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Description

The Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices Monthly (MOD13A3) Version 6.1 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

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6.1 vegetation indices data products: (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
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 Present
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
C2327962326-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
91847
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. (2021). MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A3.061 Date Accessed: 2026-05-22

File Naming Convention

MOD13A3.A2025152.h01v11.061.2025195144044.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD13A3) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025152), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h01v11), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025195144044), 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
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)
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)
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)
Building a Healthy Urban Design Index (HUDI): how to promote health and Montana, Federica, Mueller, Natalie, Barboza, Evelise Pereira, Khomenko, Sasha, Iungman, Tamara, Cirach, Marta, Daher, Carolyn, Chakraborty, TC, de Hoogh, Kees, Battiston, Alice, Schifanella, Rossano, Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Banana Bunchy Top Disease in Rwanda: Identifying Disease Presence and Potential Areas at Risk Gaidashova, Svetlana V., Kajuga, Joelle, Blomme, Guy, Ocimati, Walter, Kearsley, Elizabeth, Hufkens, Koen, Nishimwe, Immaculee, Ndayizeye, Jean Paul, Omondi, Bonaventure Aman Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Association between residential greenspace and anaemia prevalence among Saw, Gautam, Van Buskirk, Joe, Dey, Sagnik, Singh, Neha, Knibbs, Luke D. 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, Shortwave Radiation, Vapor Pressure
Linking climate variability to demography in cooperatively breeding Thorley, Jack, Duncan, Chris, Manser, Marta B., CluttonBrock, Tim Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Linking groundwater variability to ecosystem carbon and water use Chakraborty, Abhishek, Sekhar, M., Bhanja, Soumendra N., Rao, Lakshminarayana Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff
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)
Modeling sparse Rift Valley fever incidence data: a Bayesian perspective on zero-inflated self-exciting and autoregressive models Angelakis, Alexandros, Nyawanda, Bryan O., Vounatsou, Penelope Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
The diel niche of brown bears: constraints on adaptive capacity in humanmodified landscapes Donatelli, Aurora, Cirovic, Dusko, Haroldson, Mark A., Huber, uro, Kindberg, Jonas, Kojola, Ilpo, Kusak, Josip, Mastrantonio, Gianluca, Ordiz, Andres, Reljic, Slaven, Santini, Luca, van Manen, Frank T., Ciucci, Paolo Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Maximum/Minimum Temperature, 24 Hour Precipitation Amount, Snow Water Equivalent, Shortwave Radiation, Vapor Pressure
The environmental signal of lake sediments in Mesoamerica: Modern pollen Leon-Carreno, Mauricio, Correa-Metrio, Alex, Ramos-Fabiel, Melbi Alejandro, Escobar, Jaime, Curtis, Jason H, Franco-Gaviria, Felipe, Caballero-Rodriguez, Dayenari, Perez, Liseth, Schwalb, Antje, Meave, Jorge A Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
The equity and coupling coordination of ecosystem services and LUO, Songkai, LUO, Zhijun Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Drivers of Vegetation Carbon Sinks in Xu, Juntao, Thi Hang, Nguyen, Ran, Mengqi, Kong, Junqia Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatial and temporal migratory connectivity of two sympatrically breeding woodwarblers with geographically discordant population trends Kramer, Gunnar R., Fischer, Silas E., Ruhl, Patrick J., Berz, Eliot S., Huffines, Rick, Aborn, David A., Streby, Henry M. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatial association and trade-off/synergy relationships between Xiao, Ruiming, Dong, Xiaobin, Wang, Xuechao, Xiao, Xiaomin, Yan, Yichen, Liu, Rui, Qi, Yuxin Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Staunch Defender of COP27: A 20-Year Journey of Land Revegetation Peng, Xiangbin, Xu, Dong, Bai, Tingting, Li, Junjie, Zhu, Kai Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Strengthening Coupling Between Vegetation and Soil-Atmosphere Compound Wu, Rong, Wang, Zijun, Meng, Fangxiu, Liu, Yangyang, Shi, Haiyun Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff
Storms Generated by a Sharp Vegetation Contrast Between Huge Irrigated Cui, Quxin, Meng, Zhiyong, Lin, Yiren, Huang, Yipeng, Zheng, Zimeng, Yao, Xiaojuan, Sun, Yonggang, Meng, Xuefeng Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatiotemporal patterns of artificial forest expansion and their driving mechanisms for carbon sink enhancement in China (20052019) Li, Si-Yu, Wei, Xing-Peng, Meng, Yuan, Yang, Yu-Ting, Zheng, Zi-Yi, Zhou, Jing-Xuan, Yuan, Wang-Bo, Ni, Hong-Gang Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatiotemporal trends and ecological disparities of PM2.5 and vegetation coverage in Anhui Province Li, Yunhao, Guo, Jia, Han, Chenyang, Wang, Xiangge, Shi, Mingjie Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
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