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Description
The MOD44B Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MOD44B Version 6.1 data product.
The MOD44B Version 6 Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) yearly product is a global representation of surface vegetation cover as gradations of three ground cover components: percent tree cover, percent non-tree cover, and percent non-vegetated (bare). VCF products provide a continuous, quantitative portrayal of land surface cover at 250 meter (m) pixel resolution, with a sub-pixel depiction of percent cover in reference to the three ground cover components. The sub-pixel mixture of ground cover estimates represents a revolutionary approach to the characterization of vegetative land cover that can be used to enhance inputs to environmental modeling and monitoring applications.
The MOD44B data product layers include percent tree cover, percent non-tree cover, percent non-vegetated, cloud cover, and quality indicators. The start date of the annual period for this product begins with day of year (DOY) 65 (March 6 except for leap year which corresponds to March 5).
The following change was implemented for the MODIS Version 6 VCF data products: (1) Improvements to the upstream inputs result in more accurate VCF products.
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)
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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DiMiceli, C., Carroll, M., Sohlberg, R., Kim, D.-H., Kelly, M., & Townshend, J. (2015). MOD44B MODIS/Terra Vegetation Continuous Fields Yearly L3 Global 250m SIN Grid V006 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD44B.006 Date Accessed: 2026-04-26
DiMiceli, Charlene, Mark Carroll, Robert Sohlberg, Do-Hyung Kim, Maggi Kelly, and John Townshend. “MOD44B MODIS/Terra Vegetation Continuous Fields Yearly L3 Global 250m SIN Grid V006.” NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015. doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD44B.006. Date Accessed: 2026-04-26
DiMiceli, Charlene, et al. MOD44B MODIS/Terra Vegetation Continuous Fields Yearly L3 Global 250m SIN Grid V006. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015, doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD44B.006. Date Accessed: 2026-04-26
File Naming Convention
MOD44B.A2002065.h23v10.006.2017080223223.hdf
The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD44B) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002065), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h23v10), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2017080223223), and the Data Format (hdf).
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
the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables.
Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data,
user guide, and/or other product documentation.
For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.