Time format MODIS files

jcfischer · by **jcfischer** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:55 am America/New_York

Dear colleagues,
I have a question regarding the time format of MODIS files. Which time zone does the time displayed in the Metadata, Global_Attributes refer to? For example, the time_coverage_start for a MODIS file from the 1st of January 2010 is 2010-01-01T10:40:08.634Z. Does this mean this is 40 minutes past 10 in the morning in local time? The ___location is La Réunion Islands, France in the Indian Ocean. Or how else do I have to interpret the time in the metadata?
Thanks for your help! Greetings, JC

OB.DAACx - SeanBailey · by **OB.DAACx - SeanBailey** » Fri Dec 01, 2017 12:03 pm America/New_York

The Z means 'Zulu' , i.e. "Z"ero offset from UTC, NOT local time.

Sean

jcfischer · by **jcfischer** » Sun Dec 03, 2017 8:30 pm America/New_York

Thanks for the explanation!