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Description
The NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) Version 1 data product (VCF5KYR) provides global fractional vegetation cover at 0.05 degree (5,600 meter) spatial resolution at yearly intervals from 1982 to 2016. The VCF5KYR data product is derived from a bagged linear model algorithm using Long Term Data Record Version 4 (LTDR V4) data compiled from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) observations. Fractional vegetation cover (FVC) is the ratio of the area of the vertical projection of green vegetation above ground to the total area, capturing the horizontal distribution and density of vegetation on the Earth's surface. FVC is a primary means for measuring global forest cover change and is a key parameter for a variety of environmental and climate-related applications, including carbon land surface models and biomass measurements. The three bands included in each VCF5KYR Version 1 GeoTIFF are: percent of tree cover, non-tree vegetation, and bare ground. A water mask was applied with all pure water pixels (defined as ≥ 95% water coverage) set to zero.
Data from years 1994 and 2000 were excluded due to lack of data in the LTDR V4.
Known Issues
Known issues, including constraints and limitations, are provided on page 10 of the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD).
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
Hansen, M., & Song, X.-P. (2018). Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) Yearly Global 0.05 Deg [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/VCF/VCF5KYR.001 Date Accessed: 2026-05-01
Hansen, Matthew, and Xiao-Peng Song. “Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) Yearly Global 0.05 Deg.” NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2018. doi:10.5067/MEASURES/VCF/VCF5KYR.001. Date Accessed: 2026-05-01
Hansen, Matthew, and Xiao-Peng Song. Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) Yearly Global 0.05 Deg. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2018, doi:10.5067/MEASURES/VCF/VCF5KYR.001. Date Accessed: 2026-05-01
File Naming Convention
VCF5KYR_2016001_001_2018224210310.tif
The file name begins with the Product Short Name (VCF5KYR) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as YYYYDDD (2016001), the Data Product Version (001), and the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2018224210310), and the Data Format (tif).
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The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this
dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements
collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on
satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and
model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band
have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the
designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR).
Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill
Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze
the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables.
Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data,
user guide, and/or other product documentation.
For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.