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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
Spatiotemporal characterization of agricultural drought in the Sahel region using a composite drought index Abdourahamane, Zakari Seybou, Garba, Issa, Gambo Boukary, Aboubakr, Mirzabaev, Alisher Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Water-Vapour Monitoring from Ground-Based GNSS Observations in Antonoglou, Nikolaos, Balidakis, Kyriakos, Wickert, Jens, Dick, Galina, de la Torre, Alejandro, Bookhagen, Bodo Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Understanding short-term organic matter fluctuations to optimize drinking water treatment Klante, Clemens, Hagg, Kristofer, Larson, Magnus Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Wintering habitat modelling for conservation of Eurasian vultures in northern India JHA, Radhika, KANAUJIA, Amita, JHA, Kaushalendra Kumar Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
A data-driven approach to assessing the impact of water harvesting structures on regional water storage in East Africa Eisma, J. A., Merwade, V. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
A 1-km hourly air-temperature model for 13 northeastern US states using remotely sensed and ground-based measurements Carrion, Daniel, Arfer, Kodi B., Rush, Johnathan, Dorman, Michael, Rowland, Sebastian T., Kioumourtzoglou, Marianthi-Anna, Kloog, Itai, Just, Allan C. Air Temperature, Carbon Monoxide, Cloud Fraction, Cloud Height, Cloud Top Pressure, Cloud Top Temperature, Cloud Vertical Distribution, Emissivity, Geopotential Height, Methane, Outgoing Longwave Radiation, Atmospheric Ozone, Total Precipitable Water, Sea Surface Temperature, Surface Pressure, Skin Temperature, Surface Temperature, Sulfur Dioxide, Tropopause, Tropospheric Ozone, Upper Air Temperature, Water Vapor Profiles, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Land Surface Temperature, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Analysing the day/night seasonal and annual changes and trends in land surface temperature and surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII) for Indian cities Siddiqui, Asfa, Kushwaha, Gautami, Nikam, Bhaskar, Srivastav, S.K., Shelar, Ankita, Kumar, Pramod Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Adaptive Determination of the Flow Accumulation Threshold for Extracting Drainage Networks from DEMs Zhang, Wei, Li, Wenkai, Loaiciga, Hugo A., Liu, Xiuguo, Liu, Shuya, Zheng, Shengjie, Zhang, Han 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, Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Precipitation, Precipitation Amount
Analysis of Factors Influencing the Lake Area on the Tibetan Plateau Xiong, Zhexin, Chen, Yumin, Tan, Huangyuan, Cheng, Qishan, Zhou, Annan Reflectance, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), 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
Agroforestry land suitability analysis in the Eastern Indian Himalayan region Nath, Arun Jyoti, Kumar, Rakesh, Devi, N. Bijayalaxmi, Rocky, Pebam, Giri, Krishna, Sahoo, Uttam Kumar, Bajpai, Raj Kumar, Sahu, Netrananda, Pandey, Rajiv Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
A saturated light correction method for DMSP-OLS nighttime stable light data by remote and social sensing data Huang, Xiaolei, Shi, Kaifang, Cui, Yuanzheng, Li, Yuanqing Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
An improved index for urban population distribution mapping based on nighttime lights (DMSP-OLS) data: An experiment in Riyadh province, Saudi Arabia Alahmadi, Mohammed, Mansour, Shawky, Martin, David, Atkinson, Peter M. Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
A phytolith supported biosphere-hydrosphere predictive model for Southern Ethiopia: Insights into paleoenvironmental changes and human landscape preferences since the last glacial maximum Fischer, Markus L., Bachofer, Felix, Yost, Chad L., Bludau, Ines J. E., Schepers, Christian, Foerster, Verena, Lamb, Henry, Schabitz, Frank, Asrat, Asfawossen, Trauth, Martin H., Junginger, Annett Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Precipitation, Precipitation Amount, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Rain
A spatiotemporal reconstruction of daily ambient temperature using satellite data in the Megalopolis of Central Mexico from 2003 to 2019 GutierrezAvila, Ivan, Arfer, Kodi B., Wong, Sandy, Rush, Johnathan, Kloog, Itai, Just, Allan C. Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Attribution of growing season evapotranspiration variability considering snowmelt and vegetation changes in the arid alpine basins Ning, Tingting, Li, Zhi, Feng, Qi, Li, Zongxing, Qin, Yanyan Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Burden is in the eye of the beholderSensitivity of yellow fever disease burden estimates to modeling assumptions Perkins, T. Alex, Huber, John H., Tran, Quan M., Oidtman, Rachel J., Walters, Magdalene K., Siraj, Amir S., Moore, Sean M. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
CCAM: China Catchment Attributes and Meteorology dataset Hao, Zhen, Jin, Jin, Xia, Runliang, Tian, Shimin, Yang, Wushuang, Liu, Qixing, Zhu, Min, Ma, Tao, Jing, Chengran, Zhang, Yanning Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Can we use precipitation isotope outputs of isotopic general circulation models to improve hydrological modeling in large mountainous catchments on the ... Nan, Yi, He, Zhihua, Tian, Fuqiang, Wei, Zhongwang, Tian, Lide Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Assessment of land degradation vulnerability using geospatial technique: A case study of Kachchh District of Gujarat, India Parmar, Manish, Bhawsar, Zalak, Kotecha, Mit, Shukla, Alpana, Rajawat, A. S. Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Classification of homogeneous regions of vegetation cover in the state of rio grande do sul, brazil and its temporal dynamics, using avhrr gimms and modis data sets CORDEIRO, ANA PAULA A., ALVES, RITA DE CASSIA M., STEFFLER, ANA PAULA L.W., MENGUE, VAGNER P., FONTANA, DENISE C., ROGLIO, VINICIUS S., GUASSELLI, LAURINDO A. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Characteristics of NDVI temporal and spatial variation in the source area of the Yangtze river and its response to hydrothermal conditions Dai, Xitong, Yao, Liqiang, Yuan, Zhe, Sun, Keke Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Changes in the concentration of air pollutants before and after the COVID-19 blockade period and their correlation with vegetation coverage Zhou, Manguo, Huang, Yanguo, Li, Guilan Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Assessing the response of vegetation change to drought during 2009-2018 in Yunnan Province, China Yu, Yuanhe, Shen, Yuzhen, Wang, Jinliang, Wei, Yuchun, Nong, Lanping, Deng, Huan Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Total Surface Precipitation Rate
Assessing urban-rural climate resilience of metropolitan Yangon, Myanmar Pang, Pearlyn, Guo, Zhou, Wang, YiChen Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Total Surface Precipitation Rate
Assessing urbanization's contribution to warming in mainland China using satellite-estimated air temperature data Yao, Rui, Wang, Lunche, Huang, Xin, Wu, Xiaojun, Yang, Liu, Niu, Zigeng Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
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