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
ASTER L2 Surface Reflectance VNIR and Crosstalk Corrected SWIR V003	003	Terra	ASTER	2000-03-06 to 2025-12-15	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	15 Meters x 15 Meters 30 Meters x 30 Meters	HDF-EOS2, GeoTIFF
ASTER L2 Surface Reflectance VNIR and Crosstalk Corrected SWIR V004	004	Terra	ASTER	2000-03-06 to Present	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	15 Meters x 15 Meters 30 Meters x 30 Meters	COG
ASTER L2 Surface Reflectance VNIR and SWIR V004	004	Terra	ASTER	2000-03-06 to Present	N: 83 S: -83 E: 180 W: -180	15 Meters x 15 Meters 30 Meters x 30 Meters	COG
ASTER L2 Surface Temperature V003	003	Terra	ASTER	2000-03-04 to 2025-12-15	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180	90 Meters x 90 Meters	HDF-EOS2, GeoTIFF
ASTER Orthorectified Digital Elevation Model (DEM) V003	003	Terra	ASTER	2000-03-06 to 2025-12-15	N: 83 S: -83 E: 180 W: -180	15 Meters x 15 Meters 30 Meters x 30 Meters 90 Meters x 90 Meters	GeoTIFF
ASTER Registered Radiance at the Sensor - Orthorectified V003	003	Terra	ASTER	2000-03-06 to 2025-12-15	N: 83 S: -83 E: 180 W: -180		GeoTIFF
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L2A Global Geolocated Photon Data V007	007	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-13 to Present	N: 88 S: -88 E: 180 W: -180	0.7 Meters x 0.7 Meters	HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Land and Vegetation Height Quick Look V007	007	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2025-12-15 to Present	N: 88 S: -88 E: 180 W: -180		HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3A Land and Vegetation Height V007	007	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-14 to Present	N: 88 S: -88 E: 180 W: -180		HDF5
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Mission Composite Gridded Terrain and Canopy Elevation Parameters V001	001	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-01 to Present	N: 90 S: -70 E: 180 W: -180	1 Kilometers x 1 Kilometers	COG
ATLAS/ICESat-2 L3B Monthly Gridded Terrain and Canopy Elevation Parameters V001	001	ICESat-2	ATLAS	2018-10-01 to Present	N: 90 S: -70 E: 180 W: -180	1 Kilometers x 1 Kilometers	COG
ATSDR Hazardous Waste Site Polygon Data, Version 2	2.0	MODELS	Computer	2010-05-26	N: 68.36338 S: 13.433567 E: 144.763215 W: -176.631973		Shapefile, WMS, PDF, PNG
ATSDR Hazardous Waste Site Polygon Data with CIESIN Modifications, Version 2	2.00	MODELS	Computer	2010-05-26	N: 64.835175 S: 17.958101 E: -65.764755 W: -176.631973		Shapefile, WMS, PDF, PNG
AVIRIS-3 L2A Orthocorrected Surface Reflectance, Facility Instrument Collection	1	B-200	AVIRIS-3	2023-07-05 to Present	N: 72.6 S: 16.5 E: -66.18 W: -178.68		multiple
AVIRIS-Classic: L2 Calibrated Reflectance, Facility Instrument Collection, V1	1	NOAA Twin Otter, NASA ER-2, NASA WB-57F	AVIRIS	2008-06-11 to Present	N: 48.6945 S: 18.5747 E: -81.0205 W: -171.842		multiple
AVIRIS-NG L2 Surface Reflectance, Facility Instrument Collection, V1	1	NOAA Twin Otter, NASA ER-2, DHC-6, B-200	AVIRIS-NG	2014-06-21 to Present	N: 84.356 S: 9.19806 E: 88.8094 W: -166.652		ENVI
AVUELO AVIRIS-3 Orthocorrected Surface Reflectance (provisional calibration)	1	King Air	AVIRIS-3	2025-02-06 to 2025-02-28	N: 10.9103 S: 7.14833 E: -79.3211 W: -85.7053		netCDF-4
Baseline Wetland Type and Land Cover Map of the Great Lakes Basin, 2010	1	LANDSAT-5, COMPUTERS, ALOS	TM, Computer, PALSAR	2007-04-01 to 2011-04-15	N: 52.5534 S: 38.712 E: -71.5681 W: -97.2815		multiple
BDSNP Module for Improved Soil NO Emission Estimates for CMAQ Model, Conterminous USA	1	MODELS	Computer	1950-01-01 to 2016-11-16	N: 51.76 S: 22.75 E: -65 W: -129.79		netCDF-3
BigFoot Land Cover Surfaces for North and South American Sites, 2000-2003	1	LANDSAT-7	ETM+	2000-01-01 to 2003-12-31	N: 71.2719 S: -2.86 E: -54.96 W: -156.613		Shapefile
Biome-BGC: Modeling Effects of Disturbance and Climate (Thornton et al. 2002)	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	2002-12-02 to 2002-12-02	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		multiple
Biome-BGC: Terrestrial Ecosystem Process Model, Version 4.1.1	1	NOT APPLICABLE	NOT APPLICABLE	2000-07-05 to 2000-07-05	N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180		multiple
BioSCape: AVIRIS-NG L2B Enhanced Surface Reflectance	1	G-III	AVIRIS-NG	2023-10-22 to 2023-11-26	N: -31.2347 S: -34.9172 E: 26.2556 W: 17.7847		multiple
BioSCape: AVIRIS-NG L3 Resampled Reflectance Mosaics, V2	2	G-III	AVIRIS-NG	2023-10-22 to 2023-11-26	N: -31.1561 S: -35.0059 E: 26.3231 W: 17.624		multiple
BOREAS AFM-01 NOAA/ATDD Long-EZ Aircraft Flux Data over the SSA	1	Airplane	THERMISTORS, NET RADIOMETERS, LICOR QUANTUM SENSOR, INFRARED THERMOMETERS, GUST PROBES, IRGA, PRESSURE SENSORS	1994-05-25 to 1994-09-15	N: 54.32 S: 53.42 E: -104.24 W: -106.32		ASCII

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Land Surface Data Access and Tools

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