Name: MODIS/Terra Sea Ice Extent and IST Daily L3 Global 4km EASE-Grid Day, Version 4
Creator: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Keywords: ICE TEMPERATURE

MODIS/Terra Sea Ice Extent and IST Daily L3 Global 4km EASE-Grid Day, Version 4

Data set id:

MOD29E1D

DOI: 10.5067/OVXB40SCDKNU

Data Citation and Acknowledgment
As a condition of using these data, you must cite the use of this data set. Such a practice gives credit to data set producers and advances principles of transparency and reproducibility.

Hall, D. K. & Salomonson, V. V. (2000). MODIS/Terra Sea Ice Extent and IST Daily L3 Global 4km EASE-Grid Day. (MOD29E1D, Version 4). [Data Set]. Boulder, Colorado USA. National Snow and Ice Data Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/OVXB40SCDKNU. [describe subset used if applicable]. Date Accessed 09-24-2025.

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There is a more recent version of these data.

Overview

MODIS/Terra Sea Ice Extent and IST Daily L3 Global 4km EASE-Grid Day (MOD29E1D) contains the following fields: sea ice by reflectance and ice surface temperature (IST). Each data granule covers the entire globe with two separate arrays of 4321 x 4321 pixels: one for the Arctic and one for the Antarctic. Data extend from 15 September 2003 to present. The MODIS sea ice algorithm uses a Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) modified for sea ice to distinguish sea ice from open ocean based on reflective and thermal characteristics. The only data available for Version 4 (V004) is the Golden Month, which is a sample of V004 data covering the time period 29 August 2002 (day of year 241) through 7 October 2002 (day of year 280). The Golden Month is only available by special request by contacting NSIDC User Services. Please note that NSIDC now has a complete series of Version 6 data, which is the highest version number now available and represents the best quality of data.

Parameter(s):

ICE TEMPERATURE

Platform(s):

Terra

Sensor(s):

MODIS

Data Format(s):

HDF-EOS2

Temporal Coverage:

15 September 2003 to 2 January 2007

Temporal Resolution:

1 day

Spatial Resolution:

4 km

4 km

Spatial Reference System(s):

Not Specified

Spatial Coverage:

N:
90
S:
-90
E:
180
W:
-180

Blue outlined yellow areas on the map below indicate the spatial coverage for this data set.

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Data Access & Tools

This data set has been retired. There is a more recent version of these data.

Help Articles

General Questions & FAQs

Can I merge different MODIS collections?

For the snow cover and sea ice products, users can use MODIS Collections 6 and 6.1 together.

This article covers frequently asked questions about the NASA NSIDC DAAC's Earthdata cloud migration project and what it means to data users.

Data products from VIIRS are created to be similar to MODIS data products to ensure the continuity needed for the development of snow and sea ice climate records beyond the life expectancy of MODIS. The temporal resolution and spatial extent are identical in MODIS and VIIRS.

Missing and delayed MODIS data

The lag time between observations and availability of MODIS products is only a few days. Lag time may be extended due to satellite maneuvers and extra quality assurance required for the geolocation data after the maneuver.

The NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) is migrating its primary data access from its legacy, on-premises archive to the NASA Earthdata Cloud.

How to Articles

Filter and order from a data set web page using the Data Access Tool

Many NSIDC DAAC data sets can be accessed using NSIDC DAAC's Data Access Tool. This tool provides the ability to search and filter data with spatial and temporal constraints using a map-based interface.Users have the option to:

NASA Earthdata Cloud Data Access Guide

The NASA Earthdata Cloud is the NASA cloud-based archive of Earth observations. It is hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Learn how to find and access NSIDC DAAC data directly in the cloud.

Programmatic Data Access Guide

All data from the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC) is directly accessible through our HTTPS file system using Wget or curl. This article provides basic command line instructions for accessing data using this method.

This article highlights the NSIDC DAAC data sets available with customization options and outlines a workflow for searching, ordering, and customizing data in NASA Earthdata Search. This approach is ideal for users who want to download data to their local machine.