Earth Data School
About
Full catalog/MCD15A3H
MCD15A3H·v006·dataset

How leafy and light-absorbing plants are (Terra+Aqua, 500 m)

MODIS/Terra+Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 4-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006
biosphere NASA LPCLOUD Level 4 HDF-EOS2
In plain English

What it measures. Two measures of vegetation: leaf area index (how much leaf cover there is per patch of ground) and the fraction of sunlight that green plants absorb for photosynthesis, mapped globally at 500-meter detail. Note this version has been retired in favor of a newer one.

How it's made. Produced by combining the best readings from the MODIS instruments on both NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites over each 4-day period.

How & where you'd use it. Used to track plant growth and health, study ecosystems, and feed climate and carbon models.

What's measured

BIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › LEAF CHARACTERISTICSBIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › PHOTOSYNTHETICALLY ACTIVE RADIATIONBIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › LEAF CHARACTERISTICS › LEAF AREA INDEX (LAI)BIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › PHOTOSYNTHETICALLY ACTIVE RADIATION › FRACTION OF ABSORBED PHOTOSYNTHETICALLY ACTIVE RADIATION (FAPAR)

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2002-07-04 → 2023-02-17
  • Measured byTerra (MODIS) · Aqua (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 4
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsHDF-EOS2
  • StatusDEPRECATED

What you can do with it

  • Map vegetation, forests and biomass
  • Monitor ecosystem productivity and carbon
  • Support habitat and biodiversity studies
Official description

The MCD15A3H Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the [MCD15A3H Version 6.1](https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A3H.061) data product. The MCD15A3H Version 6 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 4, Combined Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR), and Leaf Area Index (LAI) product is a 4-day composite data set with 500 meter pixel size. The algorithm chooses the best pixel available from all the acquisitions of both MODIS sensors located on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites from within the 4-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 nm) absorbed by the green elements of a vegetation canopy. Known Issues * For complete information about known issues please refer to the [MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website](https://landweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/knownissue?sensor=MODIS&sat=TerraAqua&as=6).

Get the data

mcd15a3h_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MCD15A3H",
    version="006",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from LPCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.