ISLSCP II AVHRR Albedo and BRDF: Surface Reflectance Parameters, 1995

AVHRR-derived albedo and BRDF parameters provide a foundational 1995 snapshot of Earth's surface radiative properties. Data includes black-sky and white-sky albedo for three spectral bands, enabling modeling of instantaneous albedo at solar noon. These quarter, half, and one-degree resolution files support climate and land surface studies.

Use Cases

• Modeling land surface energy balance using black-sky and white-sky albedo parameters.
• Calibrating modern satellite albedo products with historical AVHRR-derived BRDF data.
• Studying surface radiative properties across three broad spectral bands (350-680nm, 680-3000nm, 350-30000nm).
• Incorporating quarter, half, or one-degree resolution albedo into regional or global climate simulations.

Strengths

• Provides data at three distinct spatial resolutions: quarter, half, and one degree.
• Contains parameters for three specific spectral bands, covering visible to thermal infrared wavelengths.
• Includes both black-sky (direct beam) and white-sky (completely diffuse) albedo components.

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts exist: the 'last updated' date differs significantly between sources (1995 vs. 2026).
• Specific column names and total row counts are not provided in any source.
• The dataset represents a single year (1995), limiting temporal analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) sensor data.

Time Range

1995

Freshness

1995-07-31 23:59:59.999000

Geography

Global