Western Sahara FAPAR Vegetation Index Anomalies via 10-Day VIIRS Composites

Copernicus provides 10-day time composite geospatial data of Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) anomalies for Western Sahara. Derived from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), these records measure vegetation health and agricultural drought impacts. The data is current through March 2026 and is delivered in GEOTIFF format.

Use Cases

• Detecting agricultural drought by analyzing FAPAR anomaly deviations from historical norms
• Monitoring vegetation health trends using 10-day VIIRS time composites
• Assessing primary productivity in arid regions based on radiation absorption values

Strengths

• Uses VIIRS sensor data for high-frequency 10-day monitoring
• Standardized FAPAR scale (0-1) allows for consistent vegetation health benchmarking
• Produced by Copernicus, ensuring standardized Earth observation methodology

Limitations

• Restricted to Western Sahara geography
• GEOTIFF format requires specialized GIS software or libraries for interpretation
• Lack of tabular metadata or specific column headers beyond the raster values

Provenance

Source

Copernicus

Collection Method

Satellite sensor (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite - VIIRS)

Freshness

Updated as of March 2026; follows a 10-day temporal composite frequency.

Geography

Western Sahara