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Full catalog/MODIS_Terra_L3_NDVI_16Day
MODIS_Terra_L3_NDVI_16Day·dataset

Global Plant Greenness, Every 16 Days

16-Day MODIS Terra Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) - L3 NRT
biosphere NASA VEDA COG
In plain English

What it measures. Maps how green and healthy vegetation is across the world, using a greenness index (NDVI) that rises with denser, healthier plant cover. Each map blends the clearest, greenest views from a 16-day window into a single picture.

How it's made. Built from NASA's MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite, which measures sunlight reflected off plants at 250-metre detail.

How & where you'd use it. Lets scientists and responders track droughts, crop stress, and long-term changes in vegetation over decades.

What's measured

MODISTerraNDVI16Day

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2000-03-05 → 2025-06-30
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsCOG

What you can do with it

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

The Vegetation Index (L3, 16-Day) layer is created from the Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices (MOD13Q1) data which are generated every 16 days at 250 meter (m) spatial resolution as a Level 3 product. The MOD13Q1 product provides 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 algorithm chooses the best available pixel value from all the acquisitions from the 16-day period. The criteria used is low clouds, low view angle, and the highest NDVI value. The MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) complements NOAA's Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) NDVI products and provides continuity for time series historical applications. The MODIS NDVI product is computed from surface reflectances corrected for molecular scattering, ozone absorption, and aerosols. References: MOD13Q1 doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD13Q1.061

Get the data

veda_access.py
# NASA VEDA — open STAC API, anonymous (cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs)
from pystac_client import Client

cat = Client.open("https://openveda.cloud/api/stac")
col = cat.get_collection("MODIS_Terra_L3_NDVI_16Day")
items = list(col.get_items())          # browse the analysis-ready COGs
# open an asset with rioxarray:
# import rioxarray; da = rioxarray.open_rasterio(items[0].assets["cog_default"].href)
NASA VEDA is an open STAC catalog — browse and stream the cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs anonymously (no login).