MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields

• Download original, Collection 3, edition via Search and Preview Tool (ESDI)
• Download original, Collection 3, edition via FTP Server
• Download Collection 4, version 3 via Search and Preview Tool (ESDI) **
• Download Collection 4, version 3 via FTP server **

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.

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.

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.

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

Source for this data set is the Global Land Cover Facility, www.landcover.org.