Introduction to Special Issue "MODIS 2000-2010: Ten Years of Success in the Earth Observation"

This special issue is mainly based on selected contributions presented at the workshop "MODIS 2000-2010: Ten Years of Success in the Earth Observation" during the 14th ASITA National Conference held in Brescia, Italy (9-12 November 2010). In recognising the contribution of MODIS to the various aspects of the Earth Science field, the topics of the papers cover applications to water monitoring (three), vegetation (two), and atmosphere (one), with the addition of a general paper on the significance of the mission. Most of them present regional case studies applied to areas of Italy: a sign of the success of the MODIS mission, which was primarily designed for global environmental applications, is that it has provided data for countless studies at the local scale.