MCD43A3: Daily Global Land Surface Albedo at 500m Resolution

MCD43A3 Version 6 data was decommissioned on July 31, 2023, with users directed to a newer version. This daily product from NASA's MODIS instruments provides black-sky and white-sky albedo estimates for seven spectral bands and three broadbands at a 500-meter resolution. It is generated using 16 days of data from the Terra and Aqua satellites, temporally weighted to the ninth day.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface energy balance based on black-sky and white-sky albedo data.
• Monitoring seasonal land surface changes using daily, 500m resolution albedo estimates.
• Assessing data quality for scientific applications using the provided mandatory quality layers.
• Studying radiative properties over specific regions using the global coverage.

Strengths

• Provides data at a 500-meter spatial resolution.
• Offers daily temporal coverage using a 16-day observation window.
• Includes albedo data for 10 distinct spectral and broadband ranges.
• Produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Limitations

• This specific version (V006) is decommissioned and contains known issues, particularly over arid bright surfaces.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Produced daily using 16 days of Terra and Aqua MODIS data.

Time Range

Daily coverage.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:35:22.636197; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global.