Comparison of AVHRR to MODIS

Bandundu, Democratic Republic of Congo
April 17th, 2000

Transition area of gallery forest with savanna giving way to continuous closed tropical forest in the north of Bandundu region, DRC. In this region the soils are largely Kalahari sands and cutting of the forest results in its permanent loss, except for low lying valleys with higher soil moisture content and greater presence of clays. The end result of human activity is this fine forest/grassland mosaic. Long term agriculture is practiced in the forested valleys and brighter red/pink tones represent areas of degraded forest due to farming. A significant population lives in this transition zone of 3-5 degrees south latitude and monitoring the forest cover can help gauge the sustainability of the land in supporting local populations.MODIS has a 2,330-km-wide viewing swath, allowing MODIS to see every point on our world every 1-2 days in 36 discrete spectral bands. Consequently, MODIS greatly improves upon the heritage of the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and tracks a wider array of the earth's vital signs than any other Terra sensor.

Comparison of AVHRR 1km data to 250m MODIS data

With improved spectral resolution and accurate geolocation, MODIS data will be used to detect an anthropogenic land cover change in near real-time.

The GLCF and ESIP Federation are working with Goddard Space Flight Center to produce a series of value-added products. The first of these new products will be 16-day composites of 250m MODIS data for the conterminous United States. Subsets by region are now available for those working at the local level.