Earth Data School
About
Full catalog/MOD15A2H
MOD15A2H·v006·dataset

How leafy the land is and sunlight it uses, 8-day (Terra, 500 m)

MODIS/Terra Leaf Area Index/FPAR 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006
biosphere NASA LPCLOUD Level 4 HDF-EOS2
In plain English

What it measures. Two measures of vegetation: how much leaf area covers the ground (leaf area index) and the share of sunlight the plants absorb for photosynthesis. Values are given every 8 days at about 500 m detail, along with quality and uncertainty layers.

How it's made. Produced from MODIS measurements on NASA's Terra satellite, picking the best pixel from each 8-day window. Note this older version was retired in 2023 in favor of an updated one.

How & where you'd use it. Helps track plant growth, crop and forest health, and how much sunlight vegetation is using around the world.

What's measured

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

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2000-02-18 → 2023-02-17
  • Measured byTerra (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 MOD15A2H Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the [MOD15A2H Version 6.1](https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD15A2H.061) data product. The MOD15A2H Version 6 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 * 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=6).

Get the data

mod15a2h_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MOD15A2H",
    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.