn uncertainty over time, for band 2 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Status_QA QA bits (1 km) N/A uint16 0 1 to 65535 N/A N/A
Sur_ref2 Surface reflectance for band 2 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref3 Surface reflectance for band 3 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref4 Surface reflectance for band 4 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref5 Surface reflectance for band 5 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref6 Surface reflectance for band 6 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref7 Surface reflectance for band 7 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref8 Surface reflectance for band 8 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref9 Surface reflectance for band 9 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref10 Surface reflectance for band 10 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref11 Surface reflectance for band 11 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_ref12 Surface reflectance for band 12 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_refl1 Surface reflectance for band 1 (1 km) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_refl_500m1 Surface reflectance 500 m for band 1 (500 m) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_refl_500m2 Surface reflectance 500 m for band 2 (500 m) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_refl_500m3 Surface reflectance 500 m for band 3 (500 m) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_refl_500m4 Surface reflectance 500 m for band 4 (500 m) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_refl_500m5 Surface reflectance 500 m for band 5 (500 m) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_refl_500m6 Surface reflectance 500 m for band 6 (500 m) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
Sur_refl_500m7 Surface reflectance 500 m for band 7 (500 m) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001 N/A
VAZ View Azimuth Angle (5 km) N/A int16 -28672 -18000 to 18000 0.01 N/A
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