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Full catalog/MOD13C1
MOD13C1·v061·dataset

How green the land is (Terra, 16-day, 0.05 deg)

MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V061
biosphere NASA LPCLOUD Level 3 active HDF-EOS2
In plain English

What it measures. Measures how green and dense vegetation is using two indices (NDVI and the enhanced EVI, which works better in lush areas), along with reflectance data, viewing angles, and quality statistics.

How it's made. Produced from the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite, combining 16 days of observations into cloud-free composites on a coarse 0.05-degree global grid.

How & where you'd use it. Used to track vegetation health, growing seasons, droughts, and long-term greening or browning trends, and it continues an older long-running vegetation record for consistency.

What's measured

BIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › VEGETATION INDEXBIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › VEGETATION INDEX › NORMALIZED DIFFERENCE VEGETATION INDEX (NDVI)BIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › VEGETATION INDEX › ENHANCED VEGETATION INDEX (EVI)

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2000-02-18 → ongoing
  • Measured byTerra (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsHDF-EOS2
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

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

The Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices 16-Day (MOD13C1) Version 6.1 product provides a Vegetation Index (VI) value at a per pixel basis. There are 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 Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) consists 3,600 rows and 7,200 columns of 5,600 meter (m) pixels. Global MOD13C1 data are cloud-free spatial composites of the gridded 16-day 1 kilometer [MOD13A2](https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A2.061) data, and are provided as a Level 3 product projected on a 0.05 degree (5,600 m) geographic CMG. The MOD13C1 has data fields for NDVI, EVI, VI QA, reflectance data, angular information, and spatial statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and number of used input pixels at the 0.05 degree CMG resolution. 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=Terra&as=61).

Get the data

mod13c1_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MOD13C1",
    version="061",
    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.