Articles | Volume 19, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Mar 2022
Research article |
| 07 Mar 2022
| 07 Mar 2022
MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields tree cover needs calibrating in tropical savannas
Rahayu Adzhar
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire,
UK
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Miami
University, Oxford, Ohio, USA
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Berkshire,
UK
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire,
UK
Ning Dong
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Berkshire,
UK
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North
Ryde, Australia
Charles George
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire,
UK
Mireia Torello Raventos
School of Earth and Environmental Science, James Cook University,
Cairns, Australia
Elmar Veenendaal
Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Wageningen University & Research,
Wageningen, the Netherlands
Ted R. Feldpausch
College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter,
Exeter, UK
Oliver L. Phillips
School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Simon L. Lewis
School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK
Bonaventure Sonké
Plant Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biology,
Higher Teachers' Training College, University of Yaoundé, Yaoundé,
Cameroon
Herman Taedoumg
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), Bioversity International, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Beatriz Schwantes Marimon
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Mato Grosso State University, Mato Grosso, Brazil
Tomas Domingues
Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, University of
São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Luzmila Arroyo
Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno, Santa Cruz,
Bolivia
Gloria Djagbletey
Forest and Climate Change, Forestry Research Institute of
Ghana, Kumasi, Ghana
Gustavo Saiz
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Católica de la
Santísima Concepción, Concepción, Chile
France Gerard
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire,
UK
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Cited
13 citations as recorded by crossref.
- On the Impacts of Historical and Future Climate Changes to the Sustainability of the Main Sardinian Forests S. Cipolla & N. Montaldo 10.3390/rs14194893
- Hybrid Global Annual 1-km IGBP Land Cover Maps for the Period 2000–2020 Y. Luo et al. 10.34133/remotesensing.0122
- A daily and 500 m coupled evapotranspiration and gross primary production product across China during 2000–2020 S. He et al. 10.5194/essd-14-5463-2022
- Dynamic savanna burning emission factors based on satellite data using a machine learning approach R. Vernooij et al. 10.5194/esd-14-1039-2023
- Fire, environmental and anthropogenic controls on pantropical tree cover D. Kelley et al. 10.1038/s43247-024-01869-8
- A parametric approach for global estimation of forest above-ground biomass with SMOS and SMAP L-band radiometer data O. Cartus et al. 10.1016/j.rse.2025.114601
- Satellite-based woody canopy cover for Africa: Uncovering bias and recovering best estimates across years N. Kahiu et al. 10.1016/j.srs.2024.100124
- State of Wildfires 2023–2024 M. Jones et al. 10.5194/essd-16-3601-2024
- Description and evaluation of the JULES-ES set-up for ISIMIP2b C. Mathison et al. 10.5194/gmd-16-4249-2023
- Potential of global vegetation maps in capturing xerophytic vegetation cover: insights from Madagascar's arid ecosystems F. Ramalason et al. 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2025.105406
- The relationship between central Indian terrestrial vegetation and monsoon rainfall distributions in different hydroclimatic extreme years using time-series satellite data B. Singh et al. 10.1007/s00704-023-04582-2
- Thirty-eight years of CO2 fertilization has outpaced growing aridity to drive greening of Australian woody ecosystems S. Rifai et al. 10.5194/bg-19-491-2022
- Evaluating global vegetation products for application in heterogeneous forest-savanna landscapes E. Pletcher et al. 10.1080/01431161.2023.2299278
10 citations as recorded by crossref.
- On the Impacts of Historical and Future Climate Changes to the Sustainability of the Main Sardinian Forests S. Cipolla & N. Montaldo 10.3390/rs14194893
- Hybrid Global Annual 1-km IGBP Land Cover Maps for the Period 2000–2020 Y. Luo et al. 10.34133/remotesensing.0122
- A daily and 500 m coupled evapotranspiration and gross primary production product across China during 2000–2020 S. He et al. 10.5194/essd-14-5463-2022
- Dynamic savanna burning emission factors based on satellite data using a machine learning approach R. Vernooij et al. 10.5194/esd-14-1039-2023
- Fire, environmental and anthropogenic controls on pantropical tree cover D. Kelley et al. 10.1038/s43247-024-01869-8
- A parametric approach for global estimation of forest above-ground biomass with SMOS and SMAP L-band radiometer data O. Cartus et al. 10.1016/j.rse.2025.114601
- Satellite-based woody canopy cover for Africa: Uncovering bias and recovering best estimates across years N. Kahiu et al. 10.1016/j.srs.2024.100124
- State of Wildfires 2023–2024 M. Jones et al. 10.5194/essd-16-3601-2024
- Description and evaluation of the JULES-ES set-up for ISIMIP2b C. Mathison et al. 10.5194/gmd-16-4249-2023
- Potential of global vegetation maps in capturing xerophytic vegetation cover: insights from Madagascar's arid ecosystems F. Ramalason et al. 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2025.105406
3 citations as recorded by crossref.
- The relationship between central Indian terrestrial vegetation and monsoon rainfall distributions in different hydroclimatic extreme years using time-series satellite data B. Singh et al. 10.1007/s00704-023-04582-2
- Thirty-eight years of CO2 fertilization has outpaced growing aridity to drive greening of Australian woody ecosystems S. Rifai et al. 10.5194/bg-19-491-2022
- Evaluating global vegetation products for application in heterogeneous forest-savanna landscapes E. Pletcher et al. 10.1080/01431161.2023.2299278
Latest update: 30 Oct 2025
Short summary
The MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product underestimates tree cover compared to field data and could be underestimating tree cover significantly across the tropics. VCF is used to represent land cover or validate model performance in many land surface and global vegetation models and to train finer-scaled Earth observation products. Because underestimation in VCF may render it unsuitable for training data and bias model predictions, it should be calibrated before use in the tropics.
The MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product underestimates tree cover compared to field...
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