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Description
The MOD13A1 Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MOD13A1 Version 6.1 data product.
The MOD13A1 Version 6 product provides Vegetation Index (VI) values at a per pixel basis at 500 meter (m) spatial resolution. There are two primary vegetation layers. The first is the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is referred to as the continuity index to the existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR) derived NDVI. The second vegetation layer is the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), which has improved sensitivity over high biomass regions. The algorithm for this product chooses the best available pixel value from all the acquisitions from the 16 day period. The criteria used is low clouds, low view angle, and the highest NDVI/EVI value.
Provided along with the vegetation layers and two quality assurance (QA) layers are reflectance bands 1 (red), 2 (near-infrared), 3 (blue), and 7 (mid-infrared), as well as four observation layers.
Known Issues
The following issues have been detected:
Unexpected missing data in the last cycles of each year.
Incorrect instances of "NoData" and spikes in NDVI values.
VI Usefulness Bits are not correctly assigned.
For instances where the VI Quality (bits 0-1) is flagged as good and the VI Usefulness (bits 2-5) indicates the same pixels have the lowest usefulness score, users are advised to disregard the usefulness score.
The incorrect representation of the aerosol quantities (low, average, high) in the Collection 6 MOD09 surface reflectance products may have impacted MOD13 Vegetation Index data products particularly over arid bright surfaces.
Corrections were implemented in Collection 6.1 reprocessing.
The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6 vegetation index data products: (1) The 16-day composite VI is generated using the two 8-day composite surface reflectance granules (MOD09A1) in the 16-day period, (2) This surface reflectance input is based on the minimum blue compositing approach used to generate the 8-day surface reflectance product, (3) The product format is consistent with the Version 5 product generated using the Level 2 gridded daily surface reflectance product, and (4) A frequently updated long-term global Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) Average Vegetation Index product database is used to fill the gaps in the CMG product suite.
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
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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)
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.
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Citation Copied
Didan, K. (2015). MOD13A1 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V006 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A1.006 Date Accessed: 2026-07-05
Didan, K. (2015). MOD13A1 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V006 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A1.006 Date Accessed: 2026-07-05
Didan, Kamel. “MOD13A1 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V006.” NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015, https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A1.006. Date Accessed: 2026-07-05
File Naming Convention
MOD13A1.A2002257.h21v13.006.2015151084135.hdf
The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD13A1) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002257), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h21v13), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015151084135), and the Data Format (hdf).
Learn how to interpret Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices quality data by understanding layers, decoding bits, and using tools for quality assessment.
Kirkland, Maire, Atkinson, Philip W., Pearce-Higgins, James W., de Jong, Mark C., Dowling, Thomas P.F., Grummo, Dmitri, Critchley, Megan, Ashton-Butt, Adham
Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Slingsby, Jasper A., Wilson, Adam M., Maitner, Brian, Moncrieff, Glenn R.
Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
