New Global Leaf Chlorophyll Dataset Enables Fine-Scale Vegetation Monitoring
19 Jan 2026
Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have created the world's first global, high-resolution map of leaf chlorophyll content (LCC), offering a new way to closely track plant health and ecosystem productivity across the planet.
Led by Prof. LI Jing and Prof. LIU Qinhuo from the State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIRCAS), the team developed a dataset called MuSyQ Global LCC using data from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellites. The map has a spatial resolution of 10 meters – finer than existing global chlorophyll products, which typically have resolutions of 300–500 meters.
Chlorophyll is the pigment that allows plants to absorb sunlight and carry out photosynthesis. The amount of chlorophyll in leaves reflects how healthy plants are and how effectively they can take up carbon from the atmosphere. However, the lack of high-resolution, global-scale data has limited our understanding of how chlorophyll varies across different ecosystems and how it responds to environmental change.
To address this gap, the research team applied the chlorophyll sensitive index (CSI) to the cloud-based Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, allowing them to process large volumes of Sentinel-2 data and produce a global chlorophyll map at an unprecedented spatial resolution.
Global distribution of the MuSyQ Global LCC product. Mean LCC in January 2020 (a) and July 2020 (b). Latitudinal averages of chlorophyll (c,d). Seasonal variations at representative sites for different vegetation types in 2020 (e). (Image by AIRCAS)
Alongside the global dataset, the research team also developed a dedicated web application that enables users to create customized chlorophyll maps. Researchers can select specific areas, time periods, and resolutions, and generate time-series profiles to study how vegetation changes over time. The application is publicly available at the Earth Engine Code Editor.
Generating the customized chlorophyll product and the temporal profile using the web application. (Image by AIRCAS)
This study was published in Scientific Data. A version of the data at 100 m resolution is freely accessible via Science Data Bank, with a dedicated web application on the GEE platform. Validation results show that the new product is highly consistent with the existing global MODIS LCC product, while offering higher accuracy and much finer details.
By making it possible to observe plant health at a global scale and near-field resolution, the MuSyQ Global LCC dataset is expected to support research and decision-making in areas such as precision agriculture, forestry monitoring, and assessments of climate change impacts on vegetation, helping scientists better understand how Earth's ecosystems are responding to a changing environment.
Research News
New Global Leaf Chlorophyll Dataset Enables Fine-Scale Vegetation Monitoring
Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have created the world's first global, high-resolution map of leaf chlorophyll content (LCC), offering a new way to closely track plant health and ecosystem productivity across the planet.
Led by Prof. LI Jing and Prof. LIU Qinhuo from the State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIRCAS), the team developed a dataset called MuSyQ Global LCC using data from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellites. The map has a spatial resolution of 10 meters – finer than existing global chlorophyll products, which typically have resolutions of 300–500 meters.
Chlorophyll is the pigment that allows plants to absorb sunlight and carry out photosynthesis. The amount of chlorophyll in leaves reflects how healthy plants are and how effectively they can take up carbon from the atmosphere. However, the lack of high-resolution, global-scale data has limited our understanding of how chlorophyll varies across different ecosystems and how it responds to environmental change.
To address this gap, the research team applied the chlorophyll sensitive index (CSI) to the cloud-based Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, allowing them to process large volumes of Sentinel-2 data and produce a global chlorophyll map at an unprecedented spatial resolution.
Global distribution of the MuSyQ Global LCC product. Mean LCC in January 2020 (a) and July 2020 (b). Latitudinal averages of chlorophyll (c,d). Seasonal variations at representative sites for different vegetation types in 2020 (e). (Image by AIRCAS)
Alongside the global dataset, the research team also developed a dedicated web application that enables users to create customized chlorophyll maps. Researchers can select specific areas, time periods, and resolutions, and generate time-series profiles to study how vegetation changes over time. The application is publicly available at the Earth Engine Code Editor.
Generating the customized chlorophyll product and the temporal profile using the web application. (Image by AIRCAS)
This study was published in Scientific Data. A version of the data at 100 m resolution is freely accessible via Science Data Bank, with a dedicated web application on the GEE platform. Validation results show that the new product is highly consistent with the existing global MODIS LCC product, while offering higher accuracy and much finer details.
By making it possible to observe plant health at a global scale and near-field resolution, the MuSyQ Global LCC dataset is expected to support research and decision-making in areas such as precision agriculture, forestry monitoring, and assessments of climate change impacts on vegetation, helping scientists better understand how Earth's ecosystems are responding to a changing environment.