VNP13A4N: Near Real-Time Global Vegetation Indices

NASA's VIIRS/NPP Vegetation Indices 8-Day L3 Global 500m SIN Grid (VNP13A4N) provides near real-time, global vegetation condition data at 500-meter spatial resolution. The dataset is generated every eight days in a Sinusoidal projection and is used for monitoring land cover and changes. It serves as input for modeling biogeochemical, hydrologic, and climate processes.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global vegetation conditions and land cover changes based on the 8-day composite vegetation indices.
• Modeling global biogeochemical and hydrologic processes using the gridded, 500m resolution land surface data.
• Characterizing land surface biophysical properties, such as primary production, from the satellite-derived indices.
• Providing input for regional and global climate models based on the near real-time land surface reflectance data.

Strengths

• Provides data at a high spatial resolution of 500 meters.
• Offers near real-time availability with an 8-day update frequency.
• Has cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA Earthdata, indicating established use.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is medium; specific column names and row counts are not provided.
• This is a near real-time product only; standard historical data for this specific 8-day, 500m product is not available.
• Documentation notes users must access other products for science-quality historical vegetation indices.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite data from the VIIRS/NPP sensor, processed into a gridded Level-3 product.

Time Range

Near real-time; historical data for this specific product is not standard.

Freshness

2026-04-09 (from Data.gov platform)

Geography

Global coverage in a Sinusoidal projection.