GDO Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) (MODIS) (version 1.3.1)

The FAPAR indicator used in the Copernicus Global Drought Observatory (GDO) is the satellite-measured biophysical variable Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR, sometimes written as fAPAR or FPAR), composited for 10-day intervals, from its long-term mean values. FAPAR is one of the 50 so-called “Essential Climate Variables” (ECVs) that have been defined by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) as being both feasible for global climate observation, and important to support the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Bojinski et al., 2014). FAPAR values and their anomalies have been shown to be good indicators for detecting and assessing drought impacts on plant canopies, such as agricultural crops and natural vegetation (Gobron et al., 2005), and thus provide information that is potentially useful for water and agricultural management purposes. Data considered for the GDO FAPAR indicator are based on MODIS (Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor. The resolution of input data is 500 m, while the resolution of data made available for download in GDO is 0.083 decimal degrees (1/12 decimal degree).