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Description

The MYD15A2H Version 6.1 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) combined Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) product is an 8-day composite dataset with 500 meter (m) pixel size. The algorithm chooses the “best” pixel available from all the acquisitions of the Aqua sensor from within the 8-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 nanometers (nm)) absorbed by the green elements of a vegetation canopy.

Science Datasets (SDS) in the Level 4 (L4) MYD15A2H product include LAI, FPAR, two quality layers, and standard deviation for LAI and FPAR. Two low resolution browse images, LAI and FPAR, are also available for each MYD15A2H granule.

Known Issues

Improvments/Changes from Previous Version

  • 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
Aqua
Instruments
MODIS
Spatial Extent
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Spatial Resolution
500 Meters x 500 Meters
Geographic Region
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2002-07-04 to Present
Temporal Resolution
8 Day
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
C2565794061-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Processing Level
4
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Leaf Characteristics,
Photosynthetically Active Radiation,
LEAF AREA INDEX (LAI),
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.

Copy Citation

Myneni, R., Knyazikhin, Y., & Park, T. (2021). MODIS/Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD15A2H.061 Date Accessed: 2025-10-21

File Naming Convention

MYD15A2H.A2025209.h16v07.061.2025218035513.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MYD15A2H) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025209), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h16v07), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025218035513), 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
Prediction of the distribution limits of Rhinomias forticornis (Boheman, 1842) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) based on Remote Sensing Khrapov, D.
Impact of Lateral Flow on Surface Water and Energy Budgets Over the Southern Great Plains—A Modeling Study Yang, Z.
Plant phenology evaluation of CRESCENDO land surface models-Part 1: Start and end of the growing season Peano, D.
Mineral dust cycle in the Multiscale Online Nonhydrostatic Atmosphere Chemistry model (MONARCH) version 2.0 Klose, M.
A simple method for water balance estimation based on the empirical method and remotely sensed evapotranspiration estimates Falalakis, G.
Discrepancies in the simulated global terrestrial latent heat flux from GLASS and MERRA-2 surface net radiation products Guo, X. Z.
Biophysical impacts of Earth greening largely controlled by aerodynamic resistance Chen, C.
Monitoring maize growth conditions by training a BP neural network with remotely sensed vegetation temperature condition index and leaf area index Wang, L.
Machine learning approaches for crop yield prediction with MODIS and weather data Ju, S.
Representing grasslands using dynamic prognostic phenology based on biological growth stages—Part 2. carbon cycling Haynes, K. D.
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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
FparExtra_QC Extra detail Quality for LAI and FPAR Class Flag uint8 255 255 to 254 N/A
FparLai_QC Quality for LAI and FPAR Class Flag uint8 255 255 to 254 N/A
FparStdDev_500m Standard deviation of FPAR Percent uint8 248 248 to 100 0.01
Fpar_500m Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation Percent uint8 249 249 to 100 0.01
LaiStdDev_500m Standard deviation of LAI m²/m² uint8 248 248 to 100 0.1
Lai_500m Leaf Area Index m²/m² uint8 249 249 to 100 0.1
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