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Description

The Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices Monthly (MOD13C2) Version 6.1 product provides a Vegetation Index (VI) value at a per pixel basis. There are two primary vegetation layers. The first is the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) which is referred to as the continuity index to the existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR) derived NDVI. The second vegetation layer is the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), which has improved sensitivity over high biomass regions.

The Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) consists of 3,600 rows and 7,200 columns of 5,600 meter (m) pixels. In generating this monthly product, the algorithm ingests all the MOD13A2 products that overlap the month and employs a weighted temporal average. Global MOD13C2 data are cloud-free spatial composites and are provided as a Level 3 product projected on a 0.05 degree (5,600 m) geographic CMG. The MOD13C2 has data fields for the NDVI, EVI, VI QA, reflectance data, angular information, and spatial statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and number of used input pixels at the 0.05 degree CMG resolution.

Known Issues

Improvements/Changes from Previous Versions

  • The Version 6.1 Level-1B (L1B) products have been improved by undergoing various calibration changes that include: changes to the response-versus-scan angle (RVS) approach that affects reflectance bands for Aqua and Terra MODIS, corrections to adjust for the optical crosstalk in Terra MODIS infrared (IR) bands, and corrections to the Terra MODIS forward look-up table (LUT) update for the period 2012 - 2017.
  • A polarization correction has been applied to the L1B Reflective Solar Bands (RSB).

Product Summary

Platforms
Terra
Instruments
MODIS
Spatial Extent
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Spatial Resolution
5600 Meters x 5600 Meters
Geographic Region
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2000-02-01 to Present
Temporal Resolution
1 Month
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
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)
Concept ID
c2565788914-lpcloud
Data State
ACTIVE
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated

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.

Copy Citation

Didan, K. (2021). MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13C2.061 Date Accessed: 2025-06-28

Data Center Citation

Kamel Didan. 2021. MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V061. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA: NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13C2.061.

Documents

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD) The ATBD provides physical theory and mathematical procedures for the calculations used to produce the data products.
GENERAL DOCUMENTATION The File Specification provides a description of the product file including Scientific Data Sets and their attributes.
PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT The LDOPE Land Product Quality Assessment website provides known issues, maneuvers, and product quality of the land products.
SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION Validation at stage 3 has been achieved for the MODIS Vegetation Index product suite.
SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION Further details regarding MODIS land product validation for the MOD13 data products are available from the MODIS Land Team Validation site.

Learning Resources

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