MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006 | NASA Earthdata (original) (raw)
Description
The MOD13C2 Version 6 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. Users are encouraged to use the MOD13C2 Version 6.1 data product.
The MOD13C2 Version 6 product provides a Vegetation Index (VI) value at a per pixel basis. 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 Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) consists of 3,600 rows and 7,200 columns of 5,600 meter (m) pixels. In generating this monthly product, the algorithm ingests all the MOD13A2 products that overlap the month and employs a weighted temporal average. Global MOD13C1 data are cloud-free spatial composites and are provided as a Level 3 product projected on a 0.05 degree (5,600 m) geographic CMG. The MOD13C2 has data fields for the NDVI, EVI, VI QA, reflectance data, angular information, and spatial statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and number of used input pixels at the 0.05 degree CMG resolution.
Known Issues
- The incorrect representation of the aerosol quantities (low, average, high) in the Collection 6 MOD09 surface reflectance products may have impacted MOD13 Vegetation Index data products particularly over arid bright surfaces.
- Corrections were implemented in Collection 6.1 reprocessing.
- For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.
Improvements/Changes from Previous Versions
- The 16-day composite VI is generated using the two 8-day composite surface reflectance granules (MOD09A1) in the 16-day period.
- This surface reflectance input is based on the minimum blue compositing approach used to generate the 8-day surface reflectance product.
- The product format is consistent with the Version 5 product generated using the Level 2 gridded daily surface reflectance product.
- A frequently updated long-term global CMG Average Vegetation Index product database is used to fill the gaps in the CMG product suite.
Version Description
Citation
Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.
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Didan, K. (2015). MOD13C2 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13C2.006 Date Accessed: 2026-06-11
Didan, Kamel. “MOD13C2 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006.” NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015. doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD13C2.006. Date Accessed: 2026-06-11
Didan, Kamel. MOD13C2 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2015, doi:10.5067/MODIS/MOD13C2.006. Date Accessed: 2026-06-11
Documents
USER'S GUIDE
ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)
DATA PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION
Publications Citing This Dataset
| Title | Year Sort ascending | Topic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analysis of L-Band Radar Signatures of Surface Topography, Soil Moisture, and Vegetation Water Content | 2026 | Huang, Huanting, Xu, Xiaolan, Yueh, Simon H. | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| A Transboundary Air Quality CoBenefit of Ecological Restoration in Mongolia | 2026 | Qiu, Pengcheng, Guan, Xiaodan, Huang, Jianping, Da, Pengbo, Ding, Yuhang, Jin, Zhiyuan | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance |
| China's spring and summer maize growth exhibit differential sensitivities to recent climate change: Evidence from satellite observations and machine learning | 2026 | Song, Yang, Li, Wangyipu, Yu, Xun, Ji, Xianglin, Lu, Xiaoliang, Li, Xing, Zhang, Chao, He, Yong, Wan, Xiangyuan, Wang, Jing | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Long-term spatiotemporal prediction and changing patterns of | 2026 | Liu, Yannan, Qian, Yingzhi, Zhu, Yan, Li, He, Wang, Kang | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Plant Phenology, Plant Phenological Changes |
| Land Surface Heterogeneity Captured by Topography-Based Subgrid | 2026 | Tesfa, Teklu K., Leung, L. Ruby, Duan, Zhuoran | Precipitation Amount, Maximum/Minimum Temperature, Shortwave Radiation, Snow Water Equivalent, Vapor Pressure, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Ecosystem vertical structural complexity and soil nutrition | 2026 | Cao, Yue, Hao, Xinyi, Yu, Fei, Wang, Rui, Li, Huiwen | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Evapotranspiration, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Latent Heat Flux, Vegetation Productivity, Canopy Characteristics, Biomass, Vegetation Height, Forest Composition/Vegetation Structure |
| Drivers of tick community structure in a rhinoceros meta-population in Kenya | 2026 | King'ori, Edward M., Chiyo, Patrick I., Gitau, Olgabeth N., Lala, Fredrick, Lwande, Olivia Wesula | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Decadal changes in summer and autumn soil moisture drive dual shifts in | 2026 | Anniwaer, Nazhakaiti, Li, Xiangyi, Xu, Hao, Wang, Kai, Zhu, Zaichun | Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Greater climate sensitivity of older forests than younger forests in the | 2026 | Jin, Tingyuan, Zhong, Chaohui, Yang, Han, Chen, Jiahao, Zhang, Zijia, Hu, Zhongmin, Wu, Kai, Shen, Yao | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Greening and browning of global drylands: climatic constraints from soil moisture and atmospheric water demand | 2026 | Daramola, Mojolaoluwa Toluwalase, Li, Renqiang, Xu, Ming | Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation |
| Global risk pooling mitigates financial risk from drought in hydropower-dependent countries | 2026 | Cuppari, Rosa Isabella, Pavelsky, Tamlin M., Characklis, Gregory W. | Snow Cover, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature, Precipitation, Precipitation Amount, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Rain |
| Evaporative cooling exceeded albedo-induced warming in greening areas of global drylands | 2026 | Daramola, Mojolaoluwa T., Li, Renqiang, Xu, Ming | Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature |
| Climatic controls on vegetation trends and variability in Southeast Asia over the recent two decades | 2026 | Zhang, Weirong, Jiao, Yue, Zhang, Zijia, Luo, Hongxia, Feng, Junna, Hao, Shuai, Hu, Zhongmin, Jin, Chuan | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Rapid Land Surface Uplift and Groundwater Recovery Observed During the Syrian War | 2026 | Mhanna, Saeed, Halloran, Landon J. S., Tille, Yves, Asaad, Ahmed Haj, Zwahlen, Francois, Brunner, Philip | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Spatiotemporal statistical evaluation of recent active and passive | 2026 | Mousa, B.G., Samat, Alim, Du, Peijun, Abuduwaili, Jilili, Liu, Xiangzhuo, Al-Masnay, Yousef A., Nasri, Adel, Abdelhamid, Marzouk Mohamed Aly | Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Vegetation greenness in 2025: Climate chronicles | 2026 | Anniwaer, Nazhakaiti, Zhu, Dan, Gui, Yanchen, Huntingford, Chris, Myneni, Ranga B., Piao, Shilong | Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Plant Phenology |
| Warm and wet spring compensated for the reduction in carbon sinks due to | 2026 | Zhang, Yuanyuan, Jiang, Fei, Zhou, Yanlian, Dong, Guanyu, Wu, Dongqiao, He, Wei, Wang, Jun, Wu, Mousong, Wang, Hengmao, Zhang, Lingyu, Jia, Mengwei, Ju, Weimin, Chen, Jing M. | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Carbon Flux |
| Top-down estimate of regional carbon sinks over East Asia for 2010-2019 | 2026 | Kim, Mina, Park, Rokjin J., Jung, Jingi, Oh, Sang-Ik, Ha, Eunjo S., Jeong, Jaein I., Yeh, Sang-Wook | Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Dioxide, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Study of Changes in the Concentration of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmosphere in the Ural Region Based on Reanalysis and Satellite Measurements: Part 1 ... | 2025 | Dzholumbetov, S. K., Markelov, Y. I. | Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Air Temperature, Skin Temperature, Specific Humidity, Water Vapor, Snow/Ice, Evaporation, Latent Heat Flux, Latent Heat Flux, Sensible Heat Flux, Diffusion, Surface Winds, Wind Speed, U/V Wind Components, Wind Stress, Wind Stress, Surface Roughness, Planetary Boundary Layer Height, Ice Fraction, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Artisanal mining in Africa. Green for Gold? | 2025 | Girard, Victoire, Molina-Millan, Teresa, Vic, Guillaume | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| Advancements in Artificial Intelligence Applications for Forest Fire Prediction | 2025 | Liu, Hui, Shu, Lifu, Liu, Xiaodong, Cheng, Pengle, Wang, Mingyu, Huang, Ying | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| A three-dimensional Budyko framework with terrestrial water storage | 2025 | He, Qing, Fok, Hok Sum, Zhou, Hao, Ferreira, Vagner, Sun, Yilin | Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Latent Heat Flux, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| A Novel Standardized Optimal Synthesized Drought Index (SOSDI) for agro-drought monitoring using multi-source remote sensing data | 2025 | Feng, Shouming, Zhao, Shuhe, Huang, Xinyi, Guo, Xinya, Fan, Jinlong, Zhang, Zhenke | Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| A Review of Drivers of Cool Season Rainfall in Southwest Western | 2025 | Hawke, Kerryn A., Kala, Jatin, Foster, Ian J. | Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
| A novel generative adversarial network and downscaling scheme for GRACE/GRACE-FO products: Exemplified by the Yangtze and Nile River Basins | 2025 | Wang, Jielong, Shen, Yunzhong, Awange, Joseph, Tabatabaeiasl, Maryam, Song, Yongze, Liu, Chang | Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) |
Variables
| Name Sort descending | Description | Units | Data Type | Fill Value | Valid Range | Scale Factor | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly EVI std dev | Standard deviation computed from input EVI pixels | EVI | int16 | -3000 | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly NDVI | 16 day NDVI | NDVI | int16 | -3000 | -2000 to 10000 | 0.0001 | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly number of 1km pix used | Number of 1 km input pixels used | Number | uint8 | 255 | 0 to 36 | N/A | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly #1km pix +-30deg VZ | Number of 1km pixels used with VZ angle less than + or - 30 degs | Number | uint8 | 255 | 0 to 36 | N/A | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly Avg sun zen angle | Sun zenith angle of VI Pixel | Degree | int16 | -10000 | -9000 to 9000 | 0.01 | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly blue reflectance | Surface Reflectance Band 3 | N/A | int16 | -1000 | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly EVI | 16 day EVI | EVI | int16 | -3000 | -2000 to 10000 | 0.0001 | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly MIR reflectance | Surface Reflectance Band 7 | N/A | int16 | -1000 | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly NDVI std dev | Standard deviation computed from input NDVI pixels | NDVI | int16 | -3000 | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly NIR reflectance | Surface Reflectance Band 2 | N/A | int16 | -1000 | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly pixel reliabilty | Quality reliability of VI pixel | Rank | int8 | -1 | 0 to 4 | N/A | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly red reflectance | Surface Reflectance Band 1 | N/A | int16 | -1000 | 0 to 10000 | 0.0001 | N/A |
| CMG 0.05 Deg Monthly VI Quality | VI quality indicators | Bit Field | uint16 | 65535 | 0 to 65534 | N/A | N/A |