MODIS MCD12Q2: Global Land Surface Phenology Metrics, 2001-2019

MCD12Q2 Version 6 is a global land surface phenology dataset from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, providing yearly metrics from 2001 to 2019. The product is derived from MODIS NBAR-EVI2 time series and identifies vegetation phenology metrics at a 500-meter spatial resolution for up to two growing cycles per year. It includes layers for greenness onset, peak, senescence, dormancy, and quality information, though this version was decommissioned in July 2023.

Use Cases

• Modeling climate change impacts on growing seasons based on yearly phenology metrics.
• Analyzing global vegetation cycles and greenness patterns based on the onset, peak, and senescence layers.
• Studying ecosystems with multiple vegetation cycles per year based on the detection of up to two cycles.
• Assessing data reliability in tropical, arid, and semi-arid regions based on methodological improvements noted in the description.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage at a 500-meter spatial resolution.
• Covers a 19-year time range from 2001 to 2019.
• Includes specific quality layers for each phenology metric.
• Methodology improved reliability for tropical, arid, and semi-arid ecosystems in Version 6.

Limitations

• This Version 6 product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023; users are directed to a newer version.
• Data gaps are filled with values from preceding or following years, which may introduce temporal smoothing.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Derived from time series of the 2-band Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI2) calculated from MODIS Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR).

Time Range

2001 to 2019

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:22:37.418969; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global