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Description

The NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Vegetation Index and Phenology (VIP) global datasets were created using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) N07, N09, N11, and N14 datasets (1981 - 1999) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)/Terra MOD09 surface reflectance data (2000 - 2014). The VIP Vegetation Index (VI) product was developed to provide consistent measurements of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and modified Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI2) spanning more than 30 years of data from multiple sensors. The EVI2 is a backward extension of AVHRR. Vegetation indices such as NDVI and EVI2 are useful for assessing the biophysical properties of the land surface, and are used to characterize vegetation phenology. Phenology tracks the seasonal life cycle of vegetation, and provides information on the biotic response to environmental changes.

The VIP01 VI data product is a daily global file at 0.05 degree (5600 meter (m)) spatial resolution in geographic (Lat/Lon) grid format. The data are stored in Hierarchical Data Format-Earth Observing System (HDF-EOS) file format. The VIP01 VI product contains 11 Science Datasets (SDS), which includes the calculated VIs (NDVI and EVI2) as well as information on the quality assurance/pixel reliability, the input Visible/Near Infrared (VNIR) surface reflectance data, and viewing geometry. The Blue and Middle Infrared (MIR) surface reflectance data are only available for the MODIS era (2000 - 2014). Gaps in the daily product are filled using long term mean VI records derived from the more than 30 year time series of data, and are indicated as gap-filled in the Pixel Reliability SDS. A low resolution browse image showing NDVI as a color map is also available.

Known Issues

  • The Relative Azimuth Angle (RAA) for the input MODIS data is computed based on absolute values of the finer resolution pixels resulting in positive values and has minor usefulness.
  • The RAA for the input AVHRR data contain values in the -360° to 360° range. The routine to restrict the values in the -180° to 180° range was accidentally missed and can be corrected using the following routine described in Section 4.2.1 of the User Guide and Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document:
    • SinRelativeAz=sin(RAA)
    • CosRelativeAz=cos(RAA)
    • Correct-RAA = atan2(SinRelativeAz,CosRelativeAz)

Product Summary

Platforms
NOAA-7 ,
NOAA-9 ,
NOAA-11 ,
NOAA-14 ,
Terra
Instruments
AVHRR ,
MODIS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
5600 Meters x 5600 Meters
Geographic Region
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
1981-01-01 to 2014-12-31
Temporal Resolution
1 Day
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
Vegetation Index and Phenology Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Arizona (UAZ/ECE/VIP)
Concept ID
C2763268446-LPCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
12410
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Vegetation Index ,
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) ,
Plant Phenological Changes

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.

Copy Citation

Didan, K., & Barreto, A. (2016). NASA MEaSUREs Vegetation Index and Phenology (VIP) Vegetation Indices Daily Global 0.05Deg CMG [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/VIP/VIP01.004 Date Accessed: 2025-12-14

File Naming Convention

VIP01.A2014365.004.2016178021533.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (VIP01) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2014365), the Data Product Version (004), and the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2016178021533), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily BLUE reflectance Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily Blue Reflectance (Band 3) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily EVI2 Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily Modified EVI2 EVI2 int16 -12000 -10000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily MIR reflectance Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily Middle Infrared Reflectance (Band 7) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily NDVI Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degrees resolution Daily NDVI NDVI int16 -12000 -10000 to 10000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily NIR reflectance Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily NIR (Band 2) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily Pixel Reliability Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily Pixel Reliability Rank int8 -4 0 to 11 N/A
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily RED reflectance Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily Red Reflectance (Band 1) N/A int16 -28672 -100 to 16000 0.0001
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily Relative Azimuth Angle Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily Relative Azimuth Angle Degree int16 0 -18000 to 18000 0.01
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily Solar Zenith Angle Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily Solar Zenith Angle Degree int16 0 0 to 18000 0.01
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily View Zenith Angle Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily View Zenith Angle Degree int16 0 0 to 18000 0.01
CMG 0.05 Deg Daily VI Quality Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) 0.05 Degree resolution Daily VI Quality Bit Field uint16 65535 0 to 65534 N/A
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