Australian land surface phenology dataset at 500m resolution 

The Australian Phenology Product is a continental data set that allows the quantitative analysis of Australia’s phenology derived from MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) data using an algorithm designed to accommodate Australian conditions, described in Xie et al. 2023. The product can be used to characterize phenological cycles of greening and browning and quantify the cycles’ inter and intra annual variability from 2003 to 2018 across Australia. Phenological cycles are defined as a period of EVI-measured greening and browning that may occur at any time of the year, extend across the end of a year, skip a year (not occur for one or multiple years) or occur more than once a year. Multiple phenological cycles within a year can occur in the form of double cropping in agricultural areas or be caused by a-seasonal rain events in water limited environments. Based on per-pixel greenness trajectories measured by MODIS EVI, phenological cycle curves were modelled and their key properties in the form of phenological curve metrics were derived including: the first and second minimum point, peak, start and end of cycle; length of cycle, and; the amplitude of the cycle. Integrated EVI under the curve between the start and end of the cycle time of each cycle is calculated as a proxy of productivity. 

We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. The development of the Australian Phenology Product was funded by the AusCover Facility of the Australian Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and supported by ARC-DP1115479 grant entitled "Integrating remote sensing, landscape flux measurements, and phenology to understand the impacts of climate change on Australian landscapes" (Huete, CI). 

Land Surface Phenology (LSP) provides valuable information to scientists and practitioners interested in vegetation and ecosystem response to climate variability such as drought and land use change. Specific applications of LSP information include for example the quantification of crop yields, wildfire fuel accumulation, ecosystem resilience and health and land surface modelling. 

Python programming was used to download and process data. Phenology extraction algorithm was designed by Qiaoyun Xie and described in Xie et al. 2022.