MCD43D58: Daily Global White-Sky Albedo at 1km Resolution

MCD43D58 Version 6.1 provides daily global white-sky albedo measurements for MODIS band 7 at 30 arc-second (1,000 meter) resolution. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration produces this Climate Modeling Grid product using 16 days of combined Terra and Aqua MODIS data, temporally weighted to the ninth day. This specific dataset is part of a suite of 20 albedo layers designed for climate simulation models.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating climate simulation models based on the Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) product specification.
• Analyzing land surface radiative properties and changes over time based on daily, globally-complete albedo data.
• Studying the diffuse component of surface reflectance for MODIS band 7 using the white-sky albedo (bihemispherical reflectance) definition.
• Isolating high-quality data for scientific applications using the band-specific quality flags referenced in the user guide.

Strengths

• Data is produced daily using a 16-day rolling window from two satellite platforms (Terra and Aqua MODIS), providing frequent temporal coverage.
• Global spatial coverage at a consistent 30 arc-second (approximately 1km) resolution, suitable for climate-scale models.
• Version 6.1 incorporates specific calibration improvements, including RVS, optical crosstalk, and polarization corrections as noted in the description.

Limitations

• Each product file contains just one data layer, which may complicate analyses requiring multiple bands.
• Row count and total file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale processing.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics and data structure 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; temporal weighting to the ninth day of the 16-day window.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:39:01.720203; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Entire globe.