MODIS MCD43C4: Daily Global Nadir-Adjusted Surface Reflectance for Climate Models

NASA's MODIS MCD43C4 Version 6 data product provides daily, global Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function and Albedo (BRDF/Albedo) Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) on a 0.05-degree Climate Modeling Grid. The product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023, with users encouraged to use the updated Version 6.1. It is generated from 16 days of Terra and Aqua MODIS observations, temporally weighted to the ninth day of the retrieval period.

Use Cases

• Climate simulation modeling based on the 0.05-degree Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) data.
• Land surface monitoring using the seven MODIS spectral bands of Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR).
• Quality assessment of surface properties by applying the band-specific quality flags described in the User Guide.
• Snow cover analysis leveraging the ancillary snow cover layer included in the product.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage on a consistent 0.05-degree (approx. 5.6 km) grid designed for climate models.
• Daily temporal resolution produced from 16 days of combined Terra and Aqua MODIS satellite data.
• Includes ancillary data layers for quality, local solar noon, snow cover, and uncertainty to support analysis.

Limitations

• This Version 6 product has known issues, particularly over arid bright surfaces, and has been officially decommissioned.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Produced daily from 16 days of Terra and Aqua MODIS satellite observations.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:25:52.169392; freshness should be verified as the product version is deprecated.

Geography

Global