MODIS Terra Monthly Vegetation Indices on Global Climate Grid

NASA's MOD13C2 Version 6 product provides monthly global vegetation indices from the Terra satellite. The dataset contains two primary layers, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), projected on a 0.05-degree Climate Modeling Grid with 3,600 rows and 7,200 columns. This version was decommissioned in July 2023, with users directed to the updated Version 6.1.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global vegetation health and phenology using the NDVI and EVI layers.
• Analyzing spatial statistics like mean and standard deviation of vegetation indices at 0.05-degree resolution.
• Studying aerosol impacts on vegetation index accuracy over arid regions using the VI Quality Assurance (QA) data.
• Providing continuity with historical NOAA-AVHRR NDVI records for long-term climate studies.
• Generating cloud-free monthly composites for input into larger-scale ecological or agricultural models.

Strengths

• Provides a consistent global grid with 3,600 rows and 7,200 columns at a 5,600-meter (0.05-degree) resolution.
• Includes multiple data fields beyond indices, such as reflectance data, angular information, and spatial statistics (mean, standard deviation, count).
• Algorithm employs a weighted temporal average of all overlapping MOD13A2 products to generate monthly cloud-free composites.

Limitations

• The dataset is a decommissioned Version 6 product with known aerosol representation issues impacting data over arid, bright surfaces; corrections were implemented in Version 6.1.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one platform lists 2026-03-13, while another lists the decommission date of 2023-01-31.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Data is generated by the MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite, with monthly composites created using a weighted temporal average of MOD13A2 inputs.

Time Range

null

Freshness

2026-03-13 00:08:19.597028

Geography

Global coverage projected on a 0.05-degree geographic Climate Modeling Grid (CMG).