MCD43D50: Daily Global Near-Infrared Black-Sky Albedo at 1km Resolution

Daily global maps of near-infrared black-sky albedo are produced using 16 days of combined Terra and Aqua MODIS satellite data. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides this Climate Modeling Grid product at a 30 arc second (1,000 meter) resolution, with data temporally weighted to the ninth day of each 16-day period. Version 6.1 incorporates improvements to calibration, including response-versus-scan angle adjustments and polarization corrections.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface energy balance in climate simulations based on the black-sky albedo (directional hemispherical reflectance) parameter.
• Analyzing land surface changes over time based on daily, globally-complete near-infrared albedo data.
• Assessing data quality for scientific applications based on the band-specific quality flags described in the user guide.

Strengths

• Data is produced daily using a 16-day rolling window from two MODIS sensors (Terra and Aqua), providing frequent global coverage.
• Spatial resolution is 30 arc seconds (approximately 1,000 meters), suitable for climate-scale modeling.
• Version 6.1 includes specific calibration improvements, such as corrections to the response-versus-scan angle and optical crosstalk.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• 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 a 16-day temporal composite window.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:48:14.181508; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage.