4. Fraction of Absorbed Phytosynthetically Active Radiation, Fractional Vegetation Cover and Leaf Area Index

Fraction of Absorbed Phytosynthetically Active Radiation (fAPAR) 

Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) 

Leaf Area Index (LAI) 

fAPARthe fraction of Absorbed Phytosynthetically Active Radiation (fAPAR), “represents the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (400-700 nm) absorbed by the green parts of the canopy, and therefore constitutes an indicator of the presence and productivity of live vegetation. FAPAR depends both on canopy structure, leaf and soil optical properties and irradiance conditions.” (The EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis Product User Manual Vegetation Parameters (VEGA), p 9) 

FVC, the fractional vegetation cover “represents the fraction of green vegetation covering a unit area of horizontal soil.” (The EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis Product User Manual Vegetation Parameters (VEGA), p 9) 

LAI, the leaf area indexis a quantitative measure of the amount of live green leaf material present in the canopy per unit ground surface. […] LAI is a dimensionless variable [m2/m2] defined as one half the total leaf area per unit ground area and accounts for the surface of leaves contained in a vertical column normalized by its cross-sectional area. For non-leaves vegetation types, such as needles trees, LAI can be expressed as the total foliage surface area per unit of horizontally projected ground surface area.” (The EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis Product User Manual Vegetation Parameters (VEGA), p 9) 

The Climate Data Records of fAPAR, FVC and LAI cover the period 19 January 2004 – 31 December 2015. The Interim Climate Data Record of fAPAR, FVC and LAI (see video) provided in this cube cover the period 01 January 2016 – 31 December 2020. 


For a quick overview on these data records as provided in the D&V cube, refer to: 

For further information, please refer to: