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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
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
345808
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 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD15A2H.061 Date Accessed: 2026-05-27

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
Validation of global moderate resolution leaf area index (LAI) products over croplands in northeastern China Fang, Hongliang, Zhang, Yinghui, Wei, Shanshan, Li, Wenjuan, Ye, Yongchang, Sun, Tao, Liu, Weiwei Reflectance, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Upscaling gross primary production in corn-soybean rotation systems in the midwest Dold, Christian, Hatfield, Jerry L., Prueger, John H., Moorman, Tom B., Sauer, Tom J., Cosh, Michael H., Drewry, Darren T., Wacha, Ken M. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
The sensitivity of land-atmosphere coupling to modern agriculture in the northern midlatitudes McDermid, Sonali Shukla, Montes, Carlo, Cook, Benjamin I., Puma, Michael J., Kiang, Nancy Y., Aleinov, Igor Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Woody plant cover estimation in Texas savanna from MODIS products Yang, Xuebin Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Vegetation functional properties determine uncertainty of simulated ecosystem productivity: A traceability analysis in the East Asian monsoon region Cui, Erqian, Huang, Kun, Arain, Muhammad Altaf, Fisher, Joshua B., Huntzinger, Deborah N., Ito, Akihiko, Luo, Yiqi, Jain, Atul K., Mao, Jiafu, Michalak, Anna M., Niu, Shuli, Parazoo, Nicholas C., Peng, Changhui, Peng, Shushi, Poulter, Benjamin, Ricciuto, Daniel M., Schaefer, Kevin M., Schwalm, Christopher R., Shi, Xiaoying, Tian, Hanqin, Wang, Weile, Wang, Jinsong, Wei, Yaxing, Yan, Enrong, Yan, Liming, Zeng, Ning, Zhu, Qiuan, Xia, Jianyang Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Quantifying Dissolved Organic Carbon Dynamics Using a Three-Dimensional Liao, Chang, Zhuang, Qianlai, Leung, L. Ruby, Guo, Laodong Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Impact of the 2015/2016 El Nino on the terrestrial carbon cycle constrained by bottom-up and top-down approaches Bastos, Ana, Friedlingstein, Pierre, Sitch, Stephen, Chen, Chi, Mialon, Arnaud, Wigneron, Jean-Pierre, Arora, Vivek K., Briggs, Peter R., Canadell, Josep G., Ciais, Philippe, Chevallier, Frederic, Cheng, Lei, Delire, Christine, Haverd, Vanessa, Jain, Atul K., Joos, Fortunat, Kato, Etsushi, Lienert, Sebastian, Lombardozzi, Danica, Melton, Joe R., Myneni, Ranga, Nabel, Julia E. M. S., Pongratz, Julia, Poulter, Benjamin, Rodenbeck, Christian, Seferian, Roland, Tian, Hanqin, van Eck, Christel, Viovy, Nicolas, Vuichard, Nicolas, Walker, Anthony P., Wiltshire, Andy, Yang, Jia, Zaehle, Sonke, Zeng, Ning, Zhu, Dan Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Development of a physically based soil albedo parameterization for the Tibetan Plateau Zheng, Guanheng, Yang, Hanbo, Lei, Huimin, Yang, Dawen, Wang, Taihua, Qin, Yue Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Multi-objective validation of SWAT for sparsely-gauged West African river basinsA remote sensing approach Pomeon, Thomas, Diekkruger, Bernd, Springer, Anne, Kusche, Jurgen, Eicker, Annette Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Modelling aboveground biomass using MODIS FPAR/LAI data in alpine grasslands of the Northern Tibetan Plateau Wu, Jian Shuang, Fu, Gang Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Novel Measurements of Fine-Scale Albedo: Using a Commercial Quadcopter Levy, Charlotte R., Burakowski, Elizabeth, Richardson, Andrew D. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo, Anisotropy
Intraspecific ecological niche divergence and reproductive shifts foster cytotype displacement and provide ecological opportunity to polyploids Karunarathne, Piyal, Schedler, Mara, Martinez, Eric J, Honfi, Ana I, Novichkova, Anastasiia, Hojsgaard, Diego Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Accuracy Assessment on MODIS (V006), GLASS and MuSyQ Land-Surface Albedo Wu, Xiaodan, Wen, Jianguang, Xiao, Qing, You, Dongqin, Dou, Baocheng, Lin, Xinwen, Hueni, Andreas Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo, Anisotropy
A hierarchical Bayesian approach for multi-site optimization of a Su, Yonghong, Feng, Qi, Zhu, Gaofeng, Gu, Chunjie, Wang, Yunquan, Shang, Shasha, Zhang, Kun, Han, Tuo, Chen, Huiling, Ma, Jinzhu Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
A method to upscale the Leaf Area Index (LAI) using GF-1 data with the assistance of MODIS products in the Poyang Lake watershed Hui, Jiang, Yao, Liu Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
A global meta-analysis on the monetary valuation of dryland ecosystem services: The role of socio-economic, environmental and methodological indicators Schild, Johanna E.M., Vermaat, Jan E., de Groot, Rudolf S., Quatrini, Simone, van Bodegom, Peter M. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Analysis of global LAI/FPAR products from VIIRS and MODIS sensors for spatio-temporal consistency and uncertainty from 20122016 Xu, Baodong, Park, Taejin, Yan, Kai, Chen, Chi, Zeng, Yelu, Song, Wanjuan, Yin, Gaofei, Li, Jing, Liu, Qinhuo, Knyazikhin, Yuri, Myneni, Ranga Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Characteristics, Reflectance
Comparison of the spatial characteristics of four remotely sensed leaf area index products over ChinaDirect validation and relative uncertainties Li, Xinlu, Lu, Hui, Yu, Le, Yang, Kun Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Spatial and temporal dependency of NDVI satellite imagery in predicting bird diversity over France Bonthoux, Sebastien, Lefevre, Solenne, Herrault, Pierre-Alexis, Sheeren, David Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatiotemporal variability of Canadian High Arctic glacier surface albedo from MODIS data, 20012016 Mortimer, Colleen A., Sharp, Martin Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Albedo, Anisotropy
Spatio-Temporal Convergence of Maximum Daily Light-Use Efficiency Based Zhang, Yao, Xiao, Xiangming, Wolf, Sebastian, Wu, Jin, Wu, Xiaocui, Gioli, Beniamino, Wohlfahrt, Georg, Cescatti, Alessandro, van der Tol, Christiaan, Zhou, Sha, Gough, Christopher M., Gentine, Pierre, Zhang, Yongguang, Steinbrecher, Rainer, Ardo, Jonas Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance
Response of the water use efficiency of natural vegetation to drought in Northeast China Liu, Dan, Yu, Chenglong, Zhao, Fang Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Ozone pollution will compromise efforts to increase global wheat Mills, Gina, Sharps, Katrina, Simpson, David, Pleijel, Hakan, Broberg, Malin, Uddling, Johan, Jaramillo, Fernando, Davies, William J, Dentener, Frank, Van den Berg, Maurits, Agrawal, Madhoolika, Agrawal, Shahibhushan B., Ainsworth, Elizabeth A., Buker, Patrick, Emberson, Lisa, Feng, Zhaozhong, Harmens, Harry, Hayes, Felicity, Kobayashi, Kazuhiko, Paoletti, Elena, Van Dingenen, Rita Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Quantifying grazing patterns using a new growth function based on MODIS Leaf Area Index Yu, Rui, Evans, A.J., Malleson, N. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Derivation of temporally continuous LAI reference maps through combining the LAINet observation system with CACAO Yin, Gaofei, Li, Ainong, Jin, Huaan, Zhao, Wei, Bian, Jinhu, Qu, Yonghua, Zeng, Yelu, Xu, Baodong Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
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