The first MODIS instrument, with a 10:30 a.m. equatorial crossing time, was launched aboard Terra in 1999; the second MODIS instrument, with a 1:30 p.m. equatorial crossing time, was launched aboard the Aqua platform in 2002. Both Terra- and Aqua-MODIS instruments view the entire Earth's surface every 1 to 2 days, acquiring data in 36 spectral bands ranging in wavelengths from 0.4 µm to 14.4 µm. The twin-MODIS design was aimed to optimize cloud-free imaging while minimizing the optical effects of shadows and glare that occur with morning and afternoon sunlight.

MODIS data products, in three different resolutions — 250 m, 500 m, and 1 km — help improve our understanding of global environmental processes and dynamics occurring on the land, in the oceans, and in the lower atmosphere. The MODIS data records help extend heritage data such as NOAA’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, thus ensuring the critical continuity of such collections to support our investigations of both short- and long-term global environmental changes. MODIS-derived data products continue to play a vital role in helping develop and validate global Earth system models with enough predictive potential to inform and help policymakers as they address global environmental change.