Global Daily White-Sky Albedo Shortwave from MODIS Terra and Aqua

White-sky albedo for the MODIS shortwave broadband is produced daily from Terra and Aqua satellite data at 30 arc second resolution. The LPCLOUD organization generates this Climate Modeling Grid product for global climate simulation models. Data are temporally weighted to the ninth day of a 16-day acquisition window.

Use Cases

• Model surface radiative forcing in climate simulations using the shortwave broadband white-sky albedo layer.
• Analyze albedo temporal trends by utilizing the daily production and 16-day temporal weighting scheme.
• Assess data quality for specific regions by applying the band-specific quality flags described in the user guide.
• Compare albedo values across MODIS spectral bands by referencing the suite of 10 white-sky albedo layers.
• Validate land surface models using the 1,000-meter resolution global coverage provided by the Climate Modeling Grid.

Strengths

• Daily production provides frequent temporal snapshots.
• Global coverage at 30 arc second resolution supports continental-scale analysis.
• Data includes quality flags for isolating highest quality full inversion results.

Limitations

• Each product file contains just one data layer, requiring multiple files for multi-band analysis.
• Known issues exist, requiring users to consult the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.
• Data resolution of 1,000 meters may be insufficient for local-scale studies.

Provenance

Source

LPCLOUD

Collection Method

Produced using 16 days of Terra and Aqua MODIS data.

Freshness

Daily

Geography

Global