Mapping PAR using MODIS atmosphere products

Instantaneous PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation), computed from atmospheric parameters from individual images from the MODIS sensors aboard the Terra and Aqua satellite platforms, is combined to derive daily integrated PAR and mapped to a local coordinate system. Compared to field observations, the daily integrated PAR values were shown to have average errors in the order of 5–8%, with individual estimation errors as high as 21%, but monthly averages showed much better correspondence with observations yielding averaged absolute errors of around 5%. The error appears to be mostly related to uncertainties in the MODIS aerosol retrieval accuracy. This accuracy and the medium spatial resolution of the PAR map compare very favourably to other sources of PAR data and make this a useful product in the improved assessment of vegetation dynamics.