Description
The MCD12Q1 Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MCD12Q1 Version 6.1 data product.
The Terra and Aqua combined Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Cover Type (MCD12Q1) Version 6 data product provides global land cover types at yearly intervals (2001-2020), derived from six different classification schemes listed in the User Guide. The MCD12Q1 Version 6 data product is derived using supervised classifications of MODIS Terra and Aqua reflectance data. The supervised classifications then undergo additional post-processing that incorporate prior knowledge and ancillary information to further refine specific classes.
Layers for Land Cover Type 1-5, Land Cover Property 1-3, Land Cover Property Assessment 1-3, Land Cover Quality Control (QC), and a Land Water Mask are provided in each MCD12Q1 Version 6 Hierarchical Data Format 4 (HDF4) file.
Known Issues
- The "units" field is missing in the metadata, however, this information can be found in the table above or on page 5 of the User Guide.
- Known issues are described on pages 3 and 4 of the User Guide.
- For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.
Improvements/Changes from Previous Version
- Version 5 used five classification schemes whereas Version 6 uses six classification schemes, including an entirely new classification scheme based on the Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
- New gap-filled spectro-temporal features developed by applying smoothing splines to the Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) time series. This change results in significant changes between land cover classifications in Version 5 and Version 6 data.
- Algorithm used in Version 6 includes a post-processing Hidden Markov Model (HMM) that reduces spurious year-to-year variation in class labels.
- Algorithm refinements were implemented in upstream MODIS data used as inputs, such as the cloud mask, surface reflectance, and NBAR data products.
- The value of "Water" in the IGBP classification scheme has changed from "0" to "17."
- The data product should not be used to determine post-classification land cover change between years due to the uncertainty in the land cover labels for any one year. More information can be found on page 2 of the User Guide.
- File size is smaller due to HDF internal compression.
Version Description
Product Summary
Citation
Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.
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File Naming Convention
The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD12Q1) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2003001), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h16v00), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2018144112435), and the Data Format (hdf).
Documents
USER'S GUIDE
ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)
PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT
Publications Citing This Dataset
Variables
Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.
The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.
Name Sort descending | Description | Units | Data Type | Fill Value | Valid Range | Scale Factor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LC_Prop1 | FAO-Land Cover Classification System 1 (LCCS1) land cover layer | Class | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 43 | N/A |
LC_Prop1_Assessment | LCCS1 land cover layer confidence | Percent | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 100 | N/A |
LC_Prop2 | FAO-LCCS2 land use layer | Class | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 40 | N/A |
LC_Prop2_Assessment | LCCS2 land use layer confidence | Percent | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 100 | N/A |
LC_Prop3 | FAO-LCCS3 surface hydrology layer | Class | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 51 | N/A |
LC_Prop3_Assessment | LCCS3 surface hydrology layer confidence | Percent | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 100 | N/A |
LC_Type1 | Land Cover Type 1: Annual International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) classification | Class | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 17 | N/A |
LC_Type2 | Land Cover Type 2: Annual University of Maryland (UMD) classification | Class | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 15 | N/A |
LC_Type3 | Land Cover Type 3: Annual Leaf Area Index (LAI) classification | Class | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 10 | N/A |
LC_Type4 | Land Cover Type 4: Annual BIOME-Biogeochemical Cycles (BGC) classification | Class | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 8 | N/A |
LC_Type5 | Land Cover Type 5: Annual Plant Functional Types classification | Class | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 11 | N/A |
LW | Binary land (class 2) / water (class 1) mask derived from MOD44W | Class | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 2 | N/A |
QC | Product quality flags | Quality Flag | uint8 | 255 | 255 to 10 | N/A |