Skip to main content

Description

The Terra and Aqua combined Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Cover Dynamics (MCD12Q2) Version 6.1 data product provides global land surface phenology metrics at yearly intervals. The MCD12Q2 Version 6.1 data product is derived from time series of the 2-band Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI2) calculated from MODIS Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR). Vegetation phenology metrics at 500 meter spatial resolution are identified for up to two detected growing cycles per year. For pixels with more than two valid vegetation cycles, the data represent the two cycles with the largest NBAR-EVI2 amplitudes.

Provided in each MCD12Q2 Version 6.1 Hierarchical Data Format 4 (HDF4) file are layers for the total number of vegetation cycles detected for the product year, the onset of greenness, greenup midpoint, maturity, peak greenness, senescence, greendown midpoint, dormancy, EVI2 minimum, EVI2 amplitude, integrated EVI2 over a vegetation cycle, as well as overall and phenology metric-specific quality information. SDS layers may be multi-dimensional with up to two valid vegetation cycles.

For areas where the NBAR-EVI2 values are missing due to cloud cover or other reasons, the data gaps are filled with good quality NBAR-EVI2 values from the year directly preceding or following the product year.

Known Issues

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6.1 Land Cover data products: (1) 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, (2) A polarization correction has been applied to the L1B Reflective Solar Bands (RSB), (3) An improvement was made to the approach for snow filtering, and (4) The processing timeline was adjusted to generate products 6 months after the end of the calendar year.

Product Summary

Platforms
Terra ,
Aqua
Instruments
MODIS
Projects
TERRA ,
Aqua
Spatial Extent

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

Spatial Resolution
500 Meters x 500 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
MODIS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2001-01-01 to Present
Temporal Resolution
1 Year
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
C2484079943-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
7560
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Plant Phenology ,
Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)

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

Friedl, M., Gray, J., & Sulla-Menashe, D. (2022). MODIS/Terra+Aqua Land Cover Dynamics Yearly L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD12Q2.061 Date Accessed: 2026-08-23

File Naming Convention

MCD12Q2.A2023001.h07v03.061.2024211022728.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD12Q2) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2023001), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h07v03), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2024211022728), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
An improved logistic method for detecting spring vegetation phenology in grasslands from MODIS EVI time-series data Cao, Ruyin, Chen, Jin, Shen, Miaogen, Tang, Yanhong Reflectance, Anisotropy, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo
Modeling grassland spring onset across the Western United States using climate variables and MODIS-derived phenology metrics Xin, Qinchuan, Broich, Mark, Zhu, Peng, Gong, Peng Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
A comparative study on satellite- and model-based crop phenology in West Africa Vintrou, Elodie, Begue, Agnes, Baron, Christian, Saad, Alexandre, Lo Seen, Danny, Traore, Seydou Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Comparison of phenology models for predicting the onset of growing season over the northern hemisphere Fu, Yang, Zhang, Haicheng, Dong, Wenjie, Yuan, Wenping Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Differences between cropland and rangeland MODIS phenology (start-of-season) in Mali Begue, Agnes, Vintrou, Elodie, Saad, Alexandre, Hiernaux, Pierre Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Mapping Asian cropping intensity with MODIS Gray, Josh, Friedl, Mark, Frolking, Steve, Ramankutty, Navin, Nelson, Andrew, Gumma, Murali Krishna Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
You're viewing 331 of 331