MODIS/Aqua Yearly Net Evapotranspiration at 500m Global Scale

The MYD16A3 Version 6 product provides yearly composites of evapotranspiration and latent heat flux at a 500-meter pixel resolution. The algorithm uses daily meteorological reanalysis data alongside MODIS remote sensing inputs for vegetation, albedo, and land cover. This dataset was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was decommissioned on July 31, 2023.

Use Cases

• Modeling global water cycles based on yearly evapotranspiration (ET) and latent heat flux (LE) layers.
• Assessing vegetation water use and drought impacts based on potential evapotranspiration (PET) data.
• Analyzing land-atmosphere interactions using the quality-controlled, algorithmically derived layers.
• Comparing surface energy fluxes using the averaged latent heat and summed evapotranspiration values.

Strengths

• Spatial resolution improved to 500 meters from 1,000 meters in the previous version.
• Algorithm incorporates multiple MODIS data products and daily meteorological reanalysis.
• Includes quality control layers and browse images for data validation.

Limitations

• This specific version (V006) was decommissioned on July 31, 2023; users are directed to a newer version.
• Known operational and uncertainty issues are documented separately, requiring external review.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Generated from MODIS/Aqua satellite data using an algorithm based on the Penman-Monteith equation.

Time Range

Yearly composites, specific years not stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:48:49.230679; freshness should be verified

Geography

Global