MODIS/Terra Clouds 5-Min L2 Swath 1km and 5km

The MODIS/Terra Clouds 5-Min L2 Swath 1km and 5km product (MOD06_L2) consists of cloud optical and physical parameters. These parameters are derived using remotely sensed infrared, visible and near infrared solar reflected radiances. MODIS infrared channel radiances are used to derive cloud top temperature, cloud top height, effective emissivity, cloud phase (ice vs. water, opaque vs. non-opaque), and cloud fraction under both daytime and nighttime conditions. MODIS visible radiances are used to derive cloud optical thickness and effective particle radius and cloud shadow effects. Near infrared solar reflected radiance provides additional information in the retrieval of cloud particle phase (ice vs. water, clouds vs. snow). The shortname for this level-2 MODIS cloud product is MOD06_L2. MOD06_L2 consists of parameters at a spatial resolution of either 1- km or 5-km (at nadir). Each MOD06_L2 product file covers a five-minute time interval. This means that for 5-km resolution parameters, the output grid is 270 pixels in width by 406 pixels in length. C6.1 changes for the cloud optical property retrievals are low-impact, and are limited primarily to ancillary product usage, the Quality Assurance (QA), and handling of cloud top (CT) properties fill values; no updates to retrieval science are implemented. The MODIS Cloud Product is used to investigate seasonal and inter-annual changes in cirrus (semi-transparent) global cloud cover and cloud phase with multispectral observations at high spatial (1 kilometer) resolution. For more information about the MOD06_L2 product, visit the MODIS-Atmosphere site at: https://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/products/cloud

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated May 11, 2026, 21:01 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 17:42 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 7ee2f202-ba96-4465-b1ed-3c10dc9856c2
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/MODIS/MOD06_L2.061
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-05-04T22:16:00Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/HBSL/BISB/LAADS;NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/HBSL/BISB/MODAPS
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 50bed432d5b4daa0c893fe544a88d1d7f7345159f915a0ea6efaffe0a25310c2
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN",[{"NorthBoundingCoordinate":90,"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180,"EastBoundingCoordinate":180,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-90}]]
temporal 2000-02-24/2026-05-04
theme {"Earth Science"}