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Description

The MOD15A2H Version 6.1 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) combined Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) product is an 8-day composite dataset with 500 meter (m) pixel size. The algorithm chooses the “best” pixel available from all the acquisitions of the Terra sensor from within the 8-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 nanometers (nm), absorbed by the green elements of a vegetation canopy.

Science Datasets (SDSs) in the Level 4 (L4) MOD15A2H product include LAI, FPAR, two quality layers, and standard deviation for LAI and FPAR. Two low resolution browse images, LAI and FPAR, are also available for each MOD15A2H granule.

Known Issues

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to the MODIS Version 6.1 LAI/FPAR data product: (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
500 Meters x 500 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
MODIS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2000-02-18 to Present
Temporal Resolution
8 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
C2218777082-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
346678
Processing Level
4
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
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 Leaf Area Index/FPAR 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD15A2H.061 Date Accessed: 2026-06-20

File Naming Convention

MOD15A2H.A2025209.h35v09.061.2025218040352.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD15A2H) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025209), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h35v09), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025218040352), 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
Global patterns and controls of terrestrial above-and belowground Wang, Shuai, Wang, Yingping, Zhang, Lu, Cheng, Lei, Zou, Kaijie, Zhou, Lihao, Wang, Yafei, Ye, Linyuan, Wu, Yue, Chang, Liwei, Qin, Shujing, Liu, Pan Biomass Dynamics, Primary Production, Biomass, Photosynthesis, Vegetation Productivity, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Commodity-driven deforestation doubles local warming from tropical forest loss Smith, Callum, Baker, Jessica C A, Doggart, Nike H, Argles, Arthur P K, Robertson, Eddy, Chadwick, Robin, Adami, Marcos, Coelho, Caio A S, Spracklen, Dominick V Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Albedo, Anisotropy, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Evapotranspiration, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Latent Heat Flux, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Climate change will increase forest disturbances in Europe throughout the 21st century Grunig, Marc, Rammer, Werner, Senf, Cornelius, Albrich, Katharina, Andre, Frederic, Augustynczik, Andrey L. D., Baumann, Martin, Bohn, Friedrich J., Bouwman, Meike, Bugmann, Harald, Collalti, Alessio, Cristal, Irina, Dalmonech, Daniela, De Coligny, Francois, Dobor, Laura, Dollinger, Christina, Espelta, Josep Maria, Forrester, David I., Garcia-Gonzalo, Jordi, Gonzalez-Olabarria, Jose Ramon, Hiltner, Ulrike, Hlasny, Tomas, Honkaniemi, Juha, Huber, Nica, Jonard, Mathieu, Jonsson, Anna Maria, Kunstler, Georges, Lagergren, Fredrik, Lindner, Marcus, Mina, Marco, Moos, Christine, Morin, Xavier, Muys, Bart, Nabuurs, Gert-Jan, Nieberg, Mats, Patacca, Marco, Peltoniemi, Mikko, Reyer, Christopher P. O., Schelhaas, Mart-Jan, Storms, Ilie, Thom, Dominik, Toigo, Maude, Seidl, Rupert Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Physically interpretable AlphaEarth foundation model embeddings enable LLM-based land surface intelligence Rahman, Mashrekur Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Population Density
Prediction of maize yield in Uganda using CNN-LSTM architecture on a multimodal climate and remote sensing dataset Taremwa, Danison, Ahishakiye, Emmanuel, Obbo, Aggrey, Kisozi, Paul Kategaya, Kaggwa, Fred Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Real-time generation of gap-free MODIS leaf area index product from 2000 Zhang, Guodong, Ni, Yimin, Sun, Gang, Yin, Gaofei, Zhao, Wei, Ding, Anxin, Liu, Xinyan, Zhang, Yi, Hu, Jiangchuan, Li, Zongyan, Chen, Rui, Wang, Meilian, Verger, Aleixandre Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Sensitivities of mean and extreme streamflow to climate variability across Europe Hemshorn de Sanchez, Anna Luisa, Berghuijs, Wouter R., Van Loon, Anne F., Hendriks, Dimmie, van der Velde, Ype Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Satellite-based detection of agricultural flash droughts and associated vegetation responses in southeastern South America Masaro, Lumila, Lovino, Miguel A, Pierrestegui, M Josefina, Muller, Gabriela V, Dorigo, Wouter Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Reflectance, Root Zone Soil Moisture, Surface Soil Moisture
Quantitative assessment of vegetation-driven removal of key air Liu, Tong, Yao, Jiaqi, Cao, Yongqiang, Lu, Lijun, Chang, Huanyu, Ren, He, Mo, Fan, Wang, Xuan, Xu, Nan Heat Flux, Air Temperature, Skin Temperature, Specific Humidity, Water Vapor, Precipitation Rate, Snow/Ice, Evaporation, Latent Heat Flux, Latent Heat Flux, Sensible Heat Flux, Diffusion, Surface Winds, Wind Speed, U/V Wind Components, Wind Stress, Wind Stress, Surface Roughness, Planetary Boundary Layer Height, Ice Fraction, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Quantifying the uncertainty influence of meteorological forcing and land Long, Yinping, Tan, Xiwen, Song, Minhong, Wu, Xuejiao, Ma, Qimin Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Regional vs local LSTM models for short-term streamflow forecasting Saavedra-Garrido, Jorge, Arevalo, Jorge, De La Fuente, Luis, Tapia, Aldo, Paredes-Arroyo, Christopher, Cordova, Ana Maria, Velandia, Daira, Alvarez, Pablo, Reyes-Serrano, Hector, Salas, Rodrigo Terrain Elevation, RADAR IMAGERY, Topographical Relief Maps, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Plant Phenology
Regionalized determinants of dryland forest gross primary productivity Li, Xuan, Dong, Xiaoxue, He, Xiao, Chen, Ning, Zhao, Changming Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Precipitation, Rain, Precipitation Amount, Precipitation Rate, Snow
Response Mechanisms of Air Quality Index (AQI) Spatiotemporal Dynamics in Shandong Province: A Perspective of Vegetation Greenness and Ecological Efficiency Sun, Jiuhu, Jiang, Na, Xun, Yan, Yin, Xiaohan, Niu, Xiao, Zhang, Qiwei, Hou, Ke, Yin, Yuan, Chen, Wei, Song, Wanjuan, Tang, Feng, Liu, Shidong, Zhang, Xin, Li, Zishen, Peng, Yu, Niu, Zheng, Wang, Li Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Responses of grassland ecosystem temporal stability to biotic and abiotic drivers in arid and semi-arid regions of China Han, Yunxiang, Zhang, Huayong, Zhao, Bingjian, Luo, Xi, Zhang, Xiao Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
The phenology of European forests as seen by MODIS Leaf Area Index and GEDI Plant Area Index: toward an integrated approach Cotrina-Sanchez, Alexander, Coomes, David A., Ball, James, Holcomb, Amelia, Valentini, Riccardo, Vaglio Laurin, Gaia Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
The increasing impact of vegetation productivity on global wetland Wang, Longjun, Li, Peng, Zhu, Qiuan, Zhou, Xiaolu, Deng, Zhengmiao, Liu, Zelin, Zou, Ziying, Peng, Changhui Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
The safety margin of small-scale tree cover loss in global fragmented forests Wang, Jingrui, Zhang, Chaoqun, Pan, Yixuan, Su, Yongxian, Ciais, Philippe, Smith, Taylor, Shang, Jiali, Liu, Jane, Chen, Jing M., Cescatti, Alessandro, Zhang, Yongguang, Laurance, William F., Senf, Cornelius, Zuo, Zhiyan, Liao, Jinbao, Lafortezza, Raffaele, Yan, Kai, Zhu, Peng, Guan, Xiaobin, Li, Xing, Xue, Meimei, Yuan, Wenping, Chen, Xiuzhi, Zhou, Weiqi Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature
Sustainable grazing strategies for balancing soil conservation and Liu, Le, Chen, Yunming, Peng, Shouzhang, Han, Qinggong, Wu, Yang Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Spatiotemporal variation and regulatory mechanisms in carbon budget and resource use efficiencies across global terrestrial biomes Hao, Shaorong, Zhao, Hongxian, Wang, Mengdie, Gao, Yao, Xu, Mingze, Zhang, Weirong, Hu, Zhongmin, Jin, Chuan Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
What can hydrological modelling gain from spatially explicit Zheng, Xudong, Liu, Dengfeng, Wang, Hao, Ma, Chuanhui, Liu, Hui, Ming, Guanghui, Li, Qiang, Khan, Mohd Yawar Ali, Hussain, Fiaz Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance
What controls fire size in the South American Gran Chaco? Exploring atmospheric and landscape drivers through Remote Sensing San Martin, Rodrigo, Ottle, Catherine, Sorensson, Anna, Vaittinada Ayar, Pradeebane, Mouillot, Florent, Malfante, Marielle Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Population Density
Uncertainty Analysis of Gross Primary Production (GPP) Remote-Sensing Ge, Zhongxi, Qu, Yanda, Teng, Huiqin, Tang, Bo-Hui Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Tracking seasonal variability in plant traits from spaceborne PRISMA and Ji, Fujiang, Zheng, Ting, Shiklomanov, Alexey N., Yang, Ruqi, Townsend, Philip A., Li, Fa, Hao, Dalei, Dashti, Hamid, Kovach, Kyle R., You, Hangkai, Zhou, Junxiong, Chen, Min Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Maximum/Minimum Temperature, 24 Hour Precipitation Amount, Snow Water Equivalent, Vapor Pressure, Shortwave Radiation
Analysis of Net Primary Productivity Trends in India by Incorporating the Direct Effect of CO2 Fertilization in MODIS Data Das, Ripan, Karmakar, Subhankar, Ghosh, Subimal Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Atmospheric Radiation, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Radiative Flux, Radiative Forcing, Surface Radiative Properties, Albedo, Emissivity, Cloud Properties, Cloud Fraction, Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness, Skin Temperature, Skin Temperature, Sea Surface Skin Temperature, Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Geopotential Height, Altitude, Surface Temperature, Upper Air Temperature, Dew Point Temperature, Air Temperature, Cloud Top Temperature, Atmospheric Winds, Surface Winds, U/V Wind Components, Upper Level Winds, U/V Wind Components, Vertical Wind Velocity/Speed, Atmospheric Pressure, Sea Level Pressure, Cloud Top Pressure, Sea Level Pressure, Surface Pressure, Specific Humidity, Total Precipitable Water, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Atmospheric Ozone, Oxygen Compounds, Boundary Layer Winds, Total Ozone
A comparison of machine learning algorithms for predicting gross primary Agarwal, Geetika, Deb Burman, Pramit Kumar, Kulkarni, Vrushali Y, Kosamkar, Pranali K Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
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