MODIS Leaf Area Index for Africa, 2002-2022

31 MODIS 10-degree tiles provide leaf area index (LAI) estimates for Sub-Saharan Africa from 2002 to 2022. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration processed MODIS MCD15A2H Version 6.1 data to generate separate layers for aggregate, woody, and herbaceous vegetation types. Data are provided in NetCDF format.

Use Cases

• Modeling vegetation productivity and carbon sequestration based on aggregate LAI estimates.
• Analyzing land cover change and woody encroachment based on separated woody and herbaceous LAI layers.
• Calibrating or validating ecological models using 500-meter resolution, 8-day composite data.
• Studying seasonal and interannual vegetation phenology across Africa from 2002 to 2022.

Strengths

• Covers a 21-year time range from 2002 to 2022.
• Provides three processed layers: aggregate, woody, and herbaceous LAI.
• Data is derived from the established MODIS MCD15A2H Version 6.1 product.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the MODIS sensor and processing algorithms for Africa.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 4 and the native MODIS LAI product (MCD15A2H Version 6.1).

Time Range

2002 to 2022

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 00:25:48.320331; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Sub-Saharan Africa