MCD43D49: Daily Global Black-Sky Albedo for Visible Band at 1km Resolution

MCD43D49 Version 6 data was decommissioned on July 31, 2023. The dataset is produced daily using 16 days of Terra and Aqua MODIS observations at 30 arc second (1,000 meter) resolution, weighted to the ninth day, and covers the entire globe for climate simulation models. It was created by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Use Cases

• Modeling land surface energy balance based on black-sky albedo for the visible broadband.
• Analyzing daily surface reflectance dynamics for climate studies based on 16-day observation windows.
• Incorporating albedo parameters into climate simulation models based on the Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) product.
• Assessing surface radiative properties over bright, arid regions using the provided quality flags.

Strengths

• Global coverage at a consistent 1,000-meter spatial resolution.
• Data is produced daily using a 16-day observation window from two satellite platforms (Terra and Aqua MODIS).
• Improvements include better quality at high latitudes from using all available observations.

Limitations

• The Version 6 product has known issues, particularly over arid bright surfaces, and users are urged to use the Version 6.1 product.
• 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.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Daily production; data is temporally weighted to the ninth day of a 16-day period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:26:36.924884; freshness should be verified as the V6 product is decommissioned.

Geography

Global