Generation of 250m MODIS LAI time series by temporal regression

Abstract

Vegetation productivity models and many others for hydrology and biogeochemistry studies require biophysical variables such as the leaf area index (LAI). LAI is part of the 13 essential terrestrial variables to monitor climate change. The index can be retrieved by various methods from optical satellite data and is a standard product in the MODIS processing chain at 1km spatial resolution. This study explores the temporal relations between LAI and vegetation indices and applies regression functions to obtain a 250m LAI product.