Cloud Optical Thickness (8 day - Aqua/MODIS)

Cloud Optical Thickness (8 day - Aqua/MODIS) | NASA

Dataset you are currently viewing:

Select Year 

About this dataset

More than just the idle stuff of daydreams, clouds help control the flow of light and heat around our world. Because there are so many clouds spread over such large areas of Earth, they are a very important part of our world's climate system. Clouds have the ability to cool our planet, or they can help to warm it. Because there are so many different kinds of clouds, and because they move and change so fast, they are hard to understand and even harder to predict. Scientists want to know how much sunlight clouds reflect and how much sunlight passes through clouds to reach Earth's surface. By measuring how much sunlight gets scattered by clouds back up into space, scientists can better understand how much clouds influence Earth's climate.

Currently viewing:

November 25 - December 2, 2023

Downloads info

File Type:
   
1.0 degrees 360 x 180 download
0.5 degrees 720 x 360 download
0.25 degrees 1440 x 720 download
0.1 degrees 3600 x 1800 download
CSV for Excel older than 2007 download

Related Websites

MODIS Atmospheres Science Team

Earthdata on MODIS

MODIS

Aqua

Further Reading

Abstract Art or Arbiters of Energy?

Ship Tracks Off Europe's Atlantic Coast

Studying Smoke Above the Clouds

ATBD (Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document)

Cloud Retrieval Algorithms for MODIS: Optical Thickness, Effective Particle Radius, and Thermodynamic Phase

Credits

Imagery produced by the NASA Earth Observations team based on data provided by the MODIS Atmosphere Science Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Federal Geographic Data Committee Geospatial Metadata

View the FGDC Metatdata for Cloud Optical Thickness (8 day - Aqua/MODIS)

Quick Tip

View another tip

Contact Us

Need to get a hold of someone at NEO? Just fill out the form below.





Trouble with this form? Submit your comment here.