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Full catalog/modis-aqua-myd13q1
modis-aqua-myd13q1·dataset

Sharp global vegetation greenness, 16 days at 250m (Copernicus)

MODIS Aqua Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 250m
biosphere ESA ESA Copernicus active
In plain English

What it measures. Captures plant greenness and health through two indices (NDVI and EVI) at a sharp 250-metre detail, summarised every 16 days.

How it's made. Produced from MODIS observations on NASA's Aqua satellite, keeping the clearest, greenest pixel within each 16-day compositing window.

How & where you'd use it. Its finer detail suits field- and landscape-scale work on crops, drought, and seasonal vegetation change.

What's measured

MODISAquaNASASatelliteGlobalVegetationNDVIEVIVegetation Index250mMYD13Q1

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2002-07-04 → ongoing
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90

What you can do with it

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

The MODIS Aqua MYD13Q1 Version 6.1 product provides Vegetation Index (VI) values at 250 m spatial resolution on a per-pixel basis. The dataset includes two primary vegetation indices: the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which maintains continuity with NDVI derived from NOAA-AVHRR observations, and the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), which improves sensitivity in regions with high vegetation biomass. The product is generated as a 16-day composite, where the algorithm selects the best available pixel from all acquisitions within the compositing period based on criteria such as low cloud contamination, low view angle, and the highest NDVI/EVI value. In addition to the vegetation index layers and two quality layers, the dataset includes reflectance bands 1 (red), 2 (near-infrared), 3 (blue), and 7 (mid-infrared), as well as four observation layers.

Get the data

copernicus_access.py
# ESA Copernicus Data Space — open STAC API (free account)
from pystac_client import Client

cat = Client.open("https://stac.dataspace.copernicus.eu/v1")
search = cat.search(
    collections=["modis-aqua-myd13q1"],   # add _cog or _nc for a format variant
    bbox=(-10, 35, 30, 60),             # your area (W,S,E,N)
    datetime="2024-01-01/2024-12-31",
)
items = list(search.items())            # then read assets with rioxarray / xarray
Browsing the Copernicus STAC is open; downloading bytes needs a free Copernicus Data Space account.