MODIS: Satellite Sensor – Geospatial Technology

A visible color composite (bands 1-Red, 4-Green, and 3-Blue) of a Terra MODIS acquisition on Nov. 17, 2006. This subset is centered on the city of Houston, Texas. Sediment-laden water is visible in Trinity Bay and Galveston Bay, southeast of Houston. In the northwest corner of the image subset, farmland along the Brazos River and urban lands in the cities of Bryan and College Station, Texas, are easily identified.

Description
The MODIS (Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instruments are part of the NASA EOS (Earth Observing System). Two sun-synchronous, near-polar orbiting satellites called Terra (EOS AM-1) and Aqua (EOS PM-1) each carry a MODIS sensor. Both satellites and MODIS sensors are operational today.

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center developed the MODIS instruments, which were designed for global research of the Earth’s atmosphere, land, and ocean processes. See the NASA MODIS Components and Design Concept Web sites for more detailed sensor information.

Swath
The viewing swath of each MODIS sensor is 2,330 km wide.

Bands

MODIS Bands
Band Number	Pixel Resolution (meters)	Reflected Bandwidth Range (nanometers)	Emitted Bandwidth Range (microns)
1	250	620 – 670
2	250	841 – 876
3	500	459 – 479
4	500	545 – 565
5	500	1230 – 1250
6	500	1628 – 1652
7	500	2105 – 2155
8	1000	405 – 420
9	1000	438 – 448
10	1000	483 – 493
11	1000	526 – 536
12	1000	546 – 556
13	1000	662 – 672
14	1000	673 – 683
15	1000	743 – 753
16	1000	862 – 877
17	1000	890 – 920
18	1000	931 – 941
19	1000	915 – 965
20	1000		3.660 – 3.840
21	1000		3.929 – 3.989
22	1000		3.929 – 3.989
23	1000		4.020 – 4.080
24	1000		4.433 – 4.498
25	1000		4.482 – 4.549
26	1000		1.360 – 1.390
27	1000		6.535 – 6.895
28	1000		7.175 – 7.475
29	1000		8.400 – 8.700
30	1000		9.580 – 9.880
31	1000		10.780 – 11.280
32	1000		11.770 – 12.270
33	1000		13.185 – 13.485
34	1000		13.485 – 13.785
35	1000		13.785 – 14.085
36	1000		14.085 – 14.385

Pixel size
250m (near infrared and red bands)
500m (blue, green, and three infrared bands)
1000m (bands 8 through 36)
See the MODIS Specifications site for more detailed information about each band.

Temporal
NASA launched the Terra satellite on Dec. 18, 1999, and the Aqua satellite on May 4, 2002. Despite the fact that each MODIS instrument was developed with a design life of five years, the Terra and Aqua MODIS sensors continue to acquire quality data today. Because the viewing swath is so large, 2,330 km, the revisit cycle is about one to two days. This repeat frequency does not occur along the same ground track. The ground track repeat cycle is every 16 days.

The Terra satellite passes north to south over the equator at approximately 10:30 a.m. local time, and Aqua travels the opposite direction (south to north) over the equator at about 1:30 p.m.

Orbit
Both satellites operate in sun-synchronous, near-polar orbits at 705 km above the earth.

Web site
NASA MODIS