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Description
The MOD11C3 Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MOD11C3 Version 6.1 data product.
The MOD11C3 Version 6 product provides monthly Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) values in a 0.05 degree (5,600 meters at the equator) latitude/longitude Climate Modeling Grid (CMG). A CMG granule is a geographic grid with 7,200 columns and 3,600 rows representing the entire globe. The LST&E values in the MOD11C3 product are derived by compositing and averaging the values from the corresponding month of MOD11C1 daily files. Each MOD11C3 product consists of the following layers for daytime and nighttime observations: LSTs, quality control assessments, observation times, view zenith angles, and number of clear-sky observations along with percentage of land in the grid and emissivities from bands 20, 22, 23, 29, 31, and 32.
Known Issues
Production of V6 Terra MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) data products was discontinued on November 16, 2022, due to significant loss of data retrieval following the Constellation Exit Maneuvers.
The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6 land surface temperature and emissivity data products: (1) Removed cloud-contaminated LSTs from Level 2 and Level 3 LST products, (2) Updated the coefficient look-up table (LUT) for the split-window algorithm with comprehensive regression analysis of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) simulation data in bands 31 and 32 over wide ranges of surface and atmospheric conditions, especially extending the upper boundary for (LST – Ts-air) in arid and semi-arid regions. Increased the overlap between various sub-ranges to reduce the sensitivity of the algorithm to uncertainties in the input data (i.e., column water vapor and air surface temperature from MOD07), (3) Made minor adjustments in the classification-based surface emissivity values, especially for bare soil and rocks land cover types, (4) Tuned the day/night algorithm by adjusting weights to improve performance in desert regions where the incorporated split-window algorithm may not work well, and (5) Generated new gridded LST&E products with a 6 km spatial resolution for 8-day (MOD11B2) and monthly (MOD11B3) intervals in response to user community requests.
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
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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)
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.
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Citation Copied
Wan, Z., Hook, S., & Hulley, G. (2015). MOD11C3 MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD11C3.006 Date Accessed: 2026-05-17
Wan, Zhengming, Simon Hook, and Glynn Hulley. “MOD11C3 MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006.” NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015. doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD11C3.006. Date Accessed: 2026-05-17
Wan, Zhengming, et al. MOD11C3 MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015, doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD11C3.006. Date Accessed: 2026-05-17
File Naming Convention
MOD11C3.A2002244.006.2015161104513.hdf
The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD11C3) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002244), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015161104513), and the Data Format (hdf).
Learn how to interpret Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Surface Temperature data quality information, including decoding binary quality layers and utilizing tools for data analysis.
