MODIS MCD12Q2: Global Land Surface Phenology Metrics, 2001-2021

The MCD12Q2 Version 6.1 product provides global land surface phenology metrics at yearly intervals from 2001 to 2021. It is derived from MODIS satellite data and includes layers for the onset of greenness, peak greenness, dormancy, and other vegetation cycle metrics at a 500-meter spatial resolution. The data product is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Use Cases

• Modeling climate change impacts on vegetation cycles based on yearly phenology metrics.
• Analyzing global agricultural patterns based on detected growing cycles and greenness timing.
• Monitoring ecosystem health and seasonal changes using the onset, maturity, and senescence metrics.
• Studying land cover dynamics by integrating data on EVI2 amplitude and integrated EVI2 over vegetation cycles.

Strengths

• Provides a 21-year time series from 2001 to 2021, enabling long-term trend analysis.
• Offers global coverage at a consistent 500-meter spatial resolution.
• Includes multiple specific phenology metrics per cycle, such as greenup midpoint, peak greenness, and dormancy.
• Version 6.1 incorporates improvements like enhanced snow filtering and calibration corrections.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data gaps due to cloud cover are filled with values from adjacent years, which may introduce interpolation artifacts.
• Row count and exact file sizes are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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 2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:37:56.622655; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global