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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
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
628389
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 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A3H.061 Date Accessed: 2026-05-27

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
Remote sensing of leaf area index from LiDAR height percentile metrics and comparison with MODIS product in a selectively logged tropical forest area in Eastern ... Qu, Yonghua, Shaker, Ahmed, Silva, Carlos Alberto, Klauberg, Carine, Pinage, Ekena Rangel Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Forest Composition/Vegetation Structure, Canopy Characteristics, Reforestation, Crown, Forests, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Lidar Backscatter
Two-source energy balance modeling of evapotranspiration in Alpine grasslands Castelli, M., Anderson, M.C., Yang, Y., Wohlfahrt, G., Bertoldi, G., Niedrist, G., Hammerle, A., Zhao, P., Zebisch, M., Notarnicola, C. 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), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Examination of the impacts of vegetation on the correlation between snow water equivalent and passive microwave brightness temperature Cai, Shanshan, Li, Dongyue, Durand, Michael, Margulis, Steven A. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Testing the maximum entropy production approach for estimating Wang, Hailong, Tetzlaff, Doerthe, Soulsby, Chris Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Ambient concentration and dry deposition of major inorganic nitrogen species at two urban sites in Sichuan Basin, China Wang, Huanbo, Yang, Fumo, Shi, Guangming, Tian, Mi, Zhang, Leiming, Zhang, Liuyi, Fu, Chuan Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Assimilating a synthetic Kalman filter leaf area index series into the WOFOST model to improve regional winter wheat yield estimation Huang, Jianxi, Sedano, Fernando, Huang, Yanbo, Ma, Hongyuan, Li, Xinlu, Liang, Shunlin, Tian, Liyan, Zhang, Xiaodong, Fan, Jinlong, Wu, Wenbin Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Improving winter wheat yield estimation by assimilation of the leaf area index from Landsat TM and MODIS data into the WOFOST model Huang, Jianxi, Tian, Liyan, Liang, Shunlin, Ma, Hongyuan, Becker-Reshef, Inbal, Huang, Yanbo, Su, Wei, Zhang, Xiaodong, Zhu, Dehai, Wu, Wenbin Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
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