Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation for Africa September, 2000, through May, 2001
Visualizations by
Joycelyn Thomson
Released on December 20, 2001
MODIS' observations also allow scientists to track two 'vital signs' of Earth's vegetation. At Boston University, a team of researchers is using MODIS data to create global estimates of the green leaf area of Earth's vegetation and how much sunlight the leaves are absorbing. Called LAI, for 'Leaf Area Index,' and FPAR, for 'Fraction of absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation,' both pieces of information are necessary for understanding how sunlight interacts with the Earth's vegetated surfaces-from the top layer, called the canopy, through the understory vegetation, and down to the ground.
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation:
Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0