Vegetation plays a key role in the Earth's climate by influencing the energy and water cycles and sequestering a significant portion of carbon emissions. Aware of its importance, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Climate Change Initiative has unveiled a comprehensive set of satellite data aimed at improving climate models. This dataset focuses on leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR), which are essential for a global understanding of vegetation growth and health.

The release covers observations from 2000 to 2020, integrating data from multiple sensors, including those from the SPOT satellites and ESA's Proba-V mission. Offering 1 km grid resolution over five-day intervals, it provides climate and carbon modelers with detailed, consistent time series with full uncertainty estimates and global validations of in-situ measurements. (by Erica Marchand, more at spacedaily.com)