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Description

The Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices (MYD13Q1) Version 6.1 data are generated every 16 days at 250 meter (m) spatial resolution as a Level 3 product. The MYD13Q1 product provides two primary vegetation layers. The first is the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) which is referred to as the continuity index to the existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR) derived NDVI. The second vegetation layer is the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), which has improved sensitivity over high biomass regions. The algorithm chooses the best available pixel value from all the acquisitions from the 16 day period. The criteria used is low clouds, low view angle, and the highest NDVI/EVI value.

Along with the vegetation layers and the two quality layers, the HDF file will have MODIS reflectance bands 1 (red), 2 (near-infrared), 3 (blue), and 7 (mid-infrared), as well as four 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
Aqua
Instruments
MODIS
Projects
Aqua
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
250 Meters x 250 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
MODIS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2002-07-04 to Present
Temporal Resolution
16 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
C2307290656-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
159697
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/Aqua Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 250m SIN Grid V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD13Q1.061 Date Accessed: 2026-06-04

File Naming Convention

MYD13Q1.A2025201.h21v00.061.2025217235651.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MYD13Q1) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025201), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h21v00), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025217235651), 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
Recent patterns in climate, vegetation, and forest water use in California montane watersheds Saksa, Philip, Safeeq, Mohammad, Dymond, Salli Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
The impact of persistent volcanic degassing on vegetationa case study at Turrialba volcano, Costa Rica Tortini, R., van Manen, S.M., Parkes, B.R.B, Carn, S.A. REFLECTED INFRARED, THERMAL INFRARED, VISIBLE IMAGERY, Visible Radiance, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Sulfur Dioxide
Vegetation phenology response towards rainfall distribution using MODIS-Aqua vegetation satellite index data Madzen, Amirah Audadi, Lam, Kuok Choy Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Mapping Paddy Rice in China in 2002, 2005, 2010 and 2014 with MODIS Time Clauss, Kersten, Yan, Huimin, Kuenzer, Claudia Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Operational drought monitoring in Kenya using MODIS NDVI time series Klisch, Anja, Atzberger, Clement Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Timely monitoring of Asian Migratory locust habitats in the Amudarya delta, Uzbekistan using time series of satellite remote sensing vegetation index Low, Fabian, Waldner, Francois, Latchininsky, Alexandre, Biradar, Chandrashekhar, Bolkart, Maximilian, Colditz, Rene R. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
NDVI-based land-cover change detection using harmonic analysis Jung, Myunghee, Chang, Eunmi Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
The 2010 Russian drought impact on satellite measurements of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescenceinsights from modeling and comparisons with parameters derived from satellite reflectances Yoshida, Y., Joiner, J., Tucker, C., Berry, J., Lee, J.-E., Walker, G., Reichle, R., Koster, R., Lyapustin, A., Wang, Y. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Ticks and tick-borne pathogens in South Bohemia (Czech Republic) - spatial variability in Ixodes ricinus abundance, Borrelia burgdorferi and tick-borne encephalitis virus prevalence Honig, V., Svec, P., Halas, P., Vavruskova, Z., Tykalova, H., Kilian, P., Vetiskova, V., Dornakova, V., Sterbova, J., Simonova, Z., Erhart, J., Sterba, J., Golovchenko, M., Rudenko, N., Grubhoffer, L. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Time-series analysis of satellite-measured vegetation phenology and aerosol optical thickness over the Korean peninsula Park, S. Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
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