MODIS Aqua Monthly Vegetation Indices at 0.05 Degree Resolution

MODIS/Aqua Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006 provides global monthly composites of vegetation health from NASA's Aqua satellite. The dataset includes the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for continuity and the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) for improved sensitivity in high biomass areas, projected on a Climate Modeling Grid of 3,600 by 7,200 pixels. This Version 6 product was decommissioned in July 2023, with users directed to the updated Version 6.1.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term vegetation trends and phenology using the monthly NDVI and EVI time series.
• Assessing agricultural productivity and drought impacts via the reflectance data and vegetation index values.
• Validating climate or ecosystem models with the spatially aggregated statistics like mean and standard deviation.
• Studying aerosol impacts on vegetation readings in arid regions using the documented quality assurance (VI QA) flags.

Strengths

• Provides two complementary vegetation indices (NDVI and EVI) for analysis across different biomass conditions.
• Offers global coverage with a consistent 0.05-degree (5,600-meter) Climate Modeling Grid, comprising 3,600 rows and 7,200 columns.
• Data are cloud-free monthly composites generated from weighted temporal averages of higher-level input products.

Limitations

• The Version 6 product has known issues with aerosol representation impacting data over arid bright surfaces, leading to its decommissioning.
• Sources conflict on the last update date, listing both 2023-01 31 and 2026-03-13, creating uncertainty about the metadata's current status.
• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by the platforms.

Provenance

Source

NASA LPCLOUD, generated from MODIS/Aqua sensor data.

Collection Method

Algorithm ingests all MYD13A2 products overlapping a month and employs a weighted temporal average to create cloud-free composites.

Time Range

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Freshness

The dataset is not current; the Version 6 product was officially decommissioned on July 31, 2023.

Geography

Global coverage.