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Description

The MOD13A2 Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MOD13A2 Version 6.1 data product.

The MOD13A2 Version 6 product provides Vegetation Index (VI) values at a per pixel basis at 1 kilometer (km) spatial resolution. There are two primary vegetation layers. The first is the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is referred to as the continuity index to the existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR) derived NDVI. The second vegetation layer is the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), which has improved sensitivity over high biomass regions. The algorithm for this product chooses the best available pixel value from all the acquisitions from the 16 day period. The criteria used is low clouds, low view angle and the highest NDVI/EVI value.

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 four observation layers.

Known Issues

  • The following issues have been detected:

    • Unexpected missing data in the last cycles of each year.
    • Incorrect instances of "NoData" and spikes in NDVI values.
    • VI Usefulness Bits are not correctly assigned.

  • For instances where the VI Quality (bits 0-1) is flagged as good and the VI Usefulness (bits 2-5) indicates the same pixels have the lowest usefulness score, users are advised to disregard the usefulness score.

  • The incorrect representation of the aerosol quantities (low, average, high) in the Collection 6 MOD09 surface reflectance products may have impacted MOD13 Vegetation Index data products particularly over arid bright surfaces.

  • Corrections were implemented in Collection 6.1 reprocessing.

  • For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6 vegetation index data products: (1) The 16-day composite VI is generated using the two 8-day composite surface reflectance granules (MOD09A1) in the 16-day period, (2) This surface reflectance input is based on the minimum blue compositing approach used to generate the 8-day surface reflectance product, (3) The product format is consistent with the Version 5 product generated using the Level 2 gridded daily surface reflectance product, and (4) A frequently updated long-term global Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) Average Vegetation Index product database is used to fill the gaps in the CMG product suite.

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
2000-02-18 to 2023-02-17
Temporal Resolution
16 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
C2763297266-LPCLOUD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Number of Files/Granules
0
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. (2015). MOD13A2 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V006 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A2.006 Date Accessed: 2026-07-02

File Naming Convention

MOD13A2.A2002257.h09v09.006.2015151080839.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD13A2) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002257), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h09v09), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015151080839), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

DATA PRODUCT SPECIFICATION

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Monitoring and predicting desert locust plague severity in Asia-Africa using multi-source remote sensing time-series data Shao, Zhenfeng, Feng, Xiaoxiao, Bai, Linze, Jiao, Haiming, Zhang, Ya, Li, Deren, Fan, Haisheng, Huang, Xiao, Ding, Yuqi, Altan, Orhan, Saleem, Nayyer Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
MODIS aerosol optical depth retrieval based on random forest approach Liang, Tianchen, Sun, Lin, Li, Haoxin Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Integrated meteorological drought monitoring framework using multi-sensor and multi-temporal earth observation datasets and machine learning algorithms: A case ... Neeti, Neeti, Arun Murali, C.M., Chowdary, V.M., Rao, N.H., Kesarwani, Mohit Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Long term variation of evapotranspiration and water balance based on upscaling eddy covariance observations over the temperate semi-arid grassland of China Pang, Xinxin, Lei, Huimin, Cong, Zhentao, Yang, Hanbo, Duan, Limin, Yang, Dawen Reflectance, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Long time-series NDVI reconstruction in cloud-prone regions via spatio-temporal tensor completion Chu, Dong, Shen, Huanfeng, Guan, Xiaobin, Chen, Jing M., Li, Xinghua, Li, Jie, Zhang, Liangpei Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Inter-annual spatiotemporal variations of land surface temperature in China from 2003 to 2018 Yu, Yanru, Duan, Si-Bo, Li, Zhao-Liang, Chang, Sheng, Xing, Zefeng, Leng, Pei, Gao, Maofang Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Integrating the temperature vegetation dryness index and meteorology parameters to dynamically predict crop yield with fixed date intervals using an integral regression model Ji, Zhonglin, Pan, Yaozhong, Li, Nan Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Investigating decadal changes of multiple hydrological products and land-cover changes in the Mediterranean Region for 20092018 Li, Wenzhao, Perera, Sachi, Linstead, Erik, Thomas, Rejoice, El-Askary, Hesham, Piechota, Thomas, Struppa, Daniele Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Air Temperature, Specific Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Wind Speed, Rain, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Cover, Snow Depth, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Latent Heat Flux
Integrating multi-source data for rice yield prediction across China using machine learning and deep learning approaches Cao, Juan, Zhang, Zhao, Tao, Fulu, Zhang, Liangliang, Luo, Yuchuan, Zhang, Jing, Han, Jichong, Xie, Jun Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Increasing plant water stress and decreasing summer streamflow in Christensen, Lindsey, Adams, Hallie R., Tai, Xiaonan, Barnard, Holly R., Brooks, Paul D. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Identification of impact factors for differentiated patterns of NDVI change in the headwater source region of Brahmaputra and Indus, Southwestern Tibetan Plateau Liu, Qionghuan, Liu, Linshan, Zhang, Yili, Wang, Zhaofeng, Wu, Jianshuang, Li, Lanhui, Li, Shicheng, Paudel, Basanta Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
High-Resolution SMAP-Derived Root-Zone Soil Moisture Using an Stefan, Vivien-Georgiana, Indrio, Gianfranco, Escorihuela, Maria-Jose, Quintana-Segui, Pere, Villar, Josep Maria Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Impacts of climate change and anthropogenic activities on vegetation change: Evidence from typical areas in China Zheng, Kaiyuan, Tan, Linshan, Sun, Yanwei, Wu, Yanjuan, Duan, Zheng, Xu, Yu, Gao, Chao Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Impacts of climate extremes on ecosystem metrics in southwest China Shao, Hui, Zhang, Yuandong, Gu, Fengxue, Shi, Chunming, Miao, Ning, Liu, Shirong 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
Improving terrestrial evapotranspiration estimation across China during 2000-2018 with machine learning methods Yin, Lichang, Tao, Fulu, Chen, Yi, Liu, Fengshan, Hu, Jian Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Improving the evapotranspiration estimation under cloudy condition by extending the Ts-VI triangle model Li, Boyang, Cui, Yaokui, Geng, Xiaozhuang, Li, Huan Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Satellite estimation of dissolved organic carbon in eutrophic Lake Taihu, China Liu, Dong, Yu, Shujie, Xiao, Qitao, Qi, Tianci, Duan, Hongtao Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Total Surface Precipitation Rate
Satellite-derived estimation of grassland aboveground biomass in the three-river headwaters region of China during 19822018 Yu, Ruiyang, Yao, Yunjun, Wang, Qiao, Wan, Huawei, Xie, Zijing, Tang, Wenjia, Zhang, Ziping, Yang, Junming, Shang, Ke, Guo, Xiaozheng, Bei, Xiangyi Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Remote sensing-based actual evapotranspiration assessment in a data-scarce area of Brazil: A case study of the Urucuia Aquifer System de Andrade, Bruno Cesar Comini, de Andrade Pinto, Eber Jose, Ruhoff, Anderson, Senay, Gabriel B. Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Remote sensing-based biological and nonbiological indices for evaluating Jafari, Reza, Abedi, Maedeh Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Phenological synchronization of seasonal bird migration with vegetation greenness across dietary guilds La Sorte, Frank A., Graham, Catherine H. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Relative contributions of natural and man-made factors to vegetation cover change of environmentally sensitive and vulnerable areas of China Li, Yang, Zheng, Zhicheng, Qin, Yaochen, Rong, Peijun Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Regional evaluation of satellite-based methods for identifying leaf unfolding date Shen, Ruoque, Chen, Xiuzhi, Chen, Lei, He, Bin, Yuan, Wenping Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Plant Phenology
Reconstruction of all-weather daytime and nighttime MODIS aqua-terra land surface temperature products using an XGboost approach Tan, Weiwei, Wei, Chunzhu, Lu, Yang, Xue, Desheng Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance
Reconstruction of the daily MODIS land surface temperature product using the two-step improved similar pixels method Tan, Junlei, Che, Tao, Wang, Jian, Liang, Ji, Zhang, Yang, Ren, Zhiguo Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
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