Terra MODIS NDVI data from the MOD13A2 product over part of Brazil, July 27 - August 11, 2020.
View full-size imageThe Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Indices 16-Day (MOD13A2) Version 6.1 product provides Vegetation Index (VI) values at a per pixel basis at 1 kilometer (km) spatial resolution. There are two primary vegetation layers. The first is the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is referred to as the continuity index to the existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA-AVHRR) derived NDVI. The second vegetation layer is the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), which has improved sensitivity over high biomass regions. The algorithm for this product chooses the best available pixel value from all the acquisitions from the 16 day period. The criteria used is low clouds, low view angle and the highest NDVI/EVI value.
Provided along with the vegetation layers and the two quality assurance (QA) layers are reflectance bands 1 (red), 2 (near-infrared), 3 (blue), and 7 (mid-infrared), as well as four observation layers.
Validation at stage 3 has been achieved for the MODIS Vegetation Index product suite. Further details regarding MODIS land product validation for the MOD13 data products are available from the MODIS Land Team Validation site.
| Characteristic | Description |
|---|---|
| Collection | Terra MODIS |
| DOI | 10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A2.061 |
| File Size | ~9 MB |
| Temporal Resolution | Multi-Day |
| Temporal Extent | 2000-02-18 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 | 12 |
| Columns/Rows | 1200 x 1200 |
| Pixel Size | 1000 m |
| SDS Name | Description | Units | Data Type | Fill Value | No Data Value | Valid Range | Scale Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km 16 days NDVI | 1 km 16 days NDVI | NDVI | 16-bit signed integer | -3000 | N/A | -2000 to 10000 | 0.0001 |
| 1 km 16 days EVI | 1 km 16 days EVI | EVI | 16-bit signed integer | -3000 | N/A | -2000 to 10000 | 0.0001 |
| 1 km 16 days VI Quality | VI Quality indicators | Bit Field | 16-bit unsigned integer | 65535 | N/A | 0 to 65534 | N/A |
| 1 km 16 days red reflectance | Surface Reflectance Band 1 | N/A | 16-bit signed integer | -1000 | N/A | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 |
| 1 km 16 days NIR reflectance | Surface Reflectance Band 2 | N/A | 16-bit signed integer | -1000 | N/A | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 |
| 1 km 16 days blue reflectance | Surface Reflectance Band 3 | N/A | 16-bit signed integer | -1000 | N/A | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 |
| 1 km 16 days MIR reflectance | Surface Reflectance Band 7 | N/A | 16-bit signed integer | -1000 | N/A | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 |
| 1 km 16 days view zenith angle | View zenith angle of VI Pixel | Degree | 16-bit signed integer | -10000 | N/A | 0 to 18000 | 0.01 |
| 1 km 16 days sun zenith angle | Sun zenith angle of VI pixel | Degree | 16-bit signed integer | -10000 | N/A | 0 to 18000 | 0.01 |
| 1 km 16 days relative azimuth angle | Relative azimuth angle of VI pixel | Degree | 16-bit signed integer | -4000 | N/A | -18000 to 18000 | 0.01 |
| 1 km 16 days composite day of the year | Day of year VI pixel | Julian day | 16-bit signed integer | -1 | N/A | 1 to 366 | N/A |
| 1 km 16 days pixel reliability | Quality reliability of VI pixel | Rank | 8-bit signed integer | -1 | N/A | 0 to 4 | N/A |
The QA bit flags for the "1 km 16 days pixel reliability" layer are provided in Table 4 and the "1km 16 days VI Quality" in Table 5 of the User Guide.
In areas where no valid VI is retrieved, VI Quality bits 11-13 are correctly assigned to indicate the land/water type. The other bits are set to 1 which can create a false notion of the parameter description; however, since no valid VI is retrieved these values can be ignored.
Quality assurance information should be considered when determining the usability of data for a particular science application. The ArcGIS MODIS-VIIRS Python Toolbox contains tools capable of decoding quality data layers while producing thematic quality raster files for each quality attribute.
In addition to data access and transformation processes, AppEEARS also has the capability to unpack and interpret the quality layers.
The "1 km 16 days VI Quality" 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 quality layer.
For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.