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Description

The MOD15A2H Version 6.1 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

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to the MODIS Version 6.1 LAI/FPAR data product: (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
Projects
TERRA
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
2000-02-18 to Present
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
C2218777082-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
346968
Processing Level
4
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
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. (2021). MODIS/Terra Leaf Area Index/FPAR 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD15A2H.061 Date Accessed: 2026-07-06

File Naming Convention

MOD15A2H.A2025209.h35v09.061.2025218040352.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MOD15A2H) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025209), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h35v09), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025218040352), 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
Improving the estimation of throughfall amounts in primeval forests along an elevation gradient on Mountain Gongga, Southwest China Yang, Ruxin, Wang, Genxu, Cui, Junfang, Guo, Li, Wang, Fei, Tang, Xiangyu Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Irrigation and warming drive the decreases in surface albedo over High Mountain Asia Maina, Fadji Z., Kumar, Sujay V., Gangodagamage, Chandana Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Revising precipitationwater storagesvegetation signatures with GRACE-based data assimilation Gerdener, Helena, Kusche, Jurgen, Schulze, Kerstin, Ghazaryan, Gohar, Dubovyk, Olena Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Respiration regimes in rivers: Partitioning source-specific respiration Bertuzzo, Enrico, Hotchkiss, Erin R., Argerich, Alba, Kominoski, John S., OviedoVargas, Diana, Savoy, Philip, Scarlett, Rachel, von Schiller, Daniel, Heffernan, James B. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Response of vegetation ecosystems to flash drought with solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence over the Hai River Basin, China during 2001-2019 Yao, Tingting, Liu, Suxia, Hu, Shi, Mo, Xingguo 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
Remote sensing products validated by flux tower data in Amazon Rain Forest Paca, Victor Hugo da Motta, Espinoza-Davalos, Gonzalo E., da Silva, Rodrigo, Tapajos, Raphael, dos Santos Gaspar, Avner Brasileiro Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Phenological and physiological responses of the terrestrial ecosystem to the 2019 drought event in Southwest China: Insights from satellite measurements ... Li, Lingfeng, Qiu, Bo, Guo, Weidong, Zhang, Yiping, Song, Qinghai, Chen, Jiuyi Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Solar Induced Fluorescence, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Surface Soil Moisture
Protected areas provide thermal buffer against climate change Xu, Xiyan, Huang, Anqi, Belle, Elise, De Frenne, Pieter, Jia, Gensuo Albedo, Anisotropy, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Rapid assessment of plant diversity using MODIS biophysical proxies Mahanand, Swapna, Behera, Mukunda Dev, Roy, Partha Sarathi Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Recent Seasonal Variations in Ecosystem Water Use Efficiency in China's Liu, Linxin, Zhang, Ke, Chao, Lijun, Ezaz, Gazi Tawfiq, Li, Xi, Forzieri, Giovanni Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Quantifying the variability in water use efficiency from the canopy to ecosystem scale across main croplands Chen, Yanan, Ding, Zhi, Yu, Pujia, Yang, Hong, Song, Lisheng, Fan, Lei, Han, Xujun, Ma, Mingguo, Tang, Xuguang Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance
Monitoring the Wildfire Activity and Ecosystem Response on Mt. Kilimanjaro Using Earth Observation Data and GIS Das, Priyanko, Zhang, Zhenke, Ren, Hang Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
The Coupling of Soil Water and Leaf Phenology Observed by Satellite During Australian Bushfires in 20192020 Liu, Yuqing, Shi, Wenzhong, Zhang, Min, Hao, Ming, Zhang, Hua, Sun, Yangjie Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Terrain Elevation, Total Surface Precipitation Rate, Fire Occurrence, Surface Thermal Properties, Land Surface Temperature, THERMAL ANOMALIES, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Temperature Mediates the Dynamic of MODIS NPP in Alpine Grassland on the Tibetan Plateau, 20012019 Cui, Jinxia, Wang, Yanding, Zhou, Tiancai, Jiang, Lili, Qi, Qingwen Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Secondary organic aerosol formation and source contributions over east China in summertime Li, Jie, Han, Zhiwei, Wu, Jian, Tao, Jun, Li, Jiawei, Sun, Yele, Liang, Lin, Liang, Mingjie, Wang, Qin'geng Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Spatiotemporal variation in gross primary productivity and their responses to climate in the great lakes region of Sub-Saharan Africa during 20012020 Kayiranga, Alphonse, Chen, Baozhang, Wang, Fei, Nthangeni, Winny, Dilawar, Adil, Hategekimana, Yves, Zhang, Huifang, Guo, Lifeng Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
SPATIAL DOWNSCALING OF SMAP SOIL MOISTURE USING THE MODIS AND SRTM Mohite, J. D., Sawant, S. A., Pandit, A., Pappula, S. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo, Anisotropy
Seasonal and long-term variations in leaf area of Congolese rainforest Sun, Yuanheng, Knyazikhin, Yuri, She, Xiaojun, Ni, Xiangnan, Chen, Chi, Ren, Huazhong, Myneni, Ranga B. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation
Synergy of remotely sensed data in spatiotemporal dynamic modeling of the crop and cover management factor PREETHA, Pooja P., AL-HAMDAN, Ashraf Z. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence trends and mechanisms in different ecosystems in northeastern China Guo, Meng, Li, Jing, Li, Jianuo, Zhong, Chao, Zhou, Fenfen Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Solar Induced Fluorescence, Chlorophyll, Primary Production, Leaf Characteristics
Spatio-temporal variability of water use efficiency and its drivers in major forest formations in India Nandy, Subrata, Saranya, M., Srinet, Ritika Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Spatial-temporal variations of terrestrial evapotranspiration across China from 2000 to 2019 Fu, Jing, Gong, Yueqi, Zheng, Wenwu, Zou, Jun, Zhang, Meng, Zhang, Zhongbo, Qin, Jianxin, Liu, Jianxiong, Quan, Bin Evapotranspiration, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Latent Heat Flux
Using an object-based machine learning ensemble approach to upscale evapotranspiration measured from eddy covariance towers in a subtropical wetland Zhang, Caiyun, Brodylo, David, Rahman, Mizanur, Rahman, Md Atiqur, Douglas, Thomas A., Comas, Xavier Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance
WaterSmart-GISA web application of a data assimilation model to support irrigation research and decision making Zhao, Haoteng, Di, Liping, Sun, Ziheng Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Surface Soil Moisture
Warming, increase in precipitation, and irrigation enhance greening in High Mountain Asia Maina, Fadji Zaouna, Kumar, Sujay V., Albergel, Clement, Mahanama, Sarith P. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification
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