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Description

The MCD15A3H Version 6.1 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 4 combined Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) 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 6.1 LAI/FPAR 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, and (2) A polarization correction has been applied to the L1B Reflective Solar Bands (RSB).

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 Present
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
C2343110937-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
634439
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/Terra+Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 4-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A3H.061 Date Accessed: 2026-08-24

File Naming Convention

MCD15A3H.A2025213.h11v06.061.2025218033608.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD15A3H) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025213), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h11v06), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025218033608), 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 Topic
Comparing Three Remotely Sensed Approaches for Simulating Gross Primary Xie, Xinyao, Li, Ainong, Jin, Huaan, Bian, Jinhu, Zhang, Zhengjian, Nan, Xi Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Drivers of the fungal spore bioaerosol budget: observational analysis and global modeling Janssen, Ruud H. H., Heald, Colette L., Steiner, Allison L., Perring, Anne E., Huffman, J. Alex, Robinson, Ellis S., Twohy, Cynthia H., Ziemba, Luke D. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Drought years in peatland rewetting: Rapid vegetation succession can maintain the net CO2 sink function Beyer, Florian, Jansen, Florian, Jurasinski, Gerald, Koch, Marian, Schroder, Birgit, Koebsch, Franziska 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)
Droughts and heatwaves in the Western MediterraneanImpact on vegetation and wildfires using the coupled WRF-ORCHIDEE regional model (RegIPSL) Guion, Antoine, Turquety, Solene, Polcher, Jan, Pennel, Romain, Bastin, Sophie, Arsouze, Thomas Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fire Occurrence, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Burned Area, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Improved agricultural Water management in data-scarce semi-arid watersheds: Value of integrating remotely sensed leaf area index in hydrological modeling Paul, Manashi, Rajib, Adnan, Negahban-Azar, Masoud, Shirmohammadi, Adel, Srivastava, Puneet Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Improving the representation of forests in hydrological models Haas, Henrique, Reaver, Nathan G.F., Karki, Ritesh, Kalin, Latif, Srivastava, Puneet, Kaplan, David A., Gonzalez-Benecke, Carlos Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Improving the retrieval of Forest canopy chlorophyll content from MERIS dataset by introducing the vegetation clumping index Sun, Qi, Jiao, Quanjun, Liu, Liangyun, Liu, Xinjie, Qian, Xiaojin, Zhang, Xiao, Zhang, Bing Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Impact of Soil Permittivity and Temperature Profile on L-Band Microwave Zheng, Donghai, Li, Xin, Zhao, Tianjie, Wen, Jun, van der Velde, Rogier, Schwank, Mike, Wang, Xin, Wang, Zuoliang, Su, Zhongbo Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on vegetation change: Evidence from typical areas in China Zheng, Kaiyuan, Tan, Linshan, Sun, Yanwei, Wu, Yanjuan, Duan, Zheng, Xu, Yu, Gao, Chao 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)
Improved retrieval of land surface biophysical variables from time series of Sentinel-3 OLCI TOA spectral observations by considering the temporal autocorrelation of surface and atmospheric properties Yang, Peiqi, Verhoef, Wout, Prikaziuk, Egor, van der Tol, Christiaan Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Information-based uncertainty decomposition in dual-channel microwave remote sensing of soil moisture Li, Bonan, Good, Stephen P. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Surface Soil Moisture
Mapping Potential Plant Species Richness over Large Areas with Deep Choe, Hyeyeong, Chi, Junhwa, Thorne, James H. 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)
LamaH | Large-Sample Data for Hydrology: Big data fur die Hydrologie und Umweltwissenschaften Klingler, Christoph, Schulz, Karsten, Herrnegger, Mathew Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
LamaH-CE: LArge-SaMple DAta for Hydrology and Environmental Sciences for Central Europe Klingler, Christoph, Schulz, Karsten, Herrnegger, Mathew Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Stratigraphic Sequence, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Soil Depth, Sediments, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Mapping daily evapotranspiration at field scale using the Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 dataset, with sharpened VIIRS as a Sentinel-2 thermal proxy Xue, Jie, Anderson, Martha C., Gao, Feng, Hain, Christopher, Yang, Yun, Knipper, Kyle R., Kustas, William P., Yang, Yang Evapotranspiration, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, 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)
Phenological corrections to a field-scale, ET-based crop stress indicator: An application to yield forecasting across the US Corn Belt Yang, Yang, Anderson, Martha C., Gao, Feng, Johnson, David M., Yang, Yun, Sun, Liang, Dulaney, Wayne, Hain, Christopher R., Otkin, Jason A., Prueger, John, Meyers, Tilden P., Bernacchi, Carl J., Moore, Caitlin E. Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Prospects for Long-Term Agriculture in Southern Africa: Emergent Wei, Tiffany M., Barros, Ana P. Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Air Temperature, Specific Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Wind Speed, Rain, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Cover, Snow Depth, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo, Precipitation, Precipitation Amount, Precipitation Rate, Emissivity
Predicting light regime controls on primary productivity across CONUS river networks Savoy, Phil, Harvey, Judson W. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Leaf area index retrieval with ICESat-2 photon counting LiDAR Zhang, Jie, Tian, Jinyan, Li, Xiaojuan, Wang, Le, Chen, Beibei, Gong, Huili, Ni, Rongguang, Zhou, Bingfeng, Yang, Cankun Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Moisture and temperature influences on nonlinear vegetation trends in Huang, Ningyuan, Mondal, Pinki, Cook, Benjamin I, McDermid, Sonali Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Modeling gas exchange and biomass production in West African Sahelian and Sudanian ecological zones Rahimi, Jaber, Ago, Expedit Evariste, Ayantunde, Augustine, Berger, Sina, Bogaert, Jan, Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus, Cappelaere, Bernard, Cohard, Jean-Martial, Demarty, Jerome, Diouf, Abdoul Aziz, Falk, Ulrike, Haas, Edwin, Hiernaux, Pierre, Kraus, David, Roupsard, Olivier, Scheer, Clemens, Srivastava, Amit Kumar, Tagesson, Torbern, Grote, Rudiger Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Modeling Transpiration with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence Feng, Huaize, Xu, Tongren, Liu, Liangyun, Zhou, Sha, Zhao, Jingxue, Liu, Shaomin, Xu, Ziwei, Mao, Kebiao, He, Xinlei, Zhu, Zhongli, Chai, Linna Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Necrophagous flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae) as indicators of the conservation or anthropization of environments in eastern Amazonia, Brazil Mendes, Thiago Pereira, Esposito, Maria Cristina, da Silva Carvalho-Filho, Fernando, Juen, Leandro, Alvarado, Swanni T., de Sousa, Jose Roberto Pereira Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Potential of hotspot solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence for better tracking terrestrial photosynthesis Hao, Dalei, Asrar, Ghassem R., Zeng, Yelu, Yang, Xi, Li, Xing, Xiao, Jingfeng, Guan, Kaiyu, Wen, Jianguang, Xiao, Qing, Berry, Joseph A., Chen, Min Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Subwatershed-based lake and river routing products for hydrologic and land surface models applied over Canada Han, Ming, Mai, Juliane, Tolson, Bryan A., Craig, James R., Gaborit, Etienne, Liu, Hongli, Lee, Konhee Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
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