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Description
The MCD15A3H Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MCD15A3H Version 6.1 data product.
The MCD15A3H Version 6 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 4, Combined Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR), and Leaf Area Index (LAI) product is a 4-day composite data set with 500 meter pixel size. The algorithm chooses the best pixel available from all the acquisitions of both MODIS sensors located on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites from within the 4-day period.
LAI is defined as the one-sided green leaf area per unit ground area in broadleaf canopies and as one-half the total needle surface area per unit ground area in coniferous canopies. FPAR is defined as the fraction of incident photosynthetically active radiation (400-700 nm) absorbed by the green elements of a vegetation canopy.
The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6 FPAR and LAI data products: (1) The Version 6 product uses the daily Level 2 Gridded (L2G)-lite surface reflectance as input as opposed to MODAGAGG, a MODIS daily aggregated surface reflectance product, used in Version 5, (2) Products are generated at native resolution of 500 meters rather than the 1,000 meters of the Version 5, and (3) Version 6 uses an improved multi-year land cover product.
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
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MODIS Adaptive Processing System, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/MODAPS)
Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
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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Myneni, R., Knyazikhin, Y., & Park, T. (2015). MCD15A3H MODIS/Terra+Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 4-day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A3H.006 Date Accessed: 2026-05-24
Myneni, Ranga, Yuri Knyazikhin, and Taejin Park. “MCD15A3H MODIS/Terra+Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 4-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006.” NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015. doi:10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A3H.006. Date Accessed: 2026-05-24
Myneni, Ranga, et al. MCD15A3H MODIS/Terra+Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 4-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015, doi:10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A3H.006. Date Accessed: 2026-05-24
File Naming Convention
MCD15A3H.A2002277.h26v08.006.2015151145358.hdf
The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD15A3H) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002277), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h26v08), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015151145358), and the Data Format (hdf).
de Carvalho Pereira, Ester, Pereira dos Santos, Geovani, Chaves, Michel E. D., Salgado, Gabriela Cristina, Poppiel, Raul Roberto, Kaster, Daniel S., Yuan, Wenping, Junqueira, Cynthia, Chinatto, Adilson, dos Santos Luciano, Ana Claudia
Xia, Yushu, Sanderman, Jonathan, Watts, Jennifer D., Machmuller, Megan B., Mullen, Andrew L., Rivard, Charlotte, Endsley, Arthur, Hernandez, Haydee, Kimball, John, Ewing, Stephanie A., Litvak, Marcy, Duman, Tomer, Krishnan, Praveena, Meyers, Tilden, Brunsell, Nathaniel A., Mohanty, Binayak, Liu, Heping, Gao, Zhongming, Chen, Jiquan, Abraha, Michael, Scott, Russell L., Flerchinger, Gerald N., Clark, Patrick E., Stoy, Paul C., Khan, Anam M., Brookshire, E. N. Jack, Zhang, Quan, Cook, David R., Thienelt, Thomas, Mitra, Bhaskar, MauritzTozer, Marguerite, Tweedie, Craig E., Torn, Margaret S., Billesbach, Dave
Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this
dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements
collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on
satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and
model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band
have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the
designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR).
Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill
Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze
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Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data,
user guide, and/or other product documentation.
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