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Description

The Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices Monthly (MOD13A3) Version 6.1 data are provided monthly at 1 kilometer (km) spatial resolution as a gridded Level 3 product in the sinusoidal projection. In generating this monthly product, the algorithm ingests all the MOD13A2 products that overlap the month and employs a weighted temporal average.

The MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) complements NOAA's Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) NDVI products and provides continuity for time series historical applications. MODIS also includes an Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) that minimizes canopy background variations and maintains sensitivity over dense vegetation conditions. The EVI uses the blue band to remove residual atmosphere contamination caused by smoke and sub-pixel thin clouds. The MODIS NDVI and EVI products are computed from surface reflectances corrected for molecular scattering, ozone absorption, and aerosols.

Vegetation indices are used for global monitoring of vegetation conditions and are used in products displaying land cover and land cover changes. These data may be used as input for modeling global biogeochemical and hydrologic processes as well as global and regional climate. Additional applications include characterizing land surface biophysical properties and processes, such as primary production and land cover conversion.

Provided along with the vegetation layers and the two quality assurance (QA) layers are reflectance bands 1 (red), 2 (near-infrared), 3 (blue), and 7 (mid-infrared), as well as three observation layers.

Known Issues

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6.1 vegetation indices 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
Instruments
MODIS
Projects
TERRA
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
1000 Meters x 1000 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
MODIS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2000-02-01 to Present
Temporal Resolution
1 Month
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
C2327962326-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
91847
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Vegetation Index ,
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) ,
Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)

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

Didan, K. (2021). MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A3.061 Date Accessed: 2026-06-08

File Naming Convention

MOD13A3.A2025152.h01v11.061.2025195144044.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD13A3) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025152), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h01v11), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025195144044), 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
LGHAPThe Long-term Gap-free High-resolution Air Pollutant concentration dataset, derived via tensor-flow-based multimodal data fusion Bai, Kaixu, Li, Ke, Ma, Mingliang, Li, Kaitao, Li, Zhengqiang, Guo, Jianping, Chang, Ni-Bin, Tan, Zhuo, Han, Di Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Machine Learning-Based Approach Using Open Data to Estimate PM2.5 over Europe Ibrahim, Saleem, Landa, Martin, Pesek, Ondrej, Brodsky, Lukas, Halounova, Lena Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
LSTM-Based Prediction of Mediterranean Vegetation Dynamics Using NDVI Time-Series Data Vasilakos, Christos, Tsekouras, George E., Kavroudakis, Dimitris Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Large discrepancies of global greeningIndication of multi-source remote sensing data Wang, Zhaoqi, Wang, Hong, Wang, Tongfang, Wang, Lina, Liu, Xiang, Zheng, Kai, Huang, Xiaotao Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Interannual variation of gross primary production detected from optimal convolutional neural network at multitimescale water stress Yu, Peixin, Zhou, Tao, Luo, Hui, Liu, Xia, Shi, Peijun, Zhao, Xiang, Xiao, Zhiqiang, Zhang, Yajie, Zhou, Peifang Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Biogeochemical Cycles, Carbon, Nitrogen, Soil Heat Budget
Improving a comprehensive remote sensing drought index (CRSDI) in the Shojaei, Shima, Rahimzadegan, Majid Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Increasing the accuracy of monthly and annual estimates of soil loss in Iran by considering the effect of snow cover in reducing rainfall erosivity Kabolizadeh, Mostafa, Rangzan, Kazem, Mohammadi, Shahin Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Influence of energy and water cycle key parameters on drought in Mongolian Plateau during 1979-2020 He, Jie, Letu, Husi, Lei, Yonghui, Guo, Enliang, Bao, Shanhu, Zhang, Yongqiang, Tana, Gegen, Bao, Yuhai Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Incorporating satellite remote sensing for improving potential habitat simulation of Prosopis Cineraria in United Arab Emirates Kalarikkal, Remya Kottarathu, Kim, Youngwook, Ksiksi, Taoufik Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Plant Phenology, Evapotranspiration, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Latent Heat Flux, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Eco-biophysical indicators to ascertain the sustainability aspect of world's primitive hills range using time-series MODIS data products Raj, Alok, Sharma, Laxmi Kant Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Effects of social organization and elevation on spatial genetic Fontcuberta, Amaranta, Kapun, Martin, Tran Van, Patrick, Purcell, Jessica, Chapuisat, Michel Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Differential effects of vegetation and climate on termite diversity and damage Wu, Donghao, Seibold, Sebastian, Ellwood, M. D. Farnon, Chu, Chengjin Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Ecological niche models of Welwitschia mirabilis and its Oldeland, Jens, Gunter, Felicitas, Jurgens, Norbert Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Drought hot spot analysis using local indicators of spatial autocorrelationAn experience from Bangladesh Islam, S M Samiul, Islam, K. M. Ashraful, Mullick, Md. Reaz Akter Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Drought monitoring and its effects on vegetation and water extent changes using remote sensing data in Urmia Lake watershed, Iran Helali, Jalil, Asaadi, Shahab, Jafarie, Teimour, Habibi, Maral, Salimi, Saadoun, Momenpour, Seyed Erfan, Shahmoradi, Salah, Hosseini, Seyed Asaad, Hessari, Behzad, Saeidi, Vahideh Reflectance, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Droughts across ChinaDrought factors, prediction and impacts Zhang, Qiang, Shi, Rui, Singh, Vijay P., Xu, Chong-Yu, Yu, Huiqian, Fan, Keke, Wu, Zixuan Reflectance, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Downscaling correction and hydrological applicability of the three latest high-resolution satellite precipitation products (GPM, GSMAP, and MSWEP) in the Pingtang Catchment, China Sun, Guikai, Wei, Yixiong, Wang, Guoshuai, Shi, Rui, Chen, Haojian, Mo, Chongxun Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Total Surface Precipitation Rate
Evaluating the External Effect of Wind Power Development on Grassland Quality Song, Feng, Hou, Lingling, Xia, Fang Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Construction and application of comprehensive drought monitoring model considering the influence of terrain factorsA case study of southwest Yunnan, China Li, Shan, Xu, Quanli, Yi, Junhua, Liu, Jing Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Total Surface Precipitation Rate
Development of earth observational diagnostic drought prediction model for regional error calibration: A case study on agricultural drought in Kyrgyzstan Park, Eunbeen, Jo, Hyun-Woo, Lee, Woo-Kyun, Lee, Sujong, Song, Cholho, Lee, Halim, Park, Sugyeong, Kim, Whijin, Kim, Tae-Hyung Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Heat wave-induced augmentation of surface urban heat islands strongly regulated by rural background Miao, Shiqi, Zhan, Wenfeng, Lai, Jiameng, Li, Long, Du, Huilin, Wang, Chenguang, Wang, Chunli, Li, Jiufeng, Huang, Fan, Liu, Zihan, Dong, Pan Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Albedo, Anisotropy
Host diversity and behavior determine patterns of interspecies Hicks, Joseph T., Edwards, Kimberly, Qiu, Xueting, Kim, Do-Kyun, Hixson, James E., Krauss, Scott, Webby, Richard J., Webster, Robert G., Bahl, Justin Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
How do local people value ecosystem service benefits received from conservation programs? Evidence from nature reserves on the Hengduan Mountains Liu, Yuqing, Zhou, Su, Chen, Yongzhe, Cheng, Hao, Zhou, Wei, Yang, Murong, Shen, Yu, Wan, Lingfan, Su, Xukun, Liu, Guohua Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Establishing and Optimizing the Ecological Security Pattern in Shaanxi Li, Han, Zhang, Tian, Cao, Xiao-Shu, Zhang, Qian-Qian Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Exploring the potential role of environmental and multi-source satellite Li, Zhenwang, Ding, Lei, Xu, Dawei RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance, Anisotropy
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