Data Characteristics:
Area: ~10 degrees x 10 degrees lat/long
Dimensions: 2400 x 2400 rows/columns
File Size: ~ 2 - 77 MB
Resolution: 500 meters
Projection: Sinusoidal
Data Format: HDF-EOS
Science Data Sets (SDS HDF Layers): 12
The MOD13A1 images shown are samples of the MODIS/Terra Vegetation
Indices 16-Day L3 Global 500m SIN Grid. The NDVI and EVI have been pseudo-colored
to represent the biomass health of the western United States using tile
h08v05 from June 25 – July 10, 2000. Due to their simplicity, ease of
application, and widespread familiarity, vegetation indices have a range
of usage within the user community. Some of the more common applications
may include global biogeochemical and hydrologic modeling, agricultural
monitoring and forecasting, land-use planning, land cover characterization,
and land cover change detection.
V005 Change Points of Interest:
Phased production between Terra and Aqua products for improved temporal frequency (Terra 16-day period starting Day 001, Aqua 16-day period starting Day 009)
Replaced NDVI_QA and EVI_QA with one VI_QA Science Data Set
Reduced file volume by using internal compression
Product Description
Global MODIS vegetation indices are designed to provide consistent spatial and temporal comparisons
of vegetation conditions. Blue, red, and near-infrared reflectances,
centered at 469-nanometers, 645-nanometers, and 858-nanometers, respectively,
are used to determine the MODIS daily vegetation indices.
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 a new
Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) that minimizes canopy background variations
and maintains sensitivity over dense vegetation conditions. The EVI
also uses the blue band to remove residual atmosphere contamination
caused by smoke and sub-pixel thin cloud clouds. The MODIS NDVI and
EVI products are computed from atmospherically corrected bi-directional
surface reflectances that have been masked for water, clouds, heavy
aerosols, and cloud shadows.
Global MOD13A1 data
are provided every 16 days at 500-meter spatial resolution as a gridded
level-3 product in the Sinusoidal projection. 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
and global and regional climate. These data also may be used for characterizing
land surface biophysical properties and processes, including primary
production and land cover conversion.
Version-5 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices products are Validated
Stage 2, meaning that accuracy has been assessed over a widely distributed
set of locations and time periods via several ground-truth and validation
efforts. Although there may be later improved versions, these data
are ready for use in scientific publications.
LP DAAC User Services
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS)
47914 252nd Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57198-0001