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Description

The MCD15A3H Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MCD15A3H Version 6.1 data product.

The MCD15A3H Version 6 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 4, Combined Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR), and Leaf Area Index (LAI) product is a 4-day composite data set 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 4-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
4 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
C2763289451-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). MCD15A3H MODIS/Terra+Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 4-day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A3H.006 Date Accessed: 2026-07-04

File Naming Convention

MCD15A3H.A2002277.h26v08.006.2015151145358.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD15A3H) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002277), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h26v08), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015151145358), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Snow and soil moisture impacts on the Great Plains low-level jet and US Ferguson, Craig R., Song, Hyo-Jong, Winters, Andrew C., Beauharnois, Mark C. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Surface Flux Equilibrium Theory-Derived Evapotranspiration Estimate Thakur, Hitesh, Raghav, Pushpendra, Kumar, Mukesh, Wolkeba, Fitsume Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Anisotropy
Time-Scale Extension Algorithm of MUSES LAI Products Using Image Super-Resolution Zhao, Chunyu, Xiao, Zhiqiang, Song, Jinling, Yang, Hua, Zhang, Yunteng Leaf Area Index (LAI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
The use of newly assimilated photosynthates by soil autotrophic and heterotrophic respiration on a diurnal scale Ono, Moeka, Mitra, Bhaskar, Baniya, Benju, Kim, Dohee, Noormets, Asko Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Soil Respiration, Ecosystem Functions, Soil Respiration
Using solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence to estimate forest Liu, Xuanqi, Zhou, Kai, Zhang, Quan Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Variability and uncertainty in net ecosystem carbon exchange modeling: Wang, Nannan, Yue, Zijian, Liu, Yaolin, Tong, Zhaomin, Liu, Yanfang, Lu, Yanchi, Shi, Yongge Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Water column respiration in the Yakima River basin is explained by temperature, nutrients, and suspended solids Laan, Maggi M., Fulton, Stephanie G., Garayburu-Caruso, Vanessa A., Barnes, Morgan E., Borton, Mikayla A., Chen, Xingyuan, Farris, Yuliya, Forbes, Brieanne, Goldman, Amy E., Grieger, Samantha, Hall Jr., Robert O., Kaufman, Matthew H., Lin, Xinming, Zionce, Erin L. M., McKever, Sophia A., Myers-Pigg, Allison, Otenburg, Opal, Pelly, Aaron C., Ren, Huiying, Renteria, Lupita, Scheibe, Timothy D., Son, Kyongho, Tagestad, Jerry, Torgeson, Joshua M., Stegen, James C. Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Tower-to-global upscaling of terrestrial carbon fluxes driven by Reyes-Munoz, Pablo, D.Kovacs, David, Verrelst, Jochem Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Coupling Remote Sensing With a Process Model for the Simulation of Xia, Yushu, Sanderman, Jonathan, Watts, Jennifer D., Machmuller, Megan B., Mullen, Andrew L., Rivard, Charlotte, Endsley, Arthur, Hernandez, Haydee, Kimball, John, Ewing, Stephanie A., Litvak, Marcy, Duman, Tomer, Krishnan, Praveena, Meyers, Tilden, Brunsell, Nathaniel A., Mohanty, Binayak, Liu, Heping, Gao, Zhongming, Chen, Jiquan, Abraha, Michael, Scott, Russell L., Flerchinger, Gerald N., Clark, Patrick E., Stoy, Paul C., Khan, Anam M., Brookshire, E. N. Jack, Zhang, Quan, Cook, David R., Thienelt, Thomas, Mitra, Bhaskar, MauritzTozer, Marguerite, Tweedie, Craig E., Torn, Margaret S., Billesbach, Dave Reflectance, Anisotropy, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Precipitation Amount, Maximum/Minimum Temperature, Shortwave Radiation, Snow Water Equivalent, Vapor Pressure
Declining frequency yet increasing intensity of crop waterlogging events Deng, Chaozhong, Xiong, Qinxue, Harrison, Matthew Tom, Xu, Fuli, Xiang, Qian, Li, Liman, Liu, Ke Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Disentangling Ecological Restoration's Impact on Terrestrial Water Storage Shen, Xiaofan, Niu, Liantao, Jia, Xiaoxu, Yang, Ting, Hu, Wei, Wu, Chaoyang, Chu, Jiangdong, Biswas, Asim, Shao, Ming'an Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, 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)
DroughtSet: Understanding Drought Through Spatial-Temporal Learning Tan, Xuwei, Zhao, Qian, Liu, Yanlan, Zhang, Xueru RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Ecosystem carbon use efficiency at global scale from upscaling eddy-covariance data with machine learning and MODIS products Campos-Taberner, M., Gilabert, M. A., Sanchez-Ruiz, S., Martinez, B., Jimenez-Guisado, A., Garcia-Haro, F. J. Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Controls on actual evapotranspiration in wetland ecosystems across different climates Xu, Kang, Han, Qiong, Wang, Tiejun Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Denoising Autoencoder for Reconstructing Sensor Observation Data and Predicting Evapotranspiration: Noisy and Missing Values Repair and Uncertainty Quantification Johnsen, Timothy K., Bi, Xiangyu, Chou, Chunwei, Varadharajan, Charuleka, Wu, Yuxin, Skone, Jonathan, Ramakrishnan, Lavanya Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Environmental contingency of forest-cloud interactions: Contrasting atmospheric enhancement and suppression mechanisms across Chinese climate gradients Yang, Zhaohui, Zhou, Zeyu, Sharma, Ram P., Zhang, Huiru Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Enhanced Climate Mitigation Feedbacks by Wetland Vegetation in Semi-Arid Liu, Tingxiang, Yu, Lingxue, Yan, Zhuoran, Li, Xuan, Bu, Kun, Yang, Jiuchun Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
A Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Sink Assessment Model Considering Forest Zhang, Mengyu, He, Honglin, Zhang, Li, Yu, Guirui, Ren, Xiaoli, Huang, Yuanyuan, Yuan, Wenping, Niu, Zhong'en Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
A Bayesian information theoretic approach to assessing stomatal conductance dynamics in a perennial agricultural crop Ring, Noah L., Brunsell, Nathaniel A. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Assessment of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity-Depth Relationships and Mendoza, Raul, van Verseveld, Willem, Seijger, Chris, Weerts, Albrecht Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Ammonia exchange flux over a tropical dry deciduous forest in the dry Xu, Mao, Chanonmuang, Phuvasa, Sase, Hiroyuki, Sorimachi, Atsuyuki, Itahashi, Syuichi, Matsuda, Kazuhide Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
CEDAR-GPP: spatiotemporally upscaled estimates of gross primary productivity incorporating CO2 fertilization Kang, Yanghui, Bassiouni, Maoya, Gaber, Max, Lu, Xinchen, Keenan, Trevor F. Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance, Vegetation Index, Vegetation Cover, Plant Characteristics, Canopy Characteristics, Albedo
Capturing Soil Surface Freeze Dynamics Over the Arctic-Boreal Zone With Carreno-Luengo, Hugo, Ruf, Christopher S., Gleason, Scott, Russel, Anthony Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Compound effects of river routing and local rainfall-runoff for inflow Zang, Shuaihong, Weerts, Albrecht, van Verseveld, Willem Johan, Li, Zhijia, Huang, Pengnian Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Fuels Mediate the Influence of Climate Teleconnections on Wildfires in Dryland Ecosystems Qu, Yuquan, Veraverbeke, Sander, Miralles, Diego G., Fan, Jingfang, Vereecken, Harry, Montzka, Carsten Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Surface Temperature, Surface Thermal Properties, THERMAL ANOMALIES, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
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