User Guide
Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD)
File Specification
The MCD15A2H Version 6.1 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 4, Combined Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR), and Leaf Area Index (LAI) product is an 8-day composite dataset with 500 meter pixel size. The algorithm chooses the best pixel available from all the acquisitions of both MODIS sensors located on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites from within the 8-day period.
LAI is defined as the one-sided green leaf area per unit ground area in broadleaf canopies and as one-half the total needle surface area per unit ground area in coniferous canopies. FPAR is defined as the fraction of incident photosynthetically active radiation (400-700 nm) absorbed by the green elements of a vegetation canopy.
The LAI product has attained stage 2 validation and the FPAR product has attained stage 1 validation. Further details regarding MODIS land product validation for the LAI/FPAR data products are available from the MODIS land team validation site.
| Characteristic | Description |
|---|---|
| Collection | Combined MODIS |
| DOI | 10.5067/MODIS/MCD15A2H.061 |
| File Size | ~4 MB |
| Temporal Resolution | Multi-Day |
| Temporal Extent | 2002-07-04 to Present |
| Spatial Extent | Global |
| Coordinate System | Sinusoidal |
| Datum | N/A |
| File Format | HDF-EOS |
| Geographic Dimensions | 1200 km x 1200 km |
| Characteristic | Description |
|---|---|
| Number of Science Dataset (SDS) Layers | 6 |
| Columns/Rows | 2400 x 2400 |
| Pixel Size | 500 m |
| SDS Name | Description | Units | Data Type | Fill Value | No Data Value | Valid Range | Scale Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fpar_500m¹ | Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation | Percent | 8-bit unsigned integer | 249 to 255 | N/A | 0 to 100 | 0.01 |
| Lai_500m¹ | Leaf Area Index | m²/m² | 8-bit unsigned integer | 249 to 255 | N/A | 0 to 100 | 0.1 |
| FparLai_QC | Quality for FPAR and LAI | Class Flag | 8-bit unsigned integer | 255 | N/A | 0 to 254 | N/A |
| FparExtra_QC | Extra detail Quality for FPAR and LAI | Class Flag | 8-bit unsigned integer | 255 | N/A | 0 to 254 | N/A |
| FparStdDev_500m² | Standard deviation of FPAR | Percent | 8-bit unsigned integer | 248 to 255 | N/A | 0 to 100 | 0.01 |
| LaiStdDev_500m² | Standard deviation of LAI | m²/m² | 8-bit unsigned integer | 248 to 255 | N/A | 0 to 100 | 0.1 |
¹The FPAR and LAI fill value legends are provided in Table 7 of the User Guide.
²The FPAR and LAI standard deviation fill value legends are provided in Table 8 of the User Guide.
The QC layer is stored in an efficient bit-encoded manner. The unpack_sds_bits executable from the LDOPE Tools is available to the user community to help parse and interpret the QC layers.
The QC bitmap for the QC layer is provided in section 6.1 of the User Guide.
For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.