We are in the process of migrating all NASA Earth science data sites into Earthdata from now until end of 2026. Not all NASA Earth science data and resources will appear here until then. Thank you for your patience as we make this transition.Read about the Web Unification Project
Description
The MOD11B3 Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MOD11B3 Version 6.1 data product.
The MOD11B3 Version 6 product provides average monthly per pixel Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) in a 1,200 by 1,200 kilometer (km) tile with a pixel size of 5,600 meters (m). Each LST&E pixel value in the MOD11B3 is a simple average of all the corresponding values from the MOD11B1 collected during the month period. Each MOD11B3 granule consists of 19 layers including daytime and nighttime layers for LSTs, quality control assessments, observation times, view zenith angles, and number of clear sky observations along with percentage of land in the tile and emissivities from bands 20, 22, 23, 29, 31, and 32. Unique to the MOD11B products are additional day and night LST layers generated from band 31 of the corresponding 1 km MOD11_L2 swath product aggregated to the 6 km grid.
Known Issues
Production of V6 Terra MODIS Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) data products was discontinued on November 16, 2022, due to significant loss of data retrieval following the Constellation Exit Maneuvers.
The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6 land surface temperature and emissivity data products: (1) Removed cloud-contaminated LSTs from Level 2 and Level 3 LST products, (2) Updated the coefficient look-up table (LUT) for the split-window algorithm with comprehensive regression analysis of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) simulation data in bands 31 and 32 over wide ranges of surface and atmospheric conditions, especially extending the upper boundary for (LST – Ts-air) in arid and semi-arid regions. Increased the overlap between various sub-ranges to reduce the sensitivity of the algorithm to uncertainties in the input data (i.e., column water vapor and air surface temperature from MOD07), (3) Made minor adjustments in the classification-based surface emissivity values, especially for bare soil and rocks land cover types, (4) Tuned the day/night algorithm by adjusting weights to improve performance in desert regions where the incorporated split-window algorithm may not work well, and (5) Generated new gridded LST&E products with a 6 km spatial resolution for 8-day (MOD11B2) and monthly (MOD11B3) intervals in response to user community requests.
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
,
MODIS Adaptive Processing System, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/MODAPS)
Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.
Copy Citation
Citation Copied
Wan, Z., Hook, S., & Hulley, G. (2015). MOD11B3 MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Monthly L3 Global 6km SIN Grid V006 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD11B3.006 Date Accessed: 2026-04-30
Wan, Zhengming, Simon Hook, and Glynn Hulley. “MOD11B3 MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Monthly L3 Global 6km SIN Grid V006.” NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015. doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD11B3.006. Date Accessed: 2026-04-30
Wan, Zhengming, et al. MOD11B3 MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Monthly L3 Global 6km SIN Grid V006. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015, doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD11B3.006. Date Accessed: 2026-04-30
File Naming Convention
MOD11B3.A2002245.h16v12.006.2015151020403.hdf
The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD11B3) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002245), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h16v12), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015151020403), and the Data Format (hdf).
Learn how to access improved Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Surface Temperature data via Earthdata Search, covering product details and download steps.
Learn how to interpret Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Surface Temperature data quality information, including decoding binary quality layers and utilizing tools for data analysis.
Volpato, Maristela, Andrade, Caio F., Silva, Elton L., Barbosa, Maria L., Andrade, Melina D., Rocha, Pedro. V., Delgado, Rafael C., Teodoro, Paulo E., Silva, Carlos A., Pereira, Marcos G.
Mascarenhas, Rilquer, Ruziska, Flavia M., Moreira, Eduardo Freitas, Campos, Amanda B., Loiola, Miguel, Reis, Kaike, Trindade-Silva, Amaro E., Barbosa, Felipe A. S., Salles, Lucas, Menezes, Rafael, Veiga, Rafael, Coutinho, Felipe H., Dutilh, Bas E., Guimaraes, Paulo R., Assis, Ana Paula A., Ara, Anderson, Miranda, Jose G. V., Andrade, Roberto F. S., Vilela, Bruno, Meirelles, Pedro Milet
Moura, Marks Melo, dos Santos, Alexandre Rosa, Pezzopane, Jose Eduardo Macedo, Alexandre, Rodrigo Sobreira, da Silva, Samuel Ferreira, Pimentel, Stefania Marques, de Andrade, Maria Sueliane Santos, Silva, Felipe Gimenes Rodrigues, Branco, Elvis Ricardo Figueira, Moreira, Tais Rizzo, da Silva, Rosane Gomes, de Carvalho, Jose Romario
The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this
dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements
collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on
satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and
model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band
have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the
designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR).
Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill
Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze
the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables.
Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data,
user guide, and/or other product documentation.
For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.
