Global 500m Leaf Area Index and FPAR 4-Day Composite

MODIS/Terra+Aqua Leaf Area Index/FPAR 4-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V061 provides global 4-day composite data for Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR) at a 500-meter pixel resolution. The dataset is produced by NASA's LPCLOUD using combined sensor data from the Terra and Aqua satellites. It represents Version 6.1 of the product.

Use Cases

• Modeling terrestrial carbon uptake by analyzing the time-series of FPAR values across biomes.
• Monitoring vegetation health and drought stress by tracking anomalies in the Leaf Area Index (LAI) feature.
• Calibrating ecosystem models using the 500-meter resolution LAI and FPAR geospatial layers.
• Studying phenology and seasonal cycles by examining the 4-day composite LAI data over multiple years.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellite sensors.
• Moderate 500-meter spatial resolution suitable for regional-scale analysis.
• 4-day temporal compositing reduces cloud cover and data gaps.

Limitations

• Pixel size of 500 meters is too coarse for fine-scale agricultural or ecological studies.
• Data quality can be affected by persistent cloud cover, snow, and algorithm assumptions, as noted in the known issues log.
• Specific row count, file size, and complete temporal range are not provided in the input.

Provenance

Source

NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors on the Terra and Aqua satellites.

Collection Method

Algorithmic selection of the best pixel from all acquisitions within a 4-day period from both sensors.

Freshness

4-day update frequency from satellite composites.

Geography

Global