The MODIS-VIIRS Atmosphere Discipline Team develops and maintains imager remote sensing algorithms for the creation of long-term climate data records of derived geophysical parameters pertaining to atmospheric properties of the Earth (aerosols, clouds, water vapor). The Atmosphere Team traces its roots to the EOS flagship Terra and Aqua missions, launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively, and specifically in support of the twin Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS). As these missions and sensors age, NASA is supporting the extension of key EOS-era MODIS climate data records to NOAA’s next-generation polar orbiting imager VIIRS, the first of which was launched on the Suomi NPP platform in 2011. Both MODIS and VIIRS provide wide spectral range (narrowband channels from visible to infrared), high spatial resolution, and near-daily to daily global coverage of the Earth and its atmosphere.

To support climate data record production from two different sensors, two product streams are available, both archived at the Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive & Distribution System (LAADS) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC): the EOS-heritage MODIS Standard Products, and the Continuity Products derived from VIIRS. While in many cases the Continuity algorithms are direct descendants of the MODIS Standard algorithms, in some cases (e.g., clouds) they are not. Details on both product streams can be found in their respective Overview sections under the Products pull-down menu at the top of the page.