MCD43GF: Daily Global Gap-Filled Snow-Free Land Surface Albedo at 30 Arc-Second Resolution

67 data layers provide daily, global, snow-free estimates of land surface Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and Albedo at a 30 arc-second (~1 km) resolution. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) produces this dataset, with the latest version (6.1) updated as of March 2026. It is derived from MODIS Terra and Aqua satellite observations, using a 16-day moving window to model surface reflectance and fill data gaps.

Use Cases

• Modeling land surface energy balance based on black-sky and white-sky albedo layers.
• Analyzing seasonal vegetation changes using Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) for spectral bands.
• Monitoring surface reflectance properties for climate modeling grids, utilizing the gap-filled, snow-free processing.
• Assessing data quality for specific regions or time periods using the provided quality assessment (QA) layers for each band.

Strengths

• Provides gap-filled, snow-free daily global coverage, addressing common data completeness issues in remote sensing.
• Includes 67 distinct data layers covering albedo types, BRDF model parameters, and quality flags for 10 spectral bands.
• Version 6.1 incorporates calibration improvements for MODIS reflectance and infrared bands.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The product is not recommended for use at solar zenith angles beyond 70 degrees.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific analytical needs.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from MODIS Terra and Aqua satellite Level-1B data, processed through BRDF modeling and gap-filling algorithms.

Time Range

Daily coverage, derived using a 16-day moving window.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:47:58.574257; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global