These data are a copy of MODIS data from the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive & Distribution System (LAADS) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). The copy is potentially only a subset. Below is the description from https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/missions-and-measurements/products/MOD13A2

Global MODIS vegetation indices are designed to provide consistent spatial and temporal comparisons of vegetation conditions. Blue, red, and near-infrared reflectances, centered at 469-nanometers, 645-nanometers, and 858-nanometers, respectively, are used to determine the MODIS daily vegetation indices.

The MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) complements NOAA's Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) NDVI products providing continuity for time series applications over this rich historical archive. MODIS also includes a new Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) product that minimizes canopy background variations and maintains sensitivity over dense vegetation conditions. The EVI also uses the blue band to remove residual atmosphere contamination caused by smoke and sub-pixel thin cloud clouds. The MODIS NDVI and EVI products are computed from atmospherically-corrected bi-directional surface reflectances that have been masked for water, clouds, heavy aerosols, and cloud shadows.

Global MOD13A2 data are provided every 16 days at 1-kilometer spatial resolution as a gridded level-3 product in the Sinusoidal projection. Vegetation indices are used for global monitoring of vegetation conditions and are used in products displaying land cover and land cover changes. These data may be used as input for modeling global biogeochemical and hydrologic processes and global and regional climate. These data also may be used for characterizing land surface biophysical properties and processes, including primary production and land cover conversion.

Collection-5 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices products are Validated at Stage 2, meaning that accuracy has been assessed over a widely distributed set of locations and time periods via several ground-truth and validation efforts. Although there may be later improved versions, these data are ready for use in scientific publications.

Shortname: MOD13A2 , Platform: Terra , Instrument: MODIS , Processing Level: Level-3 , Spatial Resolution: 1 km , Temporal Resolution: 16 day , ArchiveSets: 6, 61 , Collection: MODIS Collection 6 (ArchiveSet 6) , PGE Number: PGE35 , File Naming Convention: MOD13A2.AYYYYDDD.hHHvVV.CCC.YYYYDDDHHMMSS.hdf YYYYDDD = Year and Day of Year of acquisition hHH = Horizontal tile number (0-35) vVV = Vertical tile number (0-17) CCC = Collection number YYYYDDDHHMMSS = Production Date and Time , Citation: Kamel Didan - University of Arizona, Alfredo Huete - University of Technology Sydney and MODAPS SIPS - NASA. (2015). MOD13A2 MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 1km SIN Grid. NASA LP DAAC. http://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13A2.006 , Keywords: Climate Change, Canopy Characteristics, Biomass, Vegetation Index, Plant Phenology, Length of Growing Season