Skip to main content

Description

The MCD15A2H Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MCD15A2H Version 6.1 data product.

The MCD15A2H Version 6 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 4, Combined Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR), and Leaf Area Index (LAI) product is an 8-day composite dataset with 500 meter pixel size. The algorithm chooses the best pixel available from all the acquisitions of both MODIS sensors located on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites 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 nm) absorbed by the green elements of a vegetation canopy.

Known Issues

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6 FPAR and LAI data products: (1) The Version 6 product uses the daily Level 2 Gridded (L2G)-lite surface reflectance as input as opposed to MODAGAGG, a MODIS daily aggregated surface reflectance product, used in Version 5, (2) Products are generated at native resolution of 500 meters rather than the 1,000 meters of the Version 5, and (3) Version 6 uses an improved multi-year land cover product.

Product Summary

Platforms
Terra ,
Aqua
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
2002-07-04 to 2023-02-17
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
C2763289447-LPCLOUD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Number of Files/Granules
0
Processing Level
4
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Leaf Characteristics ,
Photosynthetically Active Radiation ,
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. (2015). MCD15A2H MODIS/Terra+Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 8-day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A2H.006 Date Accessed: 2026-05-23

File Naming Convention

MCD15A2H.A2002273.h11v12.006.2015151145313.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD15A2H) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002273), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h11v12), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015151145313), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Modelling Soil <SUP>13</SUP>C across the Tibetan Plateau Using Zhou, T., College of Earth Science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China, Lai, Y. S., Yang, Z. H., Shi, Y. H., Luo, X. R., Liu, L., Yu, P., Chen, G., Cao, L. X., Fan, S. H., Cai, C. J., Sun, J., Chen, S. H., Lu, H. Y., Ma, X. L., Li, S. D., Tang, X. L. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Land Use/Land Cover Classification
The global distribution and drivers of wood density and their impact on Mo, Lidong, Crowther, Thomas W., Maynard, Daniel S., van den Hoogen, Johan, Ma, Haozhi, Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia, Liang, Jingjing, de-Miguel, Sergio, Nabuurs, Gert-Jan, Reich, Peter B., Phillips, Oliver L., Abegg, Meinrad, Adou Yao, Yves C., Alberti, Giorgio, Almeyda Zambrano, Angelica M., Alvarado, Braulio Vilchez, Alvarez-Davila, Esteban, Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia, Alves, Luciana F., Amaral, Ieda, Ammer, Christian, Anton-Fernandez, Clara, Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro, Arroyo, Luzmila, Avitabile, Valerio, Aymard, Gerardo A., Baker, Timothy R., Baazy, Radomir, Banki, Olaf, Barroso, Jorcely G., Bastian, Meredith L., Bastin, Jean-Francois, Birigazzi, Luca, Birnbaum, Philippe, Bitariho, Robert, Boeckx, Pascal, Bongers, Frans, Boonman, Coline C. F., Bouriaud, Olivier, Brancalion, Pedro H. S., Brandl, Susanne, Brearley, Francis Q., Brienen, Roel, Broadbent, Eben N., Bruelheide, Helge, Bussotti, Filippo, Gatti, Roberto Cazzolla, Cesar, Ricardo G., Cesljar, Goran, Chazdon, Robin, Chen, Han Y. H., Chisholm, Chelsea, Cho, Hyunkook, Cienciala, Emil, Clark, Connie, Clark, David, Colletta, Gabriel D., Coomes, David A., Valverde, Fernando Cornejo, Corral-Rivas, Jose J., Crim, Philip M., Cumming, Jonathan R., Dayanandan, Selvadurai, de Gasper, Andre L., Decuyper, Mathieu, Derroire, Geraldine, DeVries, Ben, Djordjevic, Ilija, Dolezal, Jiri, Dourdain, Aurelie, Engone Obiang, Nestor Laurier, Enquist, Brian J., Eyre, Teresa J., Fandohan, Adande Belarmain, Fayle, Tom M., Feldpausch, Ted R., Ferreira, Leandro V., Finer, Leena, Fischer, Markus, Fletcher, Christine, Frizzera, Lorenzo, Gamarra, Javier G. P., Gianelle, Damiano, Glick, Henry B., Harris, David J., Hector, Andrew, Hemp, Andreas, Hengeveld, Geerten, Herault, Bruno, Herbohn, John L., Herold, Martin, Hietz, Peter, Hillers, Annika, Honorio Coronado, Euridice N., Hui, Cang, Ibanez, Thomas, Imai, Nobuo, Jagodzinski, Andrzej M., Jaroszewicz, Bogdan, Johannsen, Vivian Kvist, Joly, Carlos A., Jucker, Tommaso, Jung, Ilbin, Karminov, Viktor, Kartawinata, Kuswata, Kearsley, Elizabeth, Kenfack, David, Kennard, Deborah K., Kepfer-Rojas, Sebastian, Keppel, Gunnar, Khan, Mohammed Latif, Killeen, Timothy J., Kim, Hyun Seok, Kitayama, Kanehiro, Kohl, Michael, Korjus, Henn, Kraxner, Florian, Kucher, Dmitry, Laarmann, Diana, Lang, Mait, Lewis, Simon L., Li, Yuanzhi, Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela, Lu, Huicui, Lukina, Natalia V., Maitner, Brian S., Malhi, Yadvinder, Marcon, Eric, Marimon, Beatriz Schwantes, Marimon-Junior, Ben Hur, Marshall, Andrew R., Martin, Emanuel H., McCarthy, James K., Meave, Jorge A., Melo-Cruz, Omar, Mendoza, Casimiro, Mendoza-Polo, Irina, Miscicki, Stanislaw, Merow, Cory, Mendoza, Abel Monteagudo, Moreno, Vanessa S., Mukul, Sharif A., Mundhenk, Philip, Nava-Miranda, Maria Guadalupe, Neill, David, Neldner, Victor J., Nevenic, Radovan V., Ngugi, Michael R., Niklaus, Pascal A., Ontikov, Petr, Ortiz-Malavasi, Edgar, Pan, Yude, Paquette, Alain, Parada-Gutierrez, Alexander, Parfenova, Elena I., Park, Minjee, Parren, Marc, Parthasarathy, Narayanaswamy, Peri, Pablo L., Pfautsch, Sebastian, Picard, Nicolas, Piedade, Maria Teresa F., Piotto, Daniel, Pitman, Nigel C. A., Poorter, Lourens, Poulsen, Axel Dalberg, Poulsen, John R., Pretzsch, Hans, Arevalo, Freddy Ramirez, Restrepo-Correa, Zorayda, Richardson, Sarah J., Rodeghiero, Mirco, Rolim, Samir G., Roopsind, Anand, Rovero, Francesco, Rutishauser, Ervan, Saikia, Purabi, Salas-Eljatib, Christian, Saner, Philippe, Schall, Peter, Schelhaas, Mart-Jan, Schepaschenko, Dmitry, Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael, Schmid, Bernhard, Schongart, Jochen, Searle, Eric B., Seben, Vladimir, Serra-Diaz, Josep M., Sheil, Douglas, Shvidenko, Anatoly Z., Da Silva, Ana Carolina, Silva-Espejo, Javier E., Silveira, Marcos, Singh, James, Sist, Plinio, Slik, Ferry, Sonke, Bonaventure, Sosinski, Enio Egon, Souza, Alexandre F., Sterenczak, Krzysztof J., Svenning, Jens-Christian, Svoboda, Miroslav, Swanepoel, Ben, Targhetta, Natalia, Tchebakova, Nadja, ter Steege, Hans, Thomas, Raquel, Tikhonova, Elena, Umunay, Peter M., Usoltsev, Vladimir A., Valencia, Renato, Valladares, Fernando, Van Bodegom, Peter M., van der Plas, Fons, Van Do, Tran, van Nuland, Michael E., Vasquez, Rodolfo M., Verbeeck, Hans, Viana, Helder, Vibrans, Alexander C., Vieira, Simone, von Gadow, Klaus, Wang, Hua-Feng, Watson, James V., Werner, Gijsbert D. A., Wittmann, Florian, Woell, Hannsjoerg, Wortel, Verginia, Zagt, Roderick, Zawia-Niedzwiecki, Tomasz, Zhang, Chunyu, Zhao, Xiuhai, Zhou, Mo, Zhu, Zhi-Xin, Zo-Bi, Irie C., Zohner, Constantin M. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Fire Occurrence, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES
Spatiotemporal estimation of groundwater and surface water conditions by Kim, Soobin, Lee, Eunhee, Hwang, Hyoun-Tae, Pyo, JongCheol, Yun, Daeun, Baek, Sang-Soo, Cho, Kyung Hwa Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Strong Green-Up of Tropical Asia During the 2015/16 El Nino Satriawan, T. W., Luo, X., Tian, J., Ichii, K., Juneng, L., Kondo, M. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Streamflow response to land use/land cover change in the tropical Andes Valencia, Santiago, Villegas, Juan Camilo, Hoyos, Natalia, Duque-Villegas, Mateo, Salazar, Juan F. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Spatial patterns of soil organic carbon stocks and its controls in Chinese grassland ecosystems Li, Ya-Ting, Zhu, Chang-Ming, Yang, Ren-Min, Xu, Lu, Zhang, Xin Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Satellite-based solar-induced fluorescence tracks seasonal and Kunik, Lewis, Bowling, David R, Raczka, Brett, Frankenberg, Christian, Kohler, Philipp, Cheng, Rui, Smith, Kenneth R, Goulden, Michael, Jung, Martin, Lin, John C Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Snow Cover
Riverscape features determining the genetic structure of the Agostini, Maria Augusta Paes, Machado, Arielli Fabricio, Ritter, Camila Duarte, FelixSilva, Daniely, Pezzuti, Juarez C. B., Andrade, Paulo Cesar Machado, PantojaLima, Jackson, da Silva Viana, Maria das Neves, dos Santos Monjelo, Luiz Alberto, Vogt, Richard C., de Oliveira Junior, Waldesse Pirage, Farias, Izeni Pires Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Seasonal forecasting of local-scale soil moisture droughts with Global BROOK90: a case study of the European drought of 2018 Vorobevskii, Ivan, Luong, Thi Thanh, Kronenberg, Rico Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Satellite-observed relationships between land cover, burned area, and Sands, Emma, Pope, Richard J., Doherty, Ruth M., O'Connor, Fiona M., Wilson, Chris, Pumphrey, Hugh Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Carbon And Hydrocarbon Compounds, Aerosol Backscatter, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Angstrom Exponent, Aerosol Particle Properties, Aerosol Radiance, Carbonaceous Aerosols, Cloud Condensation Nuclei, Dust/Ash/Smoke, Nitrate Particles, Organic Particles, Particulate Matter, Sulfate Particles, Trace Gases/Trace Species, Atmospheric Emitted Radiation, Emissivity, Optical Depth/Thickness, Radiative Flux, Reflectance, Transmittance, Atmospheric Stability, Humidity, Total Precipitable Water, Water Vapor Profiles, Cloud Condensation Nuclei, Cloud Droplet Concentration/Size, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness, Cloud Asymmetry, Cloud Ceiling, Cloud Frequency, Cloud Height, Cloud Top Pressure, Cloud Top Temperature, Cloud Vertical Distribution, Cloud Emissivity, Cloud Radiative Forcing, Cloud Reflectance, Rain Storms, Atmospheric Ozone, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Characteristics
Surface temperature assimilation improving geostationary meteorological Li, Xin, Zou, Xiaolei, Zeng, Mingjian, Zhuge, Xiaoyong, Wu, Yang, Wang, Ning Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Shifted Flood and Ecology Regimes Due To Channel Bar Greening and Hu, Yong, Deng, Jinyun, Li, Dongfeng, Lu, Xixi, Zhou, Junxiong, Wang, Chenglong, Li, Yitian Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Responses of gross primary productivity in different types of terrestrial ecosystems to interannual variation in the northern boundary of the East Asian summer monsoon Wang, Zhikai, Chen, Wen, Piao, Jinling, Chen, Shangfeng, Kim, Jin-Soo, Wang, Lin, Yang, Ruowen, Yu, Tiantian Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Restricted internal diffusion weakens transpiration-photosynthesis Sun, Wu, Maseyk, Kadmiel, Lett, Celine, Seibt, Ulli Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Reviews and syntheses: Remotely sensed optical time series for Kooistra, Lammert, Berger, Katja, Brede, Benjamin, Graf, Lukas Valentin, Aasen, Helge, Roujean, Jean-Louis, Machwitz, Miriam, Schlerf, Martin, Atzberger, Clement, Prikaziuk, Egor, Ganeva, Dessislava, Tomelleri, Enrico, Croft, Holly, Reyes Munoz, Pablo, Garcia Millan, Virginia, Darvishzadeh, Roshanak, Koren, Gerbrand, Herrmann, Ittai, Rozenstein, Offer, Belda, Santiago, Rautiainen, Miina, Rune Karlsen, Stein, Figueira Silva, Claudio, Cerasoli, Sofia, Pierre, Jon, Tanr Kaykc, Emine, Halabuk, Andrej, Tunc Gormus, Esra, Fluit, Frank, Cai, Zhanzhang, Kycko, Marlena, Udelhoven, Thomas, Verrelst, Jochem Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Revisiting the consistency of MODIS LAI products from a new perspective Peng, Rui, Yan, Kai, Liu, Jinxiu, Gao, Si, Pu, Jiabin, Maeda, Eduardo Eiji, Zhu, Peng, Knyazikhin, Yuri, Myneni, Ranga B. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Simulating urban surface energy balance of an academic campus and Gupta, Mayank, Murtugudde, Raghu, Ghosh, Subimal Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
The Land Component LM4.1 of the GFDL Earth System Model ESM4.1: Model Shevliakova, E., Malyshev, S., MartinezCano, I., Milly, P. C. D., Pacala, S. W., Ginoux, P., Dunne, K. A., Dunne, J. P., Dupuis, C., Findell, K. L., Ghannam, K., Horowitz, L. W., Knutson, T. R., Krasting, J. P., Naik, V., Phillipps, P., Zadeh, N., Yu, Yan, Zeng, F., Zeng, Y. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Forests, Primary Production, Biogeochemical Cycles, Topographic Effects
Water yield response to forest treatment patterns in a sierra nevada watershed Smith, Katy A., Schneider, Katie E., Kinoshita, Alicia M., Kurzweil, Jake, Prucha, Bob, Hogue, Terri S. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Using automated machine learning for the upscaling of gross primary productivity Gaber, Max, Kang, Yanghui, Schurgers, Guy, Keenan, Trevor Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Leaf Characteristics, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Anisotropy, Primary Production, Gross Primary Production (gpp)
Tree species diversity impacts on ecosystem services of temperate forests Bai, Jialing, Ren, Chunying, Shi, Xinying, Xiang, Hengxing, Zhang, Wenmin, Jiang, Hailing, Ren, Yongxing, Xi, Yanbiao, Wang, Zongming, Mao, Dehua Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
The role of root dynamics on the climate sensitivity of ecohydrological processes of over-and understory in a semi-arid groundwater-dependent ecosystem Liu, Qiyue, Barros, Ana P. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Maximum/Minimum Temperature, 24 Hour Precipitation Amount, Snow Water Equivalent, Shortwave Radiation, Vapor Pressure
PhySoilNet: A deep learning downscaling model for microwave satellite Xu, Zhenheng, Sun, Hao, Gao, JinHua, Wang, Yunjia, Wu, Dan, Zhang, Tian, Xu, Huanyu Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Evapotranspiration, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Latent Heat Flux, Albedo, Anisotropy
Potential reduction in carbon fixation capacity under climate change in a Pinus koraiensis forest Woo, Dong Kook Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Ozone deposition measurements over wheat fields in the North China Zhang, Xiaoyi, Xu, Wanyun, Lin, Weili, Zhang, Gen, Geng, Jinjian, Zhou, Li, Zhao, Huarong, Ren, Sanxue, Zhou, Guangsheng, Chen, Jianmin, Xu, Xiaobin Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
You're viewing 200 of 461