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Full catalog/MOD17A2H
MOD17A2H·v061·dataset

How fast plants grow (Terra, 8-day, 500 m)

MODIS/Terra Gross Primary Productivity 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V061
biosphere NASA LPCLOUD Level 4 active HDF-EOS2
In plain English

What it measures. How fast plants are capturing carbon and growing, summed up over 8-day periods at 500 m resolution. It reports gross plant productivity and net photosynthesis after subtracting the energy plants spend staying alive.

How it's made. Calculated from the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite using a model that links sunlight and plant greenness to growth, delivered as a gridded global product.

How & where you'd use it. Used to study the carbon cycle, ecosystem health, crop and forest productivity, and how plants respond to climate and seasons.

What's measured

BIOSPHERE › ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS › ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS › PHOTOSYNTHESISBIOSPHERE › ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS › ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS › PRIMARY PRODUCTIONBIOSPHERE › VEGETATION › VEGETATION PRODUCTIVITY

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2021-01-01 → ongoing
  • Measured byTerra (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 4
  • 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 MOD17A2H Version 6.1 Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) product is a cumulative 8-day composite of values with 500 meter (m) pixel size based on the radiation use efficiency concept that can be potentially used as inputs to data models to calculate terrestrial energy, carbon, water cycle processes, and biogeochemistry of vegetation. The data product includes information about GPP and Net Photosynthesis (PSN). The PSN band values are the GPP less the Maintenance Respiration (MR). The data product also contains a PSN Quality Control (QC) layer. The quality layer contains quality information for both the GPP and the PSN. 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

mod17a2h_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MOD17A2H",
    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.