Land Surface Data Access and Tools

NASA data provide key measurements of Earth’s land, allowing researchers to accurately understand its composition, processes, uses, and interactions. Our datasets and tools help researchers translate these interconnected data points into actionable knowledge.

Dataset	Geographic Region	Temporal Extent	Data Format	Potential Application Areas	Related Subtopics
ALOS PALSAR High Resolution Radiometric Terrain Corrected Product	Global	2006-03-23 to 2011-04-22		High-precision forest structure and biomass estimation Detailed wetland classification and monitoring Fine-scale surface deformation detection Terrain analysis in densely vegetated regions Resource exploration and geological mapping	erosion/ sedimentation, geomorphic landforms and processes, land use/ land cover, topography
ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Level 1 ScanSAR Product	Global	2014-08-01 to Present		Wide-area monitoring of land surface changes Regional vegetation and forest monitoring Large wetland area mapping and monitoring Continental-scale land use change detection Regional soil moisture assessment	geomorphic landforms and processes, land use/ land cover, topography
ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003	Global Land	2000-03-01 to 2013-11-30	Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG)	Detailed topographic analysis 3D visualization of landscapes Geological feature extraction Slope stability assessment	topography
ECOSTRESS Tiled Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Instantaneous L2 Global 70 m	Global Land	2018-07-09 to Present	Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG)	High-resolution urban heat island analysis Plant water stress monitoring	surface radiative properties, surface thermal properties
EMIT L2A Estimated Surface Reflectance and Uncertainty and Masks 60 m	Global Land	2022-08-09 to Present	NetCDF-4	Surface mineralogy mapping Geological exploration and resource assessment Soil composition analysis Environmental impact assessment Critical mineral identification Spectral library development for earth materials	land use/ land cover, soils
GEDI L2A Elevation and Height Metrics Data Global Footprint Level V002	Global Land	2019-04-04 to 2023-03-16 2024-04-04 to Present	HDF5	Terrain model refinement under vegetation	topography
Global Hydrologic Soil Groups (HYSOGs250m) for Curve Number-Based Runoff Modeling	Global	2017-01-01 to 2017-11-28	GeoTIFF	Erosion potential mapping	land use/ land cover, soils
HLS Landsat Operational Land Imager Surface Reflectance and TOA Brightness Daily Global 30m v2.0	Global	2013-04-11 to Present	Cloud Optimized GeoTiff (COG)	Land cover and land use change monitoring Harmonized time series analysis with Sentinel-2	land use/ land cover, surface radiative properties
MAIAC Daily V01	Global	2015-06-13 to Present	PNG	Land cover and land use change analysis through improved atmospheric correction	land use/ land cover
MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Daily L3 Global 1 km SIN Grid	Global	2000-02-24 to Present	HDF-EOS2	Regional thermal environment monitoring Urban heat island effect studies Climate model validation for land surface processes Land surface process energy balance studies	surface radiative properties, surface thermal properties
MODIS/Terra Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 250m SIN Grid V061	Global	2000-02-24 to Present	HDF-EOS2	Land cover change detection Time series analysis of surface conditions	land use/ land cover, surface radiative properties
NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Global 1 arc second V003	Global Land	2000-02-11 to 2000-02-21	HGT	Global terrain mapping and analysis Geomorphological research Land use planning in variable terrain Erosion potential modeling	land use/ land cover, topography
OPERA Radiometric Terrain Corrected SAR Backscatter from Sentinel-1 Static Layers validated product (Version 1)	Global	2014-04-03 to Present	GeoTIFF XML	Long-term land cover monitoring with consistent reference layers Base mapping for change detection applications Terrain-corrected imagery for accurate spatial analysis Reference data for calibration of other SAR products Foundation for machine learning training datasets Consistent backdrop for time-series analysis	geomorphic landforms and processes, land use/ land cover,
SENTINEL-1A_SLC	Global	2014-04-03 to Present		Interferometric analysis for surface deformation detection Coherence-based change detection Polarimetric analysis for target characterization Phase-based classification of land cover Development of advanced SAR processing algorithms Time-series analysis for subtle change detection	erosion/ sedimentation, geomorphic landforms and processes, land use/ land cover, landscapes, topography
SENTINEL-1B_SLC	Global	2016-04-25 to 2021-12-24		High-resolution deformation mapping with interferometry Coherence analysis for subtle change detection Polarimetric target characterization Complex coherence analysis for vegetation structure Time-series analysis for seasonal change patterns	erosion/ sedimentation, geomorphic landforms and processes, land use/ land cover, landscapes, topography
Sentinel-1C Dual Polarization High Resolution Ground Range Detected Product	Global	2025-01-01 to Present	SAFE	Urban change detection and development monitoring Land cover classification with improved feature distinction	erosion/ sedimentation, geomorphic landforms and processes, land use/ land cover, topography
VIIRS/JPSS1 Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Daily L3 Global 1km SIN Grid Day V002	Global	2018-01-01 to Present	HDF-EOS5	Surface thermal condition monitoring Climate change impact studies on land surface Thermal anomaly detection Ground frost mapping and monitoring	surface radiative properties, surface thermal properties
VIIRS/NPP Moderate Resolution 6-Min L1B Swath 750 m	Global	2021-12-15 to Present	HDF5 NetCDF-4	Multispectral environmental monitoring Land surface characterization Input for higher-level algorithms Vegetation monitoring Surface temperature retrieval input	land use/ land cover, surface thermal properties

Land Surface Datasets

View All Datasets

Filters

Dataset Sort descending	Version	Platform	Instrument	Temporal Extent	Spatial Extent	Spatial Resolution	Data Format
FLDAS Noah Land Surface Model L4 Global Monthly Anomaly 0.1 x 0.1 degree (MERRA-2 and CHIRPS) V001 (FLDAS_NOAH01_C_GL_MA) at GES DISC	001	Noah-LSM	NOT APPLICABLE	1982-01-01 to Present	N: 90 S: -60 E: 180 W: -180	0.1 Decimal Degrees x 0.1 Decimal Degrees
FLDAS Noah Land Surface Model L4 Global Monthly Climatology 0.1 x 0.1 degree (MERRA-2 and CHIRPS) V001 (FLDAS_NOAH01_C_GL_MC) at GES DISC	001	Noah-LSM	NOT APPLICABLE	1982-01-01 to 2016-12-31	N: 90 S: -60 E: 180 W: -180	0.1 Decimal Degrees x 0.1 Decimal Degrees
FLDAS2 Noah-MP GDAS Land Surface Model L4 Central Asia Daily 0.01 degree x 0.01 degree V001 (FLDAS_NOAHMP001_G_CA_D)	001	Noah-LSM	NOT APPLICABLE	2000-10-01 to Present	N: 56 S: 21 E: 100 W: 30	0.01 Decimal Degrees x 0.01 Decimal Degrees
FLUXNET Canada Research Network - Canadian Carbon Program Data Collection, 1993-2014	1	METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS, FIELD SURVEYS	PYRANOMETERS, ANEMOMETERS, RAIN GAUGES, THERMOCOUPLES, THERMOMETERS, THERMISTORS, STEEL MEASURING TAPE, CO2 ANALYZERS, PROBES	1993-01-01 to 2014-12-31	N: 55.88 S: 42.6609 E: -67.0993 W: -125.334		CSV
FLUXNET Marconi Conference Gap-Filled Flux and Meteorology Data, 1992-2000	1	METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS, FIXED OBSERVATION STATIONS, FIELD INVESTIGATION	LICOR QUANTUM SENSOR, THERMOMETERS, ANEMOMETERS, PYRANOMETERS, EDDY CORRELATION DEVICES, THERMISTORS	1992-01-01 to 2000-12-31	N: 70.4696 S: -2.6091 E: 24.295 W: -157.409		multiple
FLUXNET Research Network Site Characteristics, Investigators, and Bibliography, 2016	1	GROUND STATIONS, GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS	ANEMOMETERS, RAIN GAUGES, THERMOMETERS	1991-01-01 to 2016-12-31	N: 78.921 S: -62.2321 E: 175.554 W: -157.409		CSV
Forest Aboveground Biomass and Carbon Sequestration Potential, Northeastern USA	1	MODELS	Computer	2011-01-01 to 2011-12-31	N: 49.0223 S: 36.8038 E: -66.0584 W: -81.2256		GeoTIFF
Forest Aboveground Biomass for the Southwestern U.S. from MISR, 2000-2021	1	Terra	MISR	2000-05-15 to 2021-06-30	N: 46.2812 S: 28.599 E: -99.0185 W: -126.18		GeoTIFF
Forest Carbon Stocks and Fluxes from the NFCMS, Conterminous USA, 1990-2010	2	MODELS	Computer	1986-01-01 to 2010-12-31	N: 50.366 S: 23.1873 E: -65.7307 W: -127.686		GeoTIFF
Forest-BGC Model (OTTER)	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1990-01-01 to 1990-12-31	N: 45.07 S: 44.38 E: -121.68 W: -123.95		multiple
Full Resolution Full Swath Geolocated and Calibrated TOA Radiance	4	ENVISAT	MERIS	2002-05-17 to 2012-04-08	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF-4
Full Resolution Full Swath Geophysical Product for Ocean, Land and Atmosphere	4	ENVISAT	MERIS	2003-01-01 to 2012-04-08	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		netCDF4-zipped
Gamma Ray Data: Peck (FIFE)	1	AC-500S	GAMMA RADIATION DETECTOR	1987-06-03 to 1989-08-10	N: 39.12 S: 38.97 E: -96.48 W: -96.62		ASCII
GEDI L1B Geolocated Waveform Data Global Footprint Level V001	001	ISS	GEDI	2019-04-18 to 2020-09-03	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	25 Meters x 25 Meters	HDF5
GEDI L1B Geolocated Waveform Data Global Footprint Level V002	002	ISS	GEDI	2019-04-04 to 2023-03-16, 2024-04-26 to 2025-07-10	N: 54 S: -54 E: 180 W: -180	25 Meters x 25 Meters	HDF5
GEDI L2A Elevation and Height Metrics Data Global Footprint Level V001	001	ISS	GEDI	2019-04-18 to 2020-09-03	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	25 Meters x 25 Meters	HDF5
GEDI L2A Elevation and Height Metrics Data Global Footprint Level V002	002	ISS	GEDI	2019-04-04 to 2023-03-16, 2024-04-26 to 2025-07-10	N: 54 S: -54 E: 180 W: -180	25 Meters x 25 Meters	HDF5
GEDI L2B Canopy Cover and Vertical Profile Metrics Data Global Footprint Level V001	001	ISS	GEDI	2019-04-18 to 2020-09-03	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	25 Meters x 25 Meters	HDF5
GEDI L2B Canopy Cover and Vertical Profile Metrics Data Global Footprint Level V002	002	ISS	GEDI	2019-04-04 to 2023-03-16, 2024-04-26 to 2025-07-10	N: 54 S: -54 E: 180 W: -180	25 Meters x 25 Meters	HDF5
GEDI L3 Gridded Land Surface Metrics, Version 1	1	MODELS, ISS	Computer, GEDI	2019-04-18 to 2020-04-15	N: 52 S: -52 E: 180 W: -180		binary
GEDI L3 Gridded Land Surface Metrics, Version 2	2	ISS, MODELS	GEDI, Computer	2019-04-18 to 2025-07-09	N: 52 S: -52 E: 180 W: -180		multiple
Geobotanical and Impact Map Collection for Prudhoe Bay Oilfield, Alaska, 1972-2010	1	FIELD SURVEYS, FIELD INVESTIGATION, LANDSAT		1949-01-01 to 2010-07-31	N: 71.0271 S: 69.9702 E: -146.974 W: -150.167		multiple
GeoCryoAI: Ensemble Learning and the Permafrost Carbon Feedback in Alaska, 1963-2022	1	COMPUTERS	Computer	1960-01-01 to 2022-12-31	N: 72 S: 54 E: -134.776 W: -170		TAR
Geoecology: County-Level Environmental Data for the United States, 1941-1981	1	COMPUTERS	Computer	1941-01-01 to 1981-12-31	N: 49.3844 S: 24.4981 E: -66.9499 W: -124.763		Text File
Geospatial Data for Modeling Soil Carbon Stocks across Pacific Northwest Watersheds	1	Sentinel-2A, MODELS, FIELD SURVEYS	Sentinel-2 MSI, Computer, SURVEYING TOOLS	2012-01-01 to 2022-12-31	N: 58.7242 S: 46.7725 E: -118.086 W: -134.983		multiple

Frequently Asked Questions

Earthdata Forum

Our online forum provides a space for users to browse thousands of FAQs about research needs, data, and data applications. You can also submit new questions for our experts to answer.

Submit Questions to Earthdata Forumand View Expert Responses

Land Surface Data Access and Tools

Commonly Used Datasets for Land Surface Applications

Land Surface Datasets

Land Surface Data Tools

Earthdata Forum

EarthdataForum

Earthdata
Forum