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Description

The NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) Version 1 data product (VCF5KYR) provides global fractional vegetation cover at 0.05 degree (5,600 meter) spatial resolution at yearly intervals from 1982 to 2016. The VCF5KYR data product is derived from a bagged linear model algorithm using Long Term Data Record Version 4 (LTDR V4) data compiled from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) observations. Fractional vegetation cover (FVC) is the ratio of the area of the vertical projection of green vegetation above ground to the total area, capturing the horizontal distribution and density of vegetation on the Earth's surface. FVC is a primary means for measuring global forest cover change and is a key parameter for a variety of environmental and climate-related applications, including carbon land surface models and biomass measurements. The three bands included in each VCF5KYR Version 1 GeoTIFF are: percent of tree cover, non-tree vegetation, and bare ground. A water mask was applied with all pure water pixels (defined as ≥ 95% water coverage) set to zero.

Data from years 1994 and 2000 were excluded due to lack of data in the LTDR V4.

Known Issues

  • Known issues, including constraints and limitations, are provided on page 10 of the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD).

Product Summary

Platforms
NOAA-7 ,
NOAA-9 ,
NOAA-11 ,
NOAA-14 ,
Terra
Instruments
AVHRR ,
MODIS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
5600 Meters x 5600 Meters
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1982-01-01 to 2016-12-31
Temporal Resolution
1 Year
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
Global Land Cover Facility, University of Maryland (UMD/GLCF)
Concept ID
C2763266333-LPCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
33
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Vegetation Index ,
Landscape Patterns

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

Hansen, M., & Song, X.-P. (2018). Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) Yearly Global 0.05 Deg [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/VCF/VCF5KYR.001 Date Accessed: 2026-02-26

File Naming Convention

VCF5KYR_2016001_001_2018224210310.tif

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (VCF5KYR) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as YYYYDDD (2016001), the Data Product Version (001), and the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2018224210310), and the Data Format (tif).

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author
Spatially varying relevance of hydrometeorological hazards for vegetation productivity extremes Kroll, J.
An improved global remote-sensing-based surface soil moisture (RSSSM) dataset covering 2003-2018 Chen, Y.
Democratization, elections, and public goods—The evidence from deforestation Sanford, L.
Revisiting global vegetation controls using multi-layer soil moisture Li, W. T.
Inconsistent changes in NPP and LAI determined from the parabolic LAI versus NPP relationship Pan, N.
Drought effects on leaf fall, leaf flushing and stem growth in the Amazon forest: Reconciling remote sensing data and field observations Janssen, T.
Climatic and non-climatic vegetation cover changes in the rangelands of Africa D'Adamo, F.
The regional impact of ecological restoration in the arid steppe on dust reduction over the metropolitan area in northeastern China Zhou, C. W.
SHOWING 8 OF 8

Variables

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.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
Band 2 Percent Non-Tree Vegetation: Percent of pixel covered by green vegetation not covered by tree canopy Percent uint8 N/A 0 to 100 N/A
Band 3 Percent Bare Ground: Percent of pixel not covered by living vegetation Percent uint8 N/A 0 to 100 N/A
Band 1 Percent Tree Cover: Percent of pixel covered by tree canopy Percent uint8 N/A 0 to 100 N/A
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