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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
347838
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: 2026-07-22

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
Compared performances of SMOS-IC soil moisture and vegetation optical depth retrievals based on Tau-Omega and Two-Stream microwave emission models Li, Xiaojun, Al-Yaari, A., Schwank, M., Fan, Lei, Frappart, F., Swenson, J., Wigneron, J.-P. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Combining Multi-Source Data and Machine Learning Approaches to Predict Wang, Yumiao, Zhang, Zhou, Feng, Luwei, Du, Qingyun, Runge, Troy Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo, Anisotropy
Characterizing the error and bias of remotely sensed LAI Products: An Example for Tropical and Subtropical Evergreen Forests in South China Zhao, Yuan, Chen, Xiaoqiu, Smallman, Thomas Luke, Flack-Prain, Sophie, Milodowski, David T., Williams, Mathew Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Characteristics, drivers and feedbacks of global greening Piao, Shilong, Wang, Xuhui, Park, Taejin, Chen, Chi, Lian, Xu, He, Yue, Bjerke, Jarle W., Chen, Anping, Ciais, Philippe, Tmmervik, Hans, Nemani, Ramakrishna R., Myneni, Ranga B. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Changes of light components and impacts on interannual variations of photosynthesis in China over 2000-2017 by using a two-leaf light use efficiency model Yan, H., Wang, S. Q., Wang, J. B., Shugart, H. H. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Soil Classification, Soil Chemistry, Soil Bulk Density, Nitrogen, Carbon, Soil Horizons/Profile, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Water Holding Capacity
Characterizing spatial patterns of pine bark beetle outbreaks during the dry and rainy season's in Honduras with the aid of geographic information systems and remote sensing data Valdez Vasquez, Miguel Conrado, Chen, Chi-Farn, Lin, Yi-Jeng, Kuo, Yao-Cheng, Chen, Yan-You, Medina, Daryl, Diaz, Karla 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, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Development of a topographic-corrected temperature and greenness model (TG) for improving GPP estimation over mountainous areas Xie, Xinyao, Li, Ainong Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Ecological setup, ploidy diversity, and reproductive biology of Paspalum modestum, a promising wetland forage grass from South America Karunarathne, Piyal, Feduzka, Cristian, Diego, Hojsgaard Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Detecting regional GPP variations with statistically downscaled solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) based on GOME-2 and MODIS data Hu, Shi, Mo, Xingguo Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Discrepancies in the simulated global terrestrial latent heat flux from GLASS and MERRA-2 surface net radiation products Guo, Xiaozheng, Yao, Yunjun, Zhang, Yuhu, Lin, Yi, Jiang, Bo, Jia, Kun, Zhang, Xiaotong, Xie, Xianhong, Zhang, Lilin, Shang, Ke, Yang, Junming, Bei, Xiangyi Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Effects of irrigation on water, carbon, and nitrogen budgets in a semiarid watershed in the Pacific NorthwestA modeling study Zhu, Bowen, Huang, Maoyi, Cheng, Yanyan, Xie, Xianhong, Liu, Ying, Zhang, Xuesong, Bisht, Gautam, Chen, Xingyuan, Missik, Justine, Liu, Heping Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
A leaf area index data set acquired in Sahelian rangelands of Gourma in Mali over the 20052017 period Mougin, Eric, Diawara, Mamadou Oumar, Soumaguel, Nogmana, Maiga, Ali Amadou, Demarez, Valerie, Hiernaux, Pierre, Grippa, Manuela, Chaffard, Veronique, Ba, Abdramane Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Evaluating the Met Office Unified Model land surface temperature in Global Atmosphere/Land 3.1 (GA/L3. 1), Global Atmosphere/Land 6.1 (GA/L6. 1) and ... Brooke, Jennifer K., Harlow, R. Chawn, Scott, Russell L., Best, Martin J., Edwards, John M., Thelen, Jean-Claude, Weeks, Mark Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Evaluating a new algorithm for satellite-based evapotranspiration for North American ecosystems: Model development and validation El Masri, Bassil, Rahman, Abdullah F., Dragoni, Danilo Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Exploration of machine learning techniques in emulating a coupled soil canopy atmosphere radiative transfer model for multi-parameter estimation from satellite observations Shi, Hanyu, Xiao, Zhiqiang, Tian, Xiaodan Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Shortwave Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Evaluation and validation of the MODIS LAI algorithm with digital hemispherical photography at Bhitar Kanika Mangrove Forest, India Paramanik, S, Behera, MD, Bhattacharya, BK, Tripathi, S Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Harmonization of GEOV2 fAPAR time series through MODIS data for global drought monitoring Cammalleri, C., Verger, A., Lacaze, R., Vogt, J.V. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
High-Resolution Vegetation Mapping Using eXtreme Gradient Boosting Based Zhang, Heng, Eziz, Anwar, Xiao, Jian, Tao, Shengli, Wang, Shaopeng, Tang, Zhiyao, Zhu, Jiangling, Fang, Jingyun Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), 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, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Evaluation of topographic effects on multiscale leaf area index estimation using remotely sensed observations from multiple sensors Jin, Huaan, Li, Ainong, Xu, Weixing, Xiao, Zhiqiang, Jiang, Jingyi, Xue, Huazhu Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM)
Evaluation of various precipitation products using ground-based discharge observation at the Nujiang River basin, China Mao, Renjie, Wang, Lei, Zhou, Jing, Li, Xiuping, Qi, Jia, Zhang, Xiaotao Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Evaluation of ten machine learning methods for estimating terrestrial evapotranspiration from remote sensing Carter, Corinne, Liang, Shunlin Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Anisotropy, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo
Evaluation of MOD16 algorithm over irrigated rice paddy using flux tower measurements in southern Brazil Souza, Vanessa de Arruda, Roberti, Debora Regina, Ruhoff, Anderson Luis, Zimmer, Tamires, Adamatti, Daniela Santini, Goncalves, Luis Gustavo G. de, Diaz, Marcelo Bortoluzzi, Alves, Rita de Cassia Marques, Moraes, Osvaldo L. L. de Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux
Forest biomass estimation using remote sensing and field inventoryA case study of Tripura, India Pandey, Prem Chandra, Srivastava, Prashant K., Chetri, Tilok, Choudhary, Bal Krishan, Kumar, Pavan Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Forest degradation assessment based on trend analysis of MODIS-leaf area indexA case study in Mexico Reygadas, Yunuen, Jensen, Jennifer L. R., Moisen, Gretchen G. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Identifying and forecasting potential biophysical risk areas within a tropical mangrove ecosystem using multi-sensor data Shrestha, Shanti, Miranda, Isabel, Kumar, Abhishek, Pardo, Maria Luisa Escobar, Dahal, Subash, Rashid, Taufiq, Remillard, Caren, Mishra, Deepak R. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
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