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Description

The MCD15A2H Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MCD15A2H Version 6.1 data product.

The MCD15A2H Version 6 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 4, Combined Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR), and Leaf Area Index (LAI) product is an 8-day composite dataset with 500 meter pixel size. The algorithm chooses the best pixel available from all the acquisitions of both MODIS sensors located on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites 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 nm) absorbed by the green elements of a vegetation canopy.

Known Issues

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6 FPAR and LAI data products: (1) The Version 6 product uses the daily Level 2 Gridded (L2G)-lite surface reflectance as input as opposed to MODAGAGG, a MODIS daily aggregated surface reflectance product, used in Version 5, (2) Products are generated at native resolution of 500 meters rather than the 1,000 meters of the Version 5, and (3) Version 6 uses an improved multi-year land cover product.

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
2002-07-04 to 2023-02-17
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
C2763289447-LPCLOUD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Number of Files/Granules
0
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. (2015). MCD15A2H MODIS/Terra+Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 8-day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A2H.006 Date Accessed: 2026-07-12

File Naming Convention

MCD15A2H.A2002273.h11v12.006.2015151145313.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD15A2H) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002273), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h11v12), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015151145313), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
How to enhance hydrological predictions in hydrologically distinct Mangukiya, Nikunj K., Sharma, Ashutosh, Shen, Chaopeng Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
How Long Do Runoff-Generated Debris-Flow Hazards Persist After Wildfire? Graber, Andrew P., Thomas, Matthew A., Kean, Jason W. Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Increased background precipitation masks the moisture deficit caused by Yu, Lingxue, Li, Xuan, Bu, Kun, Yan, Fengqin, Zhang, Shuwen, Liu, Tingxiang Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Is It Possible to Quantify Irrigation WaterUse by Assimilating a HighResolution Satellite Soil Moisture Product? Jalilvand, Ehsan, AbolafiaRosenzweig, Ronnie, Tajrishy, Masoud, Kumar, Sujay V., Mohammadi, Mohammad Reza, Das, Narendra N. Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Leaf Characteristics, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Precipitation, Precipitation Amount, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Rain, Brightness Temperature, SIGMA NAUGHT, Surface Soil Moisture, Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Albedo, Anisotropy
Robust inference of ecosystem soil water stress from eddy covariance data Sloan, Brandon P., Feng, Xue Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Remote sensing-based multi-scale characterization of ecohydrological indicators (EHIs) in India Bejagam, Vijaykumar, Sharma, Ashutosh Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Soil Heat Budget, Soil Heat Budget, Soil Temperature, Soil Temperature, Soil Infiltration, Soil Infiltration, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Surface Soil Moisture, Root Zone Soil Moisture, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Evaporation, Surface Water, Runoff Rate, Average Flow, Average Flow, Precipitation, Snow/Ice, Snow Depth, Snow Melt, Snow/Ice Temperature, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Absorption, Radiative Forcing, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Evapotranspiration, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Reprocessed MODIS Version 6.1 Leaf Area Index Dataset and Its Evaluation for Land Surface and Climate Modeling Lin, Wanyi, Yuan, Hua, Dong, Wenzong, Zhang, Shupeng, Liu, Shaofeng, Wei, Nan, Lu, Xingjie, Wei, Zhongwang, Hu, Ying, Dai, Yongjiu Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Canopy Characteristics
Regionalscale wilting point estimation using satellite SIF, radiativetransfer inversion, and soilvegetationatmosphere transfer simulation: A grassland study Kiyono, T., Noda, H. M., Kumagai, T., Oshio, H., Yoshida, Y., Matsunaga, T., Hikosaka, K. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Remote sensing for monitoring rangeland condition: Current status and development of methods Retallack, Angus, Finlayson, Graeme, Ostendorf, Bertram, Clarke, Kenneth, Lewis, Megan Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Terrestrial Ecosystems, Biomass, LIDAR WAVEFORM
Parameter variability across different timescales in the energy balance-based model and its effect on evapotranspiration estimation Hu, Xiaolong, Shi, Liangsheng, Lian, Xie, Bian, Jiang Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Phenophase-based comparison of field observations to satellite-based actual evaporation estimates of a natural woodland: miombo woodland, southern ... Zimba, Henry, Coenders-Gerrits, Miriam, Banda, Kawawa, Schilperoort, Bart, van de Giesen, Nick, Nyambe, Imasiku, Savenije, Hubert H. G. Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance
Plant canopies exhibit stronger thermoregulation capability at the Guo, Zhengfei, Zhang, Kun, Lin, Hua, Majcher, Bartosz M., Lee, Calvin K.F., Still, Christopher J., Wu, Jin Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Monitoring of carbon-water fluxes at Eurasian meteorological stations Xie, Mingjuan, Ma, Xiaofei, Wang, Yuangang, Li, Chaofan, Shi, Haiyang, Yuan, Xiuliang, Hellwich, Olaf, Chen, Chunbo, Zhang, Wenqiang, Zhang, Chen, Ling, Qing, Gao, Ruixiang, Zhang, Yu, Ochege, Friday Uchenna, Frankl, Amaury, De Maeyer, Philippe, Buchmann, Nina, Feigenwinter, Iris, Olesen, Jrgen E., Juszczak, Radoslaw, Jacotot, Adrien, Korrensalo, Aino, Pitacco, Andrea, Varlagin, Andrej, Shekhar, Ankit, Lohila, Annalea, Carrara, Arnaud, Brut, Aurore, Kruijt, Bart, Loubet, Benjamin, Heinesch, Bernard, Chojnicki, Bogdan, Helfter, Carole, Vincke, Caroline, Shao, Changliang, Bernhofer, Christian, Brummer, Christian, Wille, Christian, Tuittila, Eeva-Stiina, Nemitz, Eiko, Meggio, Franco, Dong, Gang, Lanigan, Gary, Niedrist, Georg, Wohlfahrt, Georg, Zhou, Guoyi, Goded, Ignacio, Gruenwald, Thomas, Olejnik, Janusz, Jansen, Joachim, Neirynck, Johan, Tuovinen, Juha-Pekka, Zhang, Junhui, Klumpp, Katja, Pilegaard, Kim, Sigut, Ladislav, Klemedtsson, Leif, Tezza, Luca, Hortnagl, Lukas, Urbaniak, Marek, Roland, Marilyn, Schmidt, Marius, Sutton, Mark A., Hehn, Markus, Saunders, Matthew, Mauder, Matthias, Aurela, Mika, Korkiakoski, Mika, Du, Mingyuan, Vendrame, Nadia, Kowalska, Natalia, Leahy, Paul G., Alekseychik, Pavel, Shi, Peili, Weslien, Per, Chen, Shiping, Fares, Silvano, Friborg, Thomas, Tallec, Tiphaine, Kato, Tomomichi, Sachs, Torsten, Maximov, Trofim, di Cella, Umberto Morra, Moderow, Uta, Li, Yingnian, He, Yongtao, Kosugi, Yoshiko, Luo, Geping Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Leaf Characteristics, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance
The Rainfall Intensity-Duration Control of Debris Flows After Wildfire Thomas, Matthew A., Lindsay, Donald N., Cavagnaro, David B., Kean, Jason W., McCoy, Scott W., Graber, Andrew P. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
The Drought Regime in Southern Africa: A Systematic Review Chivangulula, Fernando Maliti, Amraoui, Malik, Pereira, Mario Gonzalez Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Leaf Characteristics, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Vegetation Cover, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Emissivity, Reflectance
Spatiotemporal variability and controlling factors of ecosystem water use efficiency in India Bejagam, Vijaykumar, Singh, Akriti, Sharma, Ashutosh Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Soil Heat Budget, Soil Heat Budget, Soil Temperature, Soil Temperature, Soil Infiltration, Soil Infiltration, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Surface Soil Moisture, Root Zone Soil Moisture, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Evaporation, Surface Water, Runoff Rate, Average Flow, Average Flow, Precipitation, Snow/Ice, Snow Depth, Snow Melt, Snow/Ice Temperature, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Absorption, Radiative Forcing, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatiotemporally consistent global dataset of the GIMMS leaf area index Cao, Sen, Li, Muyi, Zhu, Zaichun, Wang, Zhe, Zha, Junjun, Zhao, Weiqing, Duanmu, Zeyu, Chen, Jiana, Zheng, Yaoyao, Chen, Yue, Myneni, Ranga B., Piao, Shilong Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Canopy Characteristics
Sensor-independent LAI/FPAR CDR: reconstructing a global sensor-independent climate data record of MODIS and VIIRS LAI/FPAR from 2000 to 2022 Pu, Jiabin, Yan, Kai, Roy, Samapriya, Zhu, Zaichun, Rautiainen, Miina, Knyazikhin, Yuri, Myneni, Ranga B. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Shrubs Compensate for Tree Leaf Area Variation and Influence Vegetation Indices in PostFire Siberian Larch Forests Bendavid, Nadav S., Alexander, Heather D., Davydov, Sergei P., Kropp, Heather, Mack, Michelle C., Natali, Susan M., SpawnLee, Seth A., Zimov, Nikita S., Loranty, Michael M. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Tree Growth Enhancement Drives a Persistent Biomass Gain in Unmanaged Marques, Laura, Weng, Ensheng, Bugmann, Harald, Forrester, David I., Rohner, Brigitte, Hobi, Martina L., Trotsiuk, Volodymyr, Stocker, Benjamin D. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Upscaling Wetland Methane Emissions From the FLUXNETCH4 Eddy Covariance Network (UpCH4 v1. 0): Model Development, Network Assessment, and Budget ... McNicol, Gavin, FluetChouinard, Etienne, Ouyang, Zutao, Knox, Sara, Zhang, Zhen, Aalto, Tuula, Bansal, Sheel, Chang, KuangYu, Chen, Min, Delwiche, Kyle, Feron, Sarah, Goeckede, Mathias, Liu, Jinxun, Malhotra, Avni, Melton, Joe R., Riley, William, Vargas, Rodrigo, Yuan, Kunxiaojia, Ying, Qing, Zhu, Qing, Alekseychik, Pavel, Aurela, Mika, Billesbach, David P., Campbell, David I., Chen, Jiquan, Chu, Housen, Desai, Ankur R., Euskirchen, Eugenie, Goodrich, Jordan, Griffis, Timothy, Helbig, Manuel, Hirano, Takashi, Iwata, Hiroki, Jurasinski, Gerald, King, John, Koebsch, Franziska, Kolka, Randall, Krauss, Ken, Lohila, Annalea, Mammarella, Ivan, Nilson, Mats, Noormets, Asko, Oechel, Walter, Peichl, Matthias, Sachs, Torsten, Sakabe, Ayaka, Schulze, Christopher, Sonnentag, Oliver, Sullivan, Ryan C., Tuittila, EevaStiina, Ueyama, Masahito, Vesala, Timo, Ward, Eric, Wille, Christian, Wong, Guan Xhuan, Zona, Donatella, WindhamMyers, Lisamarie, Poulter, Benjamin, Jackson, Robert B. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Methane, Surface Water Processes/Measurements, Wetlands
Data-Driven Approaches for Wildfire Mapping and Prediction Assessment Kanwal, Rida, Rafaqat, Warda, Iqbal, Mansoor, Weiguo, Song Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Differentiable modelling to unify machine learning and physical models for geosciences Shen, Chaopeng, Appling, Alison P., Gentine, Pierre, Bandai, Toshiyuki, Gupta, Hoshin, Tartakovsky, Alexandre, Baity-Jesi, Marco, Fenicia, Fabrizio, Kifer, Daniel, Li, Li, Liu, Xiaofeng, Ren, Wei, Zheng, Yi, Harman, Ciaran J., Clark, Martyn, Farthing, Matthew, Feng, Dapeng, Kumar, Praveen, Aboelyazeed, Doaa, Rahmani, Farshid, Song, Yalan, Beck, Hylke E., Bindas, Tadd, Dwivedi, Dipankar, Fang, Kuai, Hoge, Marvin, Rackauckas, Chris, Mohanty, Binayak, Roy, Tirthankar, Xu, Chonggang, Lawson, Kathryn Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Brightness Temperature, Surface Soil Moisture
Dynamic savanna burning emission factors based on satellite data using Vernooij, Roland, Eames, Tom, Russell-Smith, Jeremy, Yates, Cameron, Beatty, Robin, Evans, Jay, Edwards, Andrew, Ribeiro, Natasha, Wooster, Martin, Strydom, Tercia, Giongo, Marcos Vinicius, Borges, Marco Assis, Menezes Costa, Maximo, Barradas, Ana Carolina Sena, van Wees, Dave, Van der Werf, Guido R. Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Vegetation Cover
Effects of elevated ozone exposure on regional meteorology and air quality in China through ozonevegetation coupling Jin, Zhipeng, Yan, Dan, Zhang, Zihan, Li, Mengmeng, Wang, Tijian, Huang, Xin, Xie, Min, Li, Shu, Zhuang, Bingliang Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
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