WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument MODIS

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Instrument: MODIS

Instrument details

Acronym	MODIS
Full name	Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer
Purpose	Multi-purpose imagery
Short description	36-channel VIS/IR spectro-radiometer [see detailed characteristics below]
Background	New development
Scanning Technique	Swath 2230 km. Whiskbroom scanning: a strip of 19.7 km width along-track is cross-track scanned every 2.956 s. The strip includes 16 parallel lines sampled by 2048 pixel of 1000 m s.s.p., or 32 parallel lines sampled by 4096 pixel of 500 m s.s.p., or 64 parallel lines sampled by 8192 pixel of 250 m s.s.p.
Resolution	IFOV: 0.25 km (two channels), 0.5 km (5 channels), 1.0 km (29 channels) – See table
Coverage / Cycle	Global coverage nearly twice/day (long-wave channels) or once/day (short-wave channels)
Mass	250 kg	Power	225 W	Data Rate	6.2 Mbps

Providing Agency	NASA
Instrument Maturity	Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period:	2000 to 2027
Last update:	2021-06-16

Detailed characteristics

Central wavelength	Bandwidth	SNR or NEΔT at specified input spectral radiance	IFOV at s.s.p.
645 nm	50 nm	128 @ 21.8 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	250 m
858 nm	35 nm	201 @ 24.7 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	250 m
469 nm	20 nm	243 @ 35.3 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	500 m
555 nm	20 nm	228 @ 29.0 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	500 m
1240 nm	20 nm	74 @ 5.4 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	500 m
1640 nm	24 nm	275 @ 7.3 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	500 m
2130 nm	50 nm	110 @ 1.0 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	500 m
412 nm	15 nm	880 @ 44.9 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
443 nm	10 nm	838 @ 41.9 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
488 nm	10 nm	802 @ 32.1 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
531 nm	10 nm	754 @ 27.9 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
551 nm	10 nm	750 @ 21.0 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
667 nm	10 nm	910 @ 9.5 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
678 nm	10 nm	1087 @ 8.7 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
748 nm	10 nm	586 @ 10.2 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
870 nm	15 nm	516 @ 6.2 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
905 nm	30 nm	167 @ 10.0 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
936 nm	10 nm	57 @ 3.6 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
940 nm	50 nm	250 @ 15.0 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
1375 nm	30 nm	150 @ 6.0 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
3.750 µm	0.180 µm	0.05 K @ 0.45 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
3.959 µm	0.060 µm	2.00 K @ 2.38 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
3.959 µm	0.060 µm	0.07 K @ 0.67 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
4.050 µm	0.060 µm	0.07 K @ 0.79 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
4.515 µm	0.165 µm	0.25 K @ 0.17 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
4.515 µm	0.067 µm	0.25 K @ 0.59 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
6.715 µm	0.360 µm	0.25 K @ 1.16 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
7.325 µm	0.300 µm	0.25 K @ 2.18 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
8.550 µm	0.300 µm	0.25 K @ 9.58 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
9.730 µm	0.300 µm	0.25 K @ 3.69 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
11.030 µm	0.500 µm	0.05 K @ 9.55 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
12.020 µm	0.500 µm	0.05 K @ 8.94 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
13.335 µm	0.300 µm	0.25 K @ 4.52 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
13.635 µm	0.300 µm	0.25 K @ 3.76 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
13.935 µm	0.300 µm	0.25 K @ 3.11 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m
14.235 µm	0.300 µm	0.35 K @ 2.08 W m^-2 sr^-1 µm^-1	1000 m

Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Earth Observation System (NASA)
- Terra (see instrument status) Mar 2000 - 2027
- Aqua (see instrument status) Aug 2002 - 2026

Instrument classification

Earth observation instrument
Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer
Moderate resolution optical imager

WIGOS Subcomponents

Subcomponent 1
VIS/IR imagery; realisation of a Day/Night band [in SSO]
VIS/IR imager [in SSO]

Mission objectives

Primary mission objectives

Cloud cover
Cloud optical depth
Cloud top height
Cloud top temperature
Cloud type
Colour Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)
Ocean Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC)
Ocean chlorophyll concentration
Ocean suspended sediments concentration
Oil spill cover
Sea surface temperature
Sea-ice cover

Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.

Variable	Relevance for measuring this variable	Operational limitations	Explanation
Aerosol column burden	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol effective radius	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR (including 760 nm for high-level aerosol), and SWIR channels
Aerosol mass mixing ratio	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol Optical Depth	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol type	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Atmospheric temperature	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.	MWIR in the CO2 band around 4.3 micrometers; TIR in the CO2 band around 15 micrometers. Supporting retrieval of other variables
Biomass	4 - fair	Cloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.	VIS, NIR and SWIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI and LAI
Cloud cover*	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels
Cloud drop effective radius	3 - high	At cloud top.. Daylight only.	VIS, NIR, SWIR and MWIR channels (for differentiation)
Cloud ice effective radius	3 - high	At cloud top.. Daylight only.	VIS, NIR, SWIR and MWIR channels (for differentiation)
Cloud optical depth*	3 - high	Low-density cloud only.. Daylight only.	VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Cloud top height*	2 - very high	No specific limitation.	TIR channels in window and water vapour band (for emissivity) for temperature; and in CO2 band for atmospheric column above cloud top
Cloud top temperature*	2 - very high	No specific limitation.	TIR channels in window and water vapour band (for emissivity)
Cloud type*	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels
Colour Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)*	1 - primary	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.	VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Downward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.	MWIR and TIR channels including water vapour and CO2 bands
Earth surface albedo	5 - marginal	Cloud sensitive.	VIS channels
Fire fractional cover	4 - fair	Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.	VIS, MWIR and TIR channels
Fire radiative power	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.	MWIR and TIR channels
Fire temperature	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.	MWIR and TIR channels
Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.	VIS channels including Red at 700 nm
Land surface temperature	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.	MWIR and TIR window channels (high sensitivity to high temperature, cloud impact reduction, water vapour correction)
Leaf Area Index (LAI)	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.	VIS and NIR channels
O3 Total Column	5 - marginal	Cloud sensitive.	TIR channel(s). Ozone lines in band around 9.7 micrometers
Ocean chlorophyll concentration *	1 - primary	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone
Ocean Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC)*	1 - primary	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone
Ocean suspended sediments concentration*	1 - primary	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone
Oil spill cover*	5 - marginal	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS channels with narrow bandwidth
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.	VIS channels, range accurately sampled
Sea surface temperature*	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.	MWIR and TIR window channels around 3.7 and 11 micrometers (cloud impact reduction, water vapour correction)
Short-wave cloud reflectance	4 - fair	No specific limitation.	VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Snow cover	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS, NIR and SWIR channels, enabling screening snow from clouds
Soil moisture at surface	4 - fair	Cloud sensitive.. Index only.	VIS, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness and thermal inertia
Specific humidity	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.	NIR and TIR channels in water vapour bands around 940 nm and 6.3 micrometers
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)*	2 - very high	Cloud sensitive.	NIR and TIR channels around 940 nm, 6.3 micrometers and in the 11 micrometers split window
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA	5 - marginal	Spectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed.	VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA	4 - fair	Spectral interpolation needed.	MWIR and TIR channels in windows around 3.7 and 11 micrometers, and in water vapour and CO2 bands around 4,3, 6.3 and 15 micrometers
Aerosol volcanic ash	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS, NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level ashes
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.	VIS, NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level ashes
Wind (horizontal)	4 - fair	Limited to high latitudes.. Cloud or water vapour tracers needed.	TIR channels in the 11 micrometers window and the 6.3 micrometers water vapour band
Upward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface	3 - high	Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.	MWIR and TIR channels including water vapour and CO2 bands
Sea-ice cover*	1 - primary	Cloud sensitive.	VIS, NIR (for contour enhancement), SWIR (for discrimination from clouds), MWIR and TIR channels