MCD43D44: Daily Global Black-Sky Albedo for MODIS Band 3 at 1km Resolution

MCD43D44 Version 6 is a daily, global dataset of black-sky albedo for MODIS band 3 at a 30 arc-second (approximately 1,000-meter) resolution. The data are produced by NASA using 16 days of observations from the Terra and Aqua satellites, weighted to the ninth day of the period. This product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023, and users are directed to the Version 6.1 release.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating climate simulation models based on the dataset's Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) format.
• Analyzing land surface radiative properties and changes over time using daily black-sky albedo values.
• Assessing surface reflectance for MODIS band 3 (likely within the visible spectrum) for specific scientific applications.
• Isolating high-quality data for analysis using the band-specific quality flags mentioned in the user guide.

Strengths

• Provides daily global coverage at a consistent 1,000-meter spatial resolution.
• Data are temporally weighted to the ninth day of a 16-day observation period for a representative estimate.
• Part of a suite of 20 albedo layers (10 black-sky, 10 white-sky) covering multiple MODIS spectral bands.

Limitations

• This Version 6 product has known issues, particularly over arid bright surfaces, and has been decommissioned; substantive use is discouraged.
• Each product file contains just one data layer, which may complicate multi-band analysis.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Produced daily using 16 days of Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data.

Time Range

Daily production, with data weighted to the ninth day of a 16-day period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:26:45.329893; freshness should be verified as the dataset is deprecated.

Geography

Global coverage.