MODIS/Terra MOD13C2: Monthly Global Vegetation Indices at 0.05 Degree Resolution

MODIS/Terra Version 6.1 data provides two primary vegetation layers: the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). The monthly Climate Modeling Grid product consists of 3,600 rows and 7,200 columns of 5,600-meter pixels, generated by NASA from cloud-free spatial composites. This Level 3 product includes fields for VI quality, reflectance data, angular information, and spatial statistics.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global vegetation health and phenology based on monthly NDVI and EVI composites.
• Modeling climate-biosphere interactions using the 0.05-degree Climate Modeling Grid resolution.
• Assessing land cover change over time based on the weighted temporal average of input pixels.
• Conducting quality assessment for remote sensing data using the included VI QA and spatial statistics fields.

Strengths

• Provides two established vegetation indices (NDVI and EVI) with the EVI offering improved sensitivity in high biomass regions.
• Offers global coverage at a consistent 0.05-degree (5,600-meter) geographic grid resolution.
• Version 6.1 incorporates specific calibration improvements for the Terra MODIS sensor from 2012-2017.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific analytical needs.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Generated from the MOD13A2 product via a weighted temporal average of all data overlapping each month.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 00:08:41.664039; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global