MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields


Data Access

GLCF editions of MODIS products differ from DAAC editions by coming in GeoTIFF format, geographic coordinates, WGS84 datum, and a tiling system designed to fit well with Landsat imagery.

** Please Note: Version 2 of the VCF Collection 4 product was found to have errors and has been replaced with Version 3. VCF Collection 4 Version 3 supersedes all previous versions.

Earth Science Data Inferface
Overview
The Vegetation Continuous Fields collection contains proportional estimates for vegetative cover types: woody vegetation, herbaceous vegetation, and bare ground. The product is derived from all seven bands of the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard NASA's Terra satellite. The continuous classification scheme of the VCF product may depict areas of heterogeneous land cover better than traditional discrete classification schemes. While traditional classification schemes indicate where land cover types are concentrated, this VCF product is great for showing how much of a land cover such as "forest" or "grassland" exists anywhere on a land surface.

Code Values
Value Label
0-100 Percent of pixel area covered by land cover type
251 Water
254 Fill (null)

How to Cite this Data Set
Citation Format: Author(s), (Publication Date), Collection Name, Product Name {optional}, Version, Collection Publisher, Publisher Location, Product Coverage Date {optional}.
    Note: there are two editions of this product currently available
Citation Parameters Example:
  • Author: Hansen, M., R. DeFries, J.R. Townshend, M. Carroll, C. Dimiceli, and R. Sohlberg
  • Publication Date: (2003)
  • Collection Name: Vegetation Continuous Fields MOD44B
  • Product Name: 2001 Percent Tree Cover
  • Version: Collection 3
  • Publisher: University of Maryland
  • Publisher Location: College Park, Maryland
  • Product Coverage Date: 2001
Full Example Citation: Hansen, M., R. DeFries, J.R. Townshend, M. Carroll, C. Dimiceli, and R. Sohlberg (2003), Vegetation Continuous Fields MOD44B, 2001 Percent Tree Cover, Collection 3, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 2001.

Citation Parameters Example:
  • Author: Hansen, M., R. DeFries, J.R. Townshend, M. Carroll, C. Dimiceli, and R. Sohlberg
  • Publication Date: (2007)
  • Collection Name: Vegetation Continuous Fields MOD44B
  • Product Name: 2001 Percent Tree Cover
  • Version: Collection 4
  • Publisher: University of Maryland
  • Publisher Location: College Park, Maryland
  • Product Coverage Date: 2001
Full Example Citation: Hansen, M., R. DeFries, J.R. Townshend, M. Carroll, C. Dimiceli, and R. Sohlberg (2006), Vegetation Continuous Fields MOD44B, 2001 Percent Tree Cover, Collection 4, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 2001.

Associated Peer-Reviewed Publication: Hansen, M., R.S. DeFries, J.R.G. Townshend, M. Carroll, C. Dimiceli, and R.A. Sohlberg (2003), "Global Percent Tree Cover at a Spatial Resolution of 500 Meters: First Results of the MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields Algorithm", Earth Interactions, Vol 7, No 10, pp 1-15.

Intellectual Property Rights
University of Maryland, Department of Geography and NASA; use is free to all if acknowledgement is made. UMD and NASA hold ultimate copyright.

Source
As a courtesy, please credit the Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) as the source for this data set in some manner. Our suggestion: Source for this data set was the Global Land Cover Facility, www.landcover.org.