M3: Oral Presentation C Thursday, 4:30 – 5:00 pm C Lake Superior Ballroom L

Internet Delivery of Satellite Imagery With TerraSIP's MODIS Download Facility

Jamie L. Smedsmo, Thomas E. Burk, Pericles S. Nacionales, Ranga R. Vatsavai
University of Minnesota
Department of Forest Resources
115 Green Hall
1530 Cleveland Avenue North
St. Paul, MN  55108
jsmedsmo@gis.umn.edu

The MODIS Download Facility provides a mechanism to easily download MODIS satellite imagery in a format that is usable in a GIS environment. Improving upon the heritage of the NOAA AVHRR instruments, MODIS provides data with a wide spectral range, moderate spatial resolution (250m -1km), and near daily global coverage. Land products available through the MODIS download facility include surface reflectance, vegetation indices, and LAI/FPAR. The surface reflectance product (derived from MOD09A1) is provided as an eight-day average with 500-meter spatial resolution and includes seven spectral bands: three visible, one near infrared, and three middle infrared. These data allow users to create images of the earth similar to a photograph. The vegetation index product (derived from MOD13A1) is provided as a sixteen-day average with 500-meter spatial resolution and includes a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and an Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). These data are a measure of the amount of vegetation on the ground and provide a means of monitoring seasonal vegetation changes. The LAI/FPAR product (derived from MOD15A2) is provided as an eight-day average with 1000-meter resolution and includes Leaf Area Index and Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation. These data provide information about the amount of production of the vegetation on the ground. All products are derived from data provided through the EROS Data Center. 

To download data, users choose an area of interest with an online MapServer application. The data are downloaded in a raw binary format that may be used in several GIS packages and viewers. Users may also choose to download several vector layers, or create their own shape file, to overlay on the satellite imagery. Full instructions are provided with suggestions for creating interesting images with the downloaded data.