MCD43D48: Daily Global Black-Sky Albedo for MODIS Band 7 at 1km Resolution

MCD43D48 Version 6 was decommissioned on July 31, 2023, and users are directed to the newer Version 6.1 product. This daily global dataset from NASA provides black-sky albedo for MODIS spectral band 7, processed from 16 days of Terra and Aqua satellite observations at a 30 arc-second (1km) resolution. Data are temporally weighted to the ninth day of the 16-day period for use in climate simulation models.

Use Cases

• Calibrating or validating climate simulation models based on the global Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) coverage.
• Analyzing land surface radiative properties and changes over time based on daily black-sky albedo estimates.
• Studying the impact of aerosol representation on downstream products over arid, bright surfaces as noted in the known issues.
• Isolating high-quality data for specific science applications using the band-specific quality flags described in the user guide.

Strengths

• Provides daily global coverage at a consistent 30 arc-second (1km) spatial resolution.
• Data are produced using 16 days of observations from two MODIS sensors (Terra and Aqua), likely improving observational coverage.
• Temporal weighting to the ninth day provides a consistent reference point for the 16-day composite period.

Limitations

• The dataset (Version 6) has known issues, particularly from incorrect aerosol representation in upstream products, and has been decommissioned.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Each product file contains just one data layer due to large file size, which may complicate multi-band analysis.

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; data are temporally weighted to the ninth day of a 16-day period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:47:48.451949; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage.