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

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Dataset Sort descending	Version	Platform	Instrument	Temporal Extent	Spatial Extent	Spatial Resolution	Data Format
Topographic and Soil Carbon Reconstructions in Agricultural Fields, Iowa	1	COMPUTERS	Computer	1859-08-01 to 2019-08-01	N: 43.0457 S: 43.0385 E: -94.3211 W: -94.3345		GeoTIFF
TOVS GLA 5 DAY GRIDS from NOAA-10 V01 (TOVSA5NG) at GES DISC	01	NOAA-12	TOVS, MSU, HIRS/2	1986-11-26 to 1991-08-29	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
TOVS GLA 5 DAY GRIDS from NOAA-11 V01 (TOVSA5NH) at GES DISC	01	NOAA-11	HIRS/2, MSU, TOVS	1988-10-12 to 1994-06-30	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
TOVS GLA 5 DAY GRIDS from NOAA-12 V01 (TOVSA5ND) at GES DISC	01	NOAA-12	TOVS, MSU, HIRS/2	1991-07-04 to 1994-06-30	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
TOVS GLA 5 DAY GRIDS from NOAA-9 V01 (TOVSA5NF) at GES DISC	01	NOAA-9	TOVS, MSU, HIRS/2	1984-12-31 to 1987-01-01	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
TOVS GLA 5 DAY GRIDS from TIROSN V01 (TOVSA5TN ) at GES DISC	01	TIROS-N	HIRS/2, MSU, TOVS	1978-12-01 to 1979-06-30	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
TOVS GLA DAILY GRIDS from NOAA-12 V01 (TOVSADND) at GES DISC	01	NOAA-12	HIRS/2, MSU, TOVS	1991-07-04 to 1994-07-01	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
TOVS GLA DAILY GRIDS from TIROSN V01 (TOVSADTN) at GES DISC	01	TIROS-N	HIRS/2, MSU, TOVS	1978-11-29 to 1979-07-01	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
TOVS GLA MONTHLY GRIDS from NOAA-10 V01 (TOVSAMNG) at GES DISC	01	NOAA-10	HIRS/2, MSU, TOVS	1986-11-30 to 1991-09-01	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
TOVS GLA MONTHLY GRIDS from NOAA-11 V01 (TOVSAMNH) at GES DISC	01	NOAA-11	HIRS/2, MSU, TOVS	1988-10-31 to 1994-07-01	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Trends of Thermal, Wetness, and Vegetative Change in the Circumpolar Arctic	1	COMPUTERS	Computer	1980-01-01 to 2020-12-31	N: 90 S: 30 E: 180 W: -180		multiple
Tundra Plant Reflectance, CO2 Exchange, PAM Fluorometry, and Pigments, AK, 2001-2002	1	FIELD SURVEYS	FLUOROMETERS, INFRARED THERMOMETERS, SPECTROMETERS	2001-06-08 to 2002-08-16	N: 71.32 S: 70.453 E: -156.598 W: -157.407		CSV
UCAR-CU CYGNSS Level 3 Soil Moisture Version 1.0	1.0	CYGNSS	DDMI	2017-03-18	N: 38 S: -38 E: 164 W: -135	0.37 Decimal Degrees x 0.3 Decimal Degrees	netCDF-4
Urban Biogenic CO2 fluxes: GPP, Reco and NEE Estimates from SMUrF, 2010-2019	1	MODELS, SATELLITES	Computer, MODIS	2010-01-01 to 2019-12-31	N: 60 S: -40 E: 155 W: -125		netCDF-4 classic
Urban Land Cover Maps for Mekelle, Ethiopia and Polokwane, South Africa, 2020	1	PlanetScope, WORLDVIEW-3	PSB.SD, WV110	2020-01-01 to 2020-12-31	N: 13.5692 S: -23.9404 E: 39.5708 W: 29.3151		multiple
Urban Landsat: Cities from Space	1.00	LANDSAT-5, LANDSAT-7	TM, ETM+	1999-01-01 to 2003-12-31	N: 90 S: -55 E: 180 W: -180		PDF, PNG
U.S. EPA National Priorities List (NPL) Sites Point Data with CIESIN Modifications, Version 2	2.0	MODELS	Computer	2014-02-27	N: 64.823 S: -14.3601 E: 151.78372 W: -176.6525		Excel, PNG, PDF, WMS
Vegetation and Open Water High-Resolution Maps for Selected US Tidal Marshes, 2015	1	LANDSAT-7, LANDSAT-8, AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS, LANDSAT-5	ETM+, OLI, CAMERA, TMS	2013-09-25 to 2015-08-27	N: 47.1174 S: 24.9166 E: -69.9267 W: -122.733		Shapefile
VEMAP 1: Georeferencing	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1961-01-01 to 1990-12-31	N: 49 S: 25 E: -67 W: -124.5		Text File
VEMAP 1: Model Input Database CD-ROM ISO Image	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1895-01-01 to 1993-12-31	N: 49 S: 25 E: -67 W: -124.5		multiple
VEMAP 1: Selected Model Results	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	2000-01-01 to 2000-12-31	N: 50 S: 26 E: -66 W: -124		multiple
VEMAP 1: U.S. Soil	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1961-01-01 to 1990-12-31	N: 49 S: 25 E: -67 W: -124.5		Text File
VEMAP 2: Annual Ecosystem Model Responses to U.S. Climate Change, 1994-2100	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1994-01-01 to 2100-12-31	N: 50 S: 26 E: -66 W: -124		netCDF-3
VEMAP 2: Monthly Ecosystem Model Responses to U.S. Climate Change, 1994-2100	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	1994-01-01 to 2100-12-31	N: 50 S: 26 E: -66 W: -124		netCDF-3
VIIRS (NOAA 21) I Band 375 m Active Fire Product NRT (Vector data)	1	NOAA-21	VIIRS	2016-01-01	N: 80 S: -80 E: 180 W: -180	375 Meters x 375 Meters	TXT, SHP, KML, WMS, as FIRMS email alerts

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Land Surface Data Access and Tools

Commonly Used Datasets for Land Surface Applications

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