MODIS Daily BRDF and Albedo Quality Flags at 500m Resolution

MCD43A2N provides a full set of quality control flags for daily L3 BRDF/Albedo retrievals at a 500-meter pixel level. The dataset is a 16-day composite global gridded product generated from combined MODIS Terra and Aqua satellite observations. It is produced by the MODIS Land Science Team (LANCEMODIS) as part of the Near Real Time (NRT) Collection 61.

Use Cases

• Filtering the BRDF/Albedo Model Parameters (MCD43A1N) product by applying pixel-level quality flags from MCD43A2N to mask low-confidence retrievals.
• Assessing temporal consistency in the Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) product (MCD43A4N) by analyzing quality flag changes over the 16-day composite period.
• Weighting inputs for albedo (MCD43A3N) time-series analysis based on the per-pixel quality information to improve trend detection.
• Comparing retrieval quality between Collection 6 and Collection 61 NRT BRDF/Albedo algorithms to understand discontinuities as noted in the description.

Strengths

• Global daily coverage at 500-meter spatial resolution.
• Provides a full suite of quality control flags for each pixel in the BRDF/Albedo product suite.
• Collection 61 algorithm is designed to minimize differences between NRT and Standard BRDF products.

Limitations

• Specific row count, file size, and temporal coverage range are not provided in the input.
• Significant algorithm changes in Collection 61 create discontinuities with prior Collection 6 data, complicating long-term trend analysis.
• The 16-day composite period may smooth over sub-daily surface changes.

Provenance

Source

MODIS Land Science Team (LANCEMODIS) via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Processed from combined MODIS Terra and Aqua satellite sensor observations using the C61 BRDF/Albedo science algorithm.

Freshness

Daily Near Real Time (NRT) product.

Geography

Global, provided on a sinusoidal (SIN) grid projection.