Skip to main content

Description

The MOD13A3 Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MOD13A3 Version 6.1 data product.

The Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices (MOD13A3) Version 6 data are provided monthly at 1 kilometer (km) spatial resolution as a gridded Level 3 product in the sinusoidal projection. In generating this monthly product, the algorithm ingests all the MOD13A2 products that overlap the month and employs a weighted temporal average.

The MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) complements NOAA's Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) NDVI products and provides continuity for time series historical applications. MODIS also includes an Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) that minimizes canopy background variations and maintains sensitivity over dense vegetation conditions. The EVI uses the blue band to remove residual atmosphere contamination caused by smoke and sub-pixel thin clouds. The MODIS NDVI and EVI products are computed from surface reflectances corrected for molecular scattering, ozone absorption, and aerosols.

Vegetation indices are used for global monitoring of vegetation conditions and are used in products displaying land cover and land cover changes. These data may be used as input for modeling global biogeochemical and hydrologic processes as well as global and regional climate. Additional applications include characterizing land surface biophysical properties and processes, such as primary production and land cover conversion.

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 three observation layers.

Known Issues

  • 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
2000-02-01 to 2023-01-31
Temporal Resolution
1 Month
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
C2763297270-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). MOD13A3 MODIS/Terra vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V006 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A3.006 Date Accessed: 2026-06-19

File Naming Convention

MOD13A3.A2002244.h00v10.006.2015151082733.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD13A3) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002244), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h00v10), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015151082733), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

DATA PRODUCT SPECIFICATION

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION

SHOWING 3 OF 3

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Malaria risk assessment in Indonesia: a machine and deep learning Sakti, Anjar Dimara, Mahdani, Jasmine Nur, Muhammad, Hubbi Nashrullah, Sihotang, Elstri, Santoso, Cokro, Khairunnisah, Fauziyyah, Afina Nur, Rinawan, Fedri Ruluwedrata, Supardi, Khairunnisa, Caraka, Rezzy Eko, Wikantika, Ketut Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Large trees and artificial substrates support Asian stingless bee communities across green space habitats in urban environments Wayo, Kanuengnit, Nguyen, Tuan Ngoc, Piraonapicha, Kanyakorn, Nilsai, Areeruk, Bumrungsri, Sara, Sritongchuay, Tuanjit Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Land surface temperatures outperform gridded air temperatures in modeling forest growth across the Northern Hemisphere Yang, Feiyu, Xiong, Yujiu, Wang, Wenjin, Hu, Hongxing, Lai, Mantik, Zhang, Chao, Cao, Jiahao, Zhu, Leyao, Fan, Qibo, Zhao, Ying, Wang, Zhou, Zhang, Yaling, Liang, Hanxue, Qin, Li, Zhang, Tongwen, Cherubini, Paolo, Qiu, Guo Yu, Huang, Jian-Guo Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Land Use Changes and Their Driving Factors in the Liuchong River Basin Based on the Geographical Detector Model Xixi, Xue, Ya, Luo, Mengyao, Liao, Shuang, Zhao, Chunchang, Zhang, Xiaoke, Liang Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Interactions between brucellosis and environmental factors: spatiotemporal epidemiology from Xinjiang, China Wei, Chengjing, Zhang, Liping, Shang, Bo, Wang, Xiaodong, Zhao, Jiangshan Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Improvement of near-surface wind speed modeling through refined aerodynamic roughness length in high-roughness surface regions: implementation and validation ... Wang, Jiamin, Yang, Kun, Liu, Jiarui, Zhou, Xu, Ma, Xiaogang, Tang, Wenjun, Yuan, Ling, Ren, Zuhuan Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Dual effects on vegetation caused by urban expansion in global drylands: Qi, Tao, He, Chunyang, Ren, Qiang, Wang, Yida, Cao, Shengpeng Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Drought assessment and development trend in Mu Us Sandy Land based on Lie, Liang, Xiaohan, Wang, Yan, Chao, Jiamin, Li, Yonghua, Zhu 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, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Dynamic assessment and zoning strategies for ecosystem health in Poyang Zou, Zhiyao, Luo, Songkai, Duan, Ping Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Evaluating the impact of two next-generation long-lasting insecticidal Epstein, Adrienne, Gonahasa, Samuel, Namuganga, Jane Frances, Nassali, Martha J, Maiteki-Sebuguzi, Catherine, Nabende, Isaiah, Snyman, Katherine, Nankabirwa, Joaniter I, Opigo, Jimmy, Donnelly, Martin J, Staedke, Sarah G, Kamya, Moses R, Dorsey, Grant Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Comparative assessment of GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (AHP) and machine learning (MaxEnt) approaches for wildfire susceptibility modeling in Montenegro Vujovic, Filip, Grozdanic, Goran, urovic, Radovan, Valjarevic, Aleksandar, Milevski, Ivica Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Compound heat and ozone pollution in the urban environment Wang, Chenghao, Hu, Xiao-Ming, Feron, Sarah, Leffel, Jessica, Cordero, Raul R. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Maximum/Minimum Temperature, 24 Hour Precipitation Amount, Snow Water Equivalent, Vapor Pressure, Shortwave Radiation
Environmental exposure assessment in the German National Cohort (NAKO) Wolf, Kathrin, Dallavalle, Marco, Niedermayer, Fiona, Bolte, Gabriele, Lakes, Tobia, Schikowski, Tamara, Greiser, Karin Halina, Schwettmann, Lars, Westerman, Ronny, Nikolaou, Nikolaos, Staab, Jeroen, Wolff, Robert, Stubs, Gunthard, Rach, Stefan, Schneider, Alexandra, Peters, Annette, Hoffmann, Barbara Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Epidemiologic features and potential year of life lost of scrub typhus in China: A nationwide surveillance analysis (20062023) Peng, Pei-Ying, Xu, Lei, Sun, Ji-Qin, Yan, Ting-Liang, Li, Zi-Liang, Duan, Hui-Ying, Ma, Li-Juan, Zu, Ya Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Evaluating Climate Change Effects on Swan Habitats Within China: Zhang, Ke, Lin, Jun, Zheng, Jianghua, Li, Xuan, Xu, Li, Liu, Liang, Liu, Xuan, Jin, Xi, Fu, Rong, Wang, Xinwei, Sang, Yunzhi, Guo, Xiaoyu Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Plant Phenology
Coupling Coordination Framework for Assessing Balanced Development Between Potential Ecosystem Services and Human Activities Fang, Yixin, Meng, Fanhao, Luo, Min, Sa, Chula, Bao, Yuhai, Lei, Jun Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Contrasting age-dependent leaf acclimation strategies drive vegetation greening across deciduous broadleaf forests in mid-to high latitudes Wang, Fangyi, Xue, Meimei, Zhou, Liming, Doughty, Christopher E., Ciais, Philippe, Reich, Peter B., Shang, Jiali, Chen, Jing Ming, Liu, Jane, Green, Julia K., Hao, Dalei, Tao, Shengli, Su, Yanjun, Liu, Lingli, Xia, Jianyang, Wang, Han, Yu, Kailiang, Zhu, Zaichun, Zhu, Peng, Li, Xing, Liu, Hui, Zeng, Yelu, Yan, Kai, Liu, Liyang, Lafortezza, Raffaele, Su, Yongxian, Meng, Yanqiong, Pan, Yixuan, Yang, Xueqin, Fu, Yongshuo H., He, Nianpeng, Yuan, Wenping, Chen, Xiuzhi Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Plant Phenology, Reflectance, Anisotropy
Disentangling the effects of temperature and rainfall on the population dynamics of Kalahari meerkats Thorley, Jack, Duncan, Chris, Gaynor, Dave, Manser, Marta B., Clutton-Brock, Tim Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Deep learning calibration model for PurpleAir PM2.5 measurements: Ghahremanloo, Masoud, Choi, Yunsoo, Momeni, Mahmoudreza Population Density, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Habitat suitability for tropical Asian stingless bees across anthropogenic landscapes Wayo, K., Haydon, D. T., Piraonapicha, K., Nelli, L. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
High Resolution Water Quality Dataset of Chinese Lakes and Reservoirs from 2000 to 2023 Luan, Shilong, Pan, Huixiao, Shen, Ruoque, Xia, Xiaosheng, Duan, Hongtao, Yuan, Wenping, Wei, Jing Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Heterogeneous impacts of human activities and climate change on Yang, Dazhi, Liu, Yaqun Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
GroundwaterCO2 emissions relationship in Dutch peatlands derived by machine learning using airborne and ground-based eddy covariance data van der Poel, Laura M., Bataille, Laurent V., Kruijt, Bart, Franssen, Wietse, Jans, Wilma, Biermann, Jan, Rietman, Anne, Buzacott, Alex J. V., van der Velde, Ype, Boelens, Ruben, Hutjes, Ronald W. A. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Groundwater Crisis in the Eastern Loess Plateau: Evolution of Storage Li, Jifei, Ma, Jinzhu, Zhou, Ying, Duan, Zhihua, Guo, Yuning Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Ground subsidence evolution and groundwater variation in the middle Zhang, Rui, Wang, Ting, Liu, Guoxiang, Shama, Age, Liu, Anmengyun, Wang, Xiaowen, Deng, Lin, Mao, Wenfei Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
You're viewing 100 of 521