N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Description
The MOD15A2H Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MOD15A2H Version 6.1 data product.
The MOD15A2H Version 6 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) combined Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) product is an 8-day composite dataset with 500 meter (m) pixel size. The algorithm chooses the “best” pixel available from all the acquisitions of the Terra sensor 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 nanometers (nm), absorbed by the green elements of a vegetation canopy.
Science Datasets (SDSs) in the Level 4 (L4) MOD15A2H product include LAI, FPAR, two quality layers, and standard deviation for LAI and FPAR. Two low resolution browse images, LAI and FPAR, are also available for each MOD15A2H granule.
Known Issues
- For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.
Version Description
Product Summary
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
Gorelick, N., Hancher, M., Dixon, M., Ilyushchenko, S., Thau, D., & Moore, R. (2017). Google Earth Engine: Planetary-scale geospatial analysis for everyone. Remote Sensing of Environment. MODIS Version 6 Leaf Area Index/FPAR 4-day L5 Global 500m Myneni, R., Y. Knyazikhin, T. Park. MOD15A2H MODIS/Terra Leaf Area Index/FPAR 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006. 2015, distributed by NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC, https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD15A2H.006 Landsat 5/7/8 Collection 1 Surface Reflectance
Landsat Level-2 Surface Reflectance Science Product courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Masek, J.G., Vermote, E.F., Saleous N.E., Wolfe, R., Hall, F.G., Huemmrich, K.F., Gao, F., Kutler, J., and Lim, T-K. (2006). A Landsat surface reflectance dataset for North America, 1990–2000. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters 3(1):68-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2005.857030.
Vermote, E., Justice, C., Claverie, M., & Franch, B. (2016). Preliminary analysis of the performance of the Landsat 8/OLI land surface reflectance product. Remote Sensing of Environment. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.04.008. National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD)
Yang, Limin, Jin, Suming, Danielson, Patrick, Homer, Collin G., Gass, L., Bender, S.M., Case, Adam, Costello, C., Dewitz, Jon A., Fry, Joyce A., Funk, M., Granneman, Brian J., Liknes, G.C., Rigge, Matthew B., Xian, George, A new generation of the United States National Land Cover Database—Requirements, research priorities, design, and implementation strategies: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, v. 146, p. 108–123, at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2018.09.006 Resource Software Recommended: Microsoft Excel,url: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel
Resource Title: LAI_training_samples_CONUS.
File Name: LAI_train_samples_CONUS_v0.1.1.csv
Resource Description: This CSV file consists of the training samples for estimating Leaf Area Index based on Landsat surface reflectance images (Collection 1 Tire 1). Each sample has a MODIS LAI value and corresponding surface reflectance derived from Landsat pixels within the MODIS pixel. Contact: Yanghui Kang (kangyanghui@gmail.com)
Column description
UID: Unique identifier. Format: LATITUDE_LONGITUDE_SENSOR_PATHROW_DATE
Landsat_ID: Landsat image ID
Date: Landsat image date in "YYYYMMDD"
Latitude: Latitude (WGS84) of the MODIS LAI pixel center
Longitude: Longitude (WGS84) of the MODIS LAI pixel center
MODIS_LAI: MODIS LAI value in "m2/m2"
MODIS_LAI_std: MODIS LAI standard deviation in "m2/m2"
MODIS_LAI_sat: 0 - MODIS Main (RT) method used no saturation; 1 - MODIS Main (RT) method with saturation
NLCD_class: Majority class code from the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD)
NLCD_frequency: Percentage of the area cover by the majority class from NLCD
Biome: Biome type code mapped from NLCD (see below for more information)
Blue: Landsat surface reflectance in the blue band
Green: Landsat surface reflectance in the green band
Red: Landsat surface reflectance in the red band
Nir: Landsat surface reflectance in the near infrared band
Swir1: Landsat surface reflectance in the shortwave infrared 1 band
Swir2: Landsat surface reflectance in the shortwave infrared 2 band
Sun_zenith: Solar zenith angle from the Landsat image metadata. This is a scene-level value.
Sun_azimuth: Solar azimuth angle from the Landsat image metadata. This is a scene-level value.
NDVI: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index computed from Landsat surface reflectance
EVI: Enhanced Vegetation Index computed from Landsat surface reflectance
NDWI: Normalized Difference Water Index computed from Landsat surface reflectance
GCI: Green Chlorophyll Index = Nir/Green - 1
1 - Deciduous Forest
2 - Evergreen Forest
3 - Mixed Forest
4 - Shrubland
5 - Grassland/Pasture
6 - Cropland
7 - Woody Wetland
8 - Herbaceous Wetland
Reference Dataset:
All data was accessed through Google Earth Engine
Gorelick, N., Hancher, M., Dixon, M., Ilyushchenko, S., Thau, D., & Moore, R. (2017). Google Earth Engine: Planetary-scale geospatial analysis for everyone. Remote Sensing of Environment.
MODIS Version 6 Leaf Area Index/FPAR 4-day L5 Global 500m Myneni, R., Y. Knyazikhin, T. Park. MOD15A2H MODIS/Terra Leaf Area Index/FPAR 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006. 2015, distributed by NASA EOSDIS Land Processes DAAC, https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD15A2H.006
Landsat 5/7/8 Collection 1 Surface Reflectance
Landsat Level-2 Surface Reflectance Science Product courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Masek, J.G., Vermote, E.F., Saleous N.E., Wolfe, R., Hall, F.G., Huemmrich, K.F., Gao, F., Kutler, J., and Lim, T-K. (2006). A Landsat surface reflectance dataset for North America, 1990–2000. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters 3(1):68-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2005.857030.
Vermote, E., Justice, C., Claverie, M., & Franch, B. (2016). Preliminary analysis of the performance of the Landsat 8/OLI land surface reflectance product. Remote Sensing of Environment. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2016.04.008.
National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD)
Yang, Limin, Jin, Suming, Danielson, Patrick, Homer, Collin G., Gass, L., Bender, S.M., Case, Adam, Costello, C., Dewitz, Jon A., Fry, Joyce A., Funk, M., Granneman, Brian J., Liknes, G.C., Rigge, Matthew B., Xian, George, A new generation of the United States National Land Cover Database—Requirements, research priorities, design, and implementation strategies: ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, v. 146, p. 108–123, at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2018.09.006
Resource Software Recommended: Microsoft Excel,url: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel}, publisher={ICPSR - Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research}, author={US Department of Agriculture and National Agricultural Library}, year={2026}, language={en} }
File Naming Convention
The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD15A2H) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2002273), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h20v06), the Version of the data collection (006), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2015151112325), and the Data Format (hdf).
Documents
USER'S GUIDE
ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)
DATA PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT
Publications Citing This Dataset
| Title | Year Sort ascending | Author | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
| A new global land productivity dynamic product based on the consistency of various vegetation biophysical indicators | Cui, Yuran, Li, Xiaosong | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) | |
| A comparison of land surface phenology in the Northern Hemisphere derived from satellite remote sensing and the Community Land Model | Li, Xiaolu, Melaas, Eli, Carrillo, Carlos M., Ault, Toby, Richardson, Andrew D., Lawrence, Peter, Friedl, Mark A., Seyednasrollah, Bijan, Lawrence, David M., Young, Adam M. | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar) | |
| A daily and 500 m coupled evapotranspiration and gross primary production product across China during 20002020 | He, Shaoyang, Zhang, Yongqiang, Ma, Ning, Tian, Jing, Kong, Dongdong, Liu, Changming | Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Terrestrial Water Storage, 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, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Emissivity, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar) | |
| Applications of a thermal-based two-source energy balance model coupled to surface soil moisture | Song, Lisheng, Ding, Zhonghao, Kustas, William P., Xu, Yanhao, Zhao, Gengle, Liu, Shaomin, Ma, Mingguo, Xue, Kejia, Bai, Yan, Xu, Ziwei | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar) | |
| Biophysical impact of sunflower crop rotation on agricultural fields | Kussul, Nataliia, Deininger, Klaus, Shumilo, Leonid, Lavreniuk, Mykola, Ali, Daniel Ayalew, Nivievskyi, Oleg | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance | |
| Assessment of JSBACHv4.30 as a land component of ICON-ESM-V1 in | Schneck, Rainer, Gayler, Veronika, Nabel, Julia E. M. S., Raddatz, Thomas, Reick, Christian H., Schnur, Reiner | Albedo, Anisotropy, 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), Evapotranspiration, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Latent Heat Flux, Vegetation Productivity | |
| Assessing the influence of water sampling strategy on the performance of tracer-aided hydrological modeling in a mountainous basin on the Tibetan Plateau | Nan, Yi, He, Zhihua, Tian, Fuqiang, Wei, Zhongwang, Tian, Lide | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) | |
| Changes in land use and cover and their consequences on the spatial distribution of evapotranspiration and climatic elements in southwest Piaui, MATOPIBA | de Moura Neto, Arao, Fernandes, Gabriel Siqueira Tavares, Lopes, Jessica Rafaelly de Almeida, Lima, Edivania de Araujo, Lopes, Pabricio Marcos Oliveira, Rodrigues, Lais Samara, Goncalves Junior, Angelo da Silva | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux | |
| Cascading droughtheat dynamics during the 2021 Southwest United States Heatwave | Osman, M., Zaitchik, B. F., Winstead, N. S. | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Surface Soil Moisture | |
| BushfireInduced Water Balance Changes Detected by a Modified Paired Catchment Method | Xu, Zhenwu, Zhang, Yongqiang, Zhang, Xuanze, Ma, Ning, Tian, Jing, Kong, Dongdong, Post, David | 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, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Latent Heat Flux, Albedo, Anisotropy | |
| Changes in summer biogenic volatile organic compound emission and secondary organic aerosols over the 20012018 period over China: Roles of leaf biomass ... | Li, Jie, Han, Zhiwei, Wu, Jian, Wang, Qingeng, Li, Jiawei, Tao, Jun | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification | |
| Assessment of vegetation productivity under the implementation of ecological programs in the Loess Plateau based on the solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence | XUE, Jin-Ru, LU, Xiao-Liang | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar) | |
| CARDAMOM-FluxVal version 1.0: a FLUXNET-based validation system for CARDAMOM carbon and water flux estimates | Yang, Yan, Bloom, A. Anthony, Ma, Shuang, Levine, Paul, Norton, Alexander, Parazoo, Nicholas C., Reager, John T., Worden, John, Quetin, Gregory R., Smallman, T. Luke, Williams, Mathew, Xu, Liang, Saatchi, Sassan | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar) | |
| Clusterenhanced ensemble learning for mapping global monthly surface ozone from 2003 to 2019 | Liu, Xiang, Zhu, Yijing, Xue, Lian, Desai, Ankur R., Wang, Haikun | Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Nitrogen Dioxide, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification | |
| Differential Impacts of Climatic and Land Use Changes on Habitat | Yang, Wei, Ma, Yuanxu, Jing, Linhai, Wang, Siyuan, Sun, Zhongchang, Tang, Yunwei, Li, Hui | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), 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) | |
| Development of the GLASS 250-m leaf area index product (version 6) from MODIS data using the bidirectional LSTM deep learning model | Ma, Han, Liang, Shunlin | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance | |
| Development of a physics-informed data-driven model for gaining insights into hydrological processes in irrigated watersheds | Li, Kailong, Huang, Guohe, Wang, Shuo, Razavi, Saman | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Surface Soil Moisture | |
| Development of an open-source regional data assimilation system in PEcAn v. 1.7. 2: application to carbon cycle reanalysis across the contiguous US using ... | Dokoohaki, Hamze, Morrison, Bailey D., Raiho, Ann, Serbin, Shawn P., Zarada, Katie, Dramko, Luke, Dietze, Michael | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar) | |
| Critical Climate Periods Explain a Large Fraction of the Observed | Kern, Aniko, Barcza, Zoltan, Hollos, Roland, Birinyi, Edina, Marjanovic, Hrvoje | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance | |
| Effects of Environmental Factors on the Changes in MODIS NPP along DEM in Global Terrestrial Ecosystems over the Last Two Decades | Wang, Zhaoqi, Wang, Hong, Wang, Tongfang, Wang, Lina, Huang, Xiaotao, Zheng, Kai, Liu, Xiang | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity | |
| Effectiveness of protected areas edges on vegetation greenness, cover and productivity on the Tibetan Plateau, China | Hua, Ting, Zhao, Wenwu, Cherubini, Francesco, Hu, Xiangping, Pereira, Paulo | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) | |
| Effects of Increased Drought in Amazon Forests Under Climate Change: | Wey, HaoWei, Pongratz, Julia, Nabel, Julia E. M. S., Naudts, Kim | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar) | |
| Effects of land use/cover change on atmospheric humidity in three urban agglomerations in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China | Li, Baoni, Xiong, Lihua, Zhang, Quan, Chen, Shilei, Yang, Han, Guo, Shuhui | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux | |
| Downscaling Global Gridded Crop Yield Data Products and Crop Water Productivity Mapping Using Remote Sensing Derived Variables in the South Asia | Mohanasundaram, S., Kasiviswanathan, K. S., Purnanjali, C., Santikayasa, I. Putu, Singh, Shilpa | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Vegetation Cover, Cropland | |
| Decadal change of spring dust activity in western Iran and its mechanism | Kamal, Alireza, Lin, Zhaohui, Wu, Chenglai | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification |