OUTPUT FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS

A more detailed listing including file sizes is also available. 

L1b and L2 files

<ESDT>.A<start dataday>.<hhmm>.<vvv>.<prod time>.hdf

L3 and L4 files

<ESDT>.<parameter>.ADD<start dataday>.<vvv>.<prod time>.hdf

where

• <ESDT> is the Earth Science Data Type (see below)
• <start dataday> is the starting data day in the form yyyyddd
• <vvv> is the collection version, using three digits (e.g., 004)
• <prod time> is the production time in the form yyyydddhhmmss
• <parameter> is the parameter name (see Table 11 : MODIS Ocean Parameters)
• yyyy = year
• ddd = day of year
• hh = hour
• mm = minute
• ss = seconds

MODIS Ocean ESDT Definitions

L1b ESDT:
MOD021KM

L2 Ocean Color ESDT's:
MODOCL2
MODOCL2A
MODOCL2B
MODOCQC

L2 Sea Surface Temperature (SST) ESDT's:
MOD28L2
MOD28QC

L3 and L4 ESDT's:

binned files (ISEAG projection)

MOD<xx><C><##>

where

• <xx> represents:
   OC: Ocean Color (L3)
   27: Primary Production (L4)
   28: SST (L3)
   OQ: Ocean Color QC products (L3)
   SQ: SST QC products (L3)
• <C> represents the file type:
  D: daily 
  W: weekly 
  M: monthly
  N: yearly (L3 only)
  Y: yearly (L4 only)
  HV: annual carbon, export carbon, and new nitrogen production (L4 only)
• <##> is the parameter number (01-36) for Ocean Color only and null otherwise

For a list of parameter names and numbers see Table 11 : MODIS Ocean Parameters.

L3 map files (cylindrical equidistant projection)

MO<rr><q><C><##>

where

• <rr> is the resolution:
  1D =  one degree
  04 =  4.88 km
  36 = 39 km
• <q> is the statistic that was mapped:
      M: mean
      N: number of pixels summed
      S: standard deviation
      F: common flags
      Q: quality
      1: flag byte 1
      2: flag byte 2
      3: flag byte 3
• <C> see definition for L3 binned files (above)
• <##> see definition for L3 binned files (above)

L4 map files (cylindrical equidistant projection)

MO<cc><p><b><t><f>

where

• <cc> is the model class:
     AP: semi-analytical primary production model
     SP: statistical primary production model
• <p> is the temporal resolution:
     W: weekly (AP & SP)
     Y: yearly (SP only)
• <b> is the spatial resolution:
     A: 5 km
     B: 39 km
     1: one degree
• <t> is the field type:
     M: mean
     S: standard deviation (SP chl only)
     W: number of weeks
     N: number of observations
     F: quality map
• <f> is the field identifier:
    1: Behrenfeld/Falkowski productivity index (AP only)
    2: Howard/Yoder/Ryan productivity index (AP only)
    E: photosynthetically available radiation (AP only)
    D: mixed-layer depth (AP only)
    P: annual empirical primary production (SP only)
    N: annual empirical new production (SP only)
    X: annual empirical export production (SP only)
    C: running annual chlorophyll mean (SP only)

Only the following 78 combinations are possible for L4 maps:

MOAPW<b>M1, MOAPW<b>M2, MOAPW<b>ME, MOAPW<b>MD,
MOAPW<b>N1, MOAPW<b>N2, MOAPW<b>F1, MOAPW<b>F2,

MOAPY<b>M1, MOAPY<b>M2, MOAPY<b>ME, MOAPY<b>MD, 
MOAPY<b>N1, MOAPY<b>N2, MOAPY<b>F1, MOAPY<b>F2, 
MOSPY<b>MP, MOSPY<b>MN, MOSPY<b>MX, MOSPY<b>MC, 
MOSPY<b>FP, MOSPY<b>FN, MOSPY<b>FX, MOSPY<b>FC, 
MOSPY<b>NC, MOSPY<b>SC.  

metadata

filename.met

where filename is the corresponding level 2, 3, or 4 filename, as above.

back to MODIS Ocean Data Processing home page

Documented by Jasmine S. Bartlett, COAS, Oregon State University.