MODIS Biophysical Climatologies for North American Land Cover, 2000-2012

Thirteen years of MODIS-derived 8-day average climatologies for biophysical parameters like albedo, land surface temperature, and leaf area index are provided at a 5-km resolution across North America. The dataset includes separate files for each MODIS land cover type and four scenarios of potential vegetation shifts to model radiative forcing. It was originally developed to quantify biophysical forcing from land-use changes, particularly in forestry.

Use Cases

• Modeling radiative forcing from land-use change based on albedo and land surface temperature data.
• Analyzing vegetation-climate interactions using leaf area index and evapotranspiration time series.
• Assessing potential climate impacts of vegetation shifts using the four provided scenario files.
• Validating land surface models with high-resolution, land-cover-specific climatologies.

Strengths

• Provides a 13-year climatology (2000-2012) for consistent temporal analysis.
• Offers high spatial resolution (0.05 degree/~5 km) for regional-scale land surface studies.
• Integrates multiple key biophysical variables (BRDF/albedo, LST, LAI, ET) with a unified land-cover classification.
• Includes specific scenario modeling for vegetation shifts, supporting impact assessment.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low; specific column names, row counts, and exact file structures are not provided.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2012 on NASA Earthdata vs. 2026 on Data.gov) create uncertainty about data currency and maintenance.
• The land-cover map is synthesized from 2001-2008 data, which may not reflect conditions at the temporal extremes of the climatology (2000, 2012).

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from MODIS satellite sensor data (MCD12 Q1 Collection 5 land-cover layers).

Time Range

2000 to 2012

Freshness

2026-04-10 00:25:41.834472

Geography

North America, from 20 to 60 degrees N latitude.