Earthdata Forum

I've downloaded the SST 8-DAY data from MODIS-AQUA. The dataset seems to be incomplete; there is not SST data for each grid. When I looked at the attributes, SST size = 13431671x1 single which seems not to match the gridded dimensions of the lat and lon:

geospatial_lat_max = 89.9792
geospatial_lat_min = -64.8958
geospatial_lon_max = 179.9792
geospatial_lon_min = -179.9792

Has anybody had a similar issue? Any direction would be very helpful.

Based on the information you provided, I believe you are looking at the bin file (L3b). The bin file is not a raster image format (as the mapped - L3m - product is), rather is is more akin to a spreadsheet. It only contains values where there are data.

The bin file format is described here: https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/resources/docs/technical/ocean_level-3_binned_data_products.pdf

Regards,
Sean