![MODIS/061/MOD21C1](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/images/MODIS/MODIS_061_MOD21C1_sample.png)

Dataset Availability
:   2000-02-24T00:00:00Z--2026-11-09T00:00:00Z

Dataset Producer
:


    [NASA LP DAAC at the USGS EROS Center](https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD21C1.061)

Cadence
:   1 Day

Tags
:
    [daily](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/tags/daily.md.txt) [emissivity](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/tags/emissivity.md.txt) [global](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/tags/global.md.txt) [lst](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/tags/lst.md.txt) [nasa](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/tags/nasa.md.txt) [surface-temperature](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/tags/surface-temperature.md.txt) [terra](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/tags/terra.md.txt) [usgs](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/tags/usgs.md.txt) [weather-and-climate](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/tags/weather-and-climate.md.txt)

#### Description

The MOD21C1 dataset is produced daily in a 0.05 degree (5,600 meters at the
equator) Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) from daytime Level 2 Gridded (L2G)
intermediate LST products. The L2G process maps the daily MOD21 swath
granules onto a sinusoidal MODIS grid and stores all observations falling
over a gridded cell for a given day. The MOD21C1 algorithm sorts through
these observations for each cell and estimates the final LST value as an
average from all observations that are cloud free and have good LST\&E
accuracies. The daytime average is weighted by the observation coverage for
that cell. Only observations having an observation coverage greater than a
15% threshold are considered. The MOD21C1 product contains the calculated
LST as well as quality control, the three emissivity bands, view zenith
angle, and time of observation.

Note that scale factors and offsets described in the MODIS documentation
for MOD21C1 bands are already applied to assets ingested into Earth
Engine.

Documentation:

- [User's Guide](https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/documents/1398/MOD21_User_Guide_V61.pdf)

- [Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD)](https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/documents/1399/MOD21_ATBD.pdf)

- [General Documentation](https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/filespec/MODIS/61/MOD21C1)

### Bands

**Bands**

Pixel size: 5566 meters (all bands)

| Name | Units | Min | Max | Scale | Offset | Pixel Size | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `Count_Day` |   | 1 | 65535 |   |   | 5566 meters | Count of Daytime Input Values |
| `Count_Night` |   | 1 | 65535 |   |   | 5566 meters | Count of Nighttime Input Values |
| `QC_Day` |   |   |   |   |   | 5566 meters | Quality Control for Daytime LST and Emissivity |
| Bitmask for QC_Day - Bits 0-1: Mandatory QA flags - 0: Pixel produced, good quality, no further QA info necessary - 1: Pixel produced, nominal quality. Recommend more detailed analysis of other QC information - 2: Pixel not produced due to cloud - 3: Pixel not produced due to reasons other than cloud - Bits 2-3: Data quality flag - 0: Good data quality of L1B bands 29, 31, 32 - 1: Missing pixel - 2: Fairly calibrated - 3: Poorly calibrated, TES processing skipped - Bits 4-5: Emissivity accuracy - 0: 0.02 (Poor performance) - 1: 0.015 - 0.02 (Marginal performance) - 2: 0.01 - 0.015 (Good performance) - 3: \<0.01 (Excellent performance) - Bits 6-7: LST accuracy - 0: 2K (Poor performance) - 1: 1.5 - 2K (Marginal performance) - 2: 1 - 1.5K (Good performance) - 3: \<1K (Excellent performance) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| `QC_Night` |   |   |   |   |   | 5566 meters | Quality Control for Nighttime LST and Emissivity |
| Bitmask for QC_Night - Bits 0-1: Mandatory QA flags - 0: Pixel produced, good quality, no further QA info necessary - 1: Pixel produced, nominal quality. Recommend more detailed analysis of other QC information - 2: Pixel not produced due to cloud - 3: Pixel not produced due to reasons other than cloud - Bits 2-3: Data quality flag - 0: Good data quality of L1B bands 29, 31, 32 - 1: Missing pixel - 2: Fairly calibrated - 3: Poorly calibrated, TES processing skipped - Bits 4-5: Emissivity accuracy - 0: 0.02 (Poor performance) - 1: 0.015 - 0.02 (Marginal performance) - 2: 0.01 - 0.015 (Good performance) - 3: \<0.01 (Excellent performance) - Bits 6-7: LST accuracy - 0: 2K (Poor performance) - 1: 1.5 - 2K (Marginal performance) - 2: 1 - 1.5K (Good performance) - 3: \<1K (Excellent performance) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| `LST_Day` | K | 7500 | 65535 | 0.02 |   | 5566 meters | Average Daytime Land Surface Temperature |
| `LST_Night` | K | 7500 | 65535 | 0.02 |   | 5566 meters | Average Nighttime Land Surface Temperature |
| `LST_Day_err` | K | 1 | 255 | 0.04 |   | 5566 meters | Root-mean-square-error Daytime Land Surface Temperature |
| `LST_Night_err` | K | 1 | 255 | 0.04 |   | 5566 meters | Average Nighttime Land Surface Temperature |
| `Day_view_angle` | deg | 0 | 130 |   | -65 | 5566 meters | Average Daytime View Zenith Angle |
| `Night_view_angle` | deg | 0 | 130 |   | -65 | 5566 meters | Average Nighttime View Zenith Angle |
| `Day_view_time` | h | 0 | 120 | 0.2 |   | 5566 meters | Average Daytime View Time (UTC) |
| `Night_view_time` | h | 0 | 120 | 0.2 |   | 5566 meters | Average Nighttime View Time (UTC) |
| `Emis_29_Day` |   | 1 | 255 | 0.002 | 0.49 | 5566 meters | Average Daytime Band 29 Emissivity |
| `Emis_29_Night` |   | 1 | 255 | 0.002 | 0.49 | 5566 meters | Average Nighttime Band 29 Emissivity |
| `Emis_29_Day_err` |   | 1 | 65535 | 0.0001 |   | 5566 meters | Root-mean-square-error Daytime Band 29 Emissivity |
| `Emis_29_Night_err` |   | 1 | 65535 | 0.0001 |   | 5566 meters | Root-mean-square-error Nighttime Band 29 Emissivity |
| `Emis_31_Day` |   | 1 | 255 | 0.002 | 0.49 | 5566 meters | Average Daytime Band 31 Emissivity |
| `Emis_31_Night` |   | 1 | 255 | 0.002 | 0.49 | 5566 meters | Average Nighttime Band 31 Emissivity |
| `Emis_31_Day_err` |   | 1 | 65535 | 0.0001 |   | 5566 meters | Root-mean-square-error Daytime Band 31 Emissivity |
| `Emis_31_Night_err` |   | 1 | 65535 | 0.0001 |   | 5566 meters | Root-mean-square-error Nighttime Band 31 Emissivity |
| `Emis_32_Day` |   | 1 | 255 | 0.002 | 0.49 | 5566 meters | Average Daytime Band 32 Emissivity |
| `Emis_32_Night` |   | 1 | 255 | 0.002 | 0.49 | 5566 meters | Average Nighttime Band 32 Emissivity |
| `Emis_32_Day_err` |   | 1 | 65535 | 0.0001 |   | 5566 meters | Root-mean-square-error Daytime Band 32 Emissivity |
| `Emis_32_Night_err` |   | 1 | 65535 | 0.0001 |   | 5566 meters | Root-mean-square-error Nighttime Band 32 Emissivity |
| `View_Angle` | deg |   |   |   | -65 | 5566 meters | MODIS view zenith angle |
| `Percent_land_in_grid` | % | 1 | 100 |   |   | 5566 meters | Percent of Land Detections in Grid Cell |

### Terms of Use

**Terms of Use**

MODIS data and products acquired through the LP DAAC
have no restrictions on subsequent use, sale, or redistribution.

### Citations

Citations:

- Please visit [LP DAAC 'Citing Our Data' page](https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/citing_our_data)
  for information on citing LP DAAC datasets.

### DOIs

- <https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD21C1.061>

### Explore with Earth Engine

> [!NOTE]
> **Important:** Earth Engine is a platform for petabyte-scale scientific analysis and visualization of geospatial datasets, both for public benefit and for business and government users. Earth Engine is free to use for research, education, and nonprofit use. To get started, please [register for Earth Engine access.](https://console.cloud.google.com/earth-engine)

### Code Editor (JavaScript)

```javascript
var dataset = ee.ImageCollection('MODIS/061/MOD21C1')
                  .filter(ee.Filter.date('2018-01-01', '2018-05-01'));
var landSurfaceTemperature = dataset.select('LST_Day');
var landSurfaceTemperatureVis = {
  min: 216.0,
  max: 348.0,
  palette: [
    '040274', '040281', '0502a3', '0502b8', '0502ce', '0502e6',
    '0602ff', '235cb1', '307ef3', '269db1', '30c8e2', '32d3ef',
    '3be285', '3ff38f', '86e26f', '3ae237', 'b5e22e', 'd6e21f',
    'fff705', 'ffd611', 'ffb613', 'ff8b13', 'ff6e08', 'ff500d',
    'ff0000', 'de0101', 'c21301', 'a71001', '911003'
  ],
};
Map.setCenter(6.746, 46.529, 2);
Map.addLayer(
    landSurfaceTemperature, landSurfaceTemperatureVis,
    'Average Daytime Land Surface Temperature');
```
[Open in Code Editor](https://code.earthengine.google.com/?scriptPath=Examples:Datasets/MODIS/MODIS_061_MOD21C1) [MOD21C1.061 Terra Land Surface Temperature and 3-Band Emissivity Daily L3 Global 0.05 Deg CMG](https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/MODIS_061_MOD21C1.md.txt) The MOD21C1 dataset is produced daily in a 0.05 degree (5,600 meters at the equator) Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) from daytime Level 2 Gridded (L2G) intermediate LST products. The L2G process maps the daily MOD21 swath granules onto a sinusoidal MODIS grid and stores all observations falling over a gridded ... MODIS/061/MOD21C1, daily,emissivity,global,lst,nasa,surface-temperature,terra,usgs,weather-and-climate 2000-02-24T00:00:00Z/2026-11-09T00:00:00Z -90 -180 90 180 Google Earth Engine https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets

- [https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD21C1.061](https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD21C1.061)
- [https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD21C1.061](https://doi.org/https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/MODIS_061_MOD21C1)