National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) are critical biophysical parameters for the characterization of terrestrial ecosystems. Long-term global LAI/FPAR products, such as the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), provide the fundamental dataset for accessing vegetation dynamics and studying climate change. However, existing global LAI/FPAR products suffer from several limitations, including spatial–temporal inconsistencies and accuracy issues. Considering these limitations, this study develops a sensor-independent (SI) LAI/FPAR climate data record (CDR) based on Terra-MODIS/Aqua-MODIS/VIIRS LAI/FPAR standard products. The SI LAI/FPAR CDR covers the period from 2000 to 2022, at spatial resolutions of 500 m/5 km/0.05°, 8 d/bimonthly temporal frequencies and available in sinusoidal and WGS1984 projections. The methodology includes (i) comprehensive analyses of sensor-specific quality assessment variables to select high-quality retrievals, (ii) application of the spatial–temporal tensor (ST-tensor) completion model to extrapolate LAI and FPAR beyond areas with high-quality retrievals, (iii) generation of SI LAI/FPAR CDR in various projections and various spatial and temporal resolutions, and (iv) evaluation of the CDR by direct comparisons with ground data and indirectly through reproducing results of LAI/FPAR trends documented in the literature. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of each step involved in the generation of the SI LAI/FPAR CDR, as well as evaluation of the ST-tensor completion model. Comparisons of SI LAI (FPAR) CDR with ground truth data suggest an RMSE of 0.84 LAI (0.15 FPAR) units with R²of 0.72 (0.79), which outperform the standard Terra/Aqua/VIIRS LAI (FPAR) products. The SI LAI/FPAR CDR is characterized by a low time series stability (TSS) value, suggesting a more stable and less noisy dataset than sensor-dependent counterparts. Furthermore, the mean absolute error (MAE) of the CDR is also lower, suggesting that SI LAI/FPAR CDR is comparable in accuracy to high-quality retrievals. LAI/FPAR trend analyses based on the SI LAI/FPAR CDR agree with previous studies, which indirectly provides enhanced capabilities to utilize this CDR for studying vegetation dynamics and climate change. Overall, the integration of multiple satellite data sources and the use of advanced gap filling modeling techniques improve the accuracy of the SI LAI/FPAR CDR, ensuring the reliability of long-term vegetation studies, global carbon cycle modeling, and land policy development for informed decision-making and sustainable environmental management.