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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).

Version Description

Collection Version 6.1 Processing and Reprocessing

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
Science Keywords
Vegetation Index,
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)

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: 2025-10-22

File Naming Convention

MOD13C2.A2025152.061.2025206111023.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD13C2) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025152), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025206111023), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author
Detection and analysis of drought over Turkey with remote sensing and model-based drought indices Khorrami, B.
Dynamic prediction of global monthly burned area with hybrid deep neural networks Zhang, G.
Spatial and temporal variations in CO2 concentration in the surface atmospheric layer of the territory of the Russian Federation based on the CAMS database Dzholumbetov, S. K.
Trends in land surface temperature and its drivers over the High Mountain Asia Rani, S.
Phenological and physiological responses of the terrestrial ecosystem to the 2019 drought event in Southwest China—Insights from satellite measurements and the SSiB2 model Li, L.
Documentary evidence of 17th Century landcover and climate change in northern China and Mongolia compared to modern spectral greening trends Kempf, M.
SIF-Based GPP is a useful index for assessing impacts of drought on vegetation—An example of a mega-drought in Yunnan Province, China Li, C.
Observed strong atmospheric water constraints on forest photosynthesis using eddy covariance and satellite-based data across the Northern Hemisphere Su, Y.
Protection status and density-dependent effects mediate the abundance-suitability relationship of a threatened species de Souza, A. C.
Early-life environmental exposures and anaemia among children under age five in Sub-Saharan Africa—An insight from the Demographic & Health Surveys Amegbor, P. M.
SHOWING 10 OF 65

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 Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly EVI std dev Standard deviation computed from input EVI pixels EVI int16 -3000 -3000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly NDVI 16 day NDVI NDVI int16 -3000 -3000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly number of 1km pix used Number of 1 km input pixels used Number uint8 255 255 to 36 N/A
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly #1km pix +-30deg VZ Number of 1km pixels used with VZ angle less than + or - 30 degs Number uint8 255 255 to 36 N/A
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly Avg sun zen angle Sun zenith angle of VI Pixel Degree int16 -10000 -10000 to 9000 0.01
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly blue reflectance Surface Reflectance Band 3 N/A int16 -1000 -1000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly EVI 16 day EVI EVI int16 -3000 -3000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly MIR reflectance Surface Reflectance Band 7 N/A int16 -1000 -1000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly NDVI std dev Standard deviation computed from input NDVI pixels NDVI int16 -3000 -3000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly NIR reflectance Surface Reflectance Band 2 N/A int16 -1000 -1000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly pixel reliabilty Quality reliability of VI pixel Rank int8 -1 -1 to 4 N/A
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly red reflectance Surface Reflectance Band 1 N/A int16 -1000 -1000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly VI Quality VI quality indicators Bit Field uint16 65535 65535 to 65534 N/A
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