MCD43D59: Daily Global White-Sky Albedo for Visible Band at 1km Resolution

Daily global white-sky albedo data for the visible broadband, produced from 16 days of Terra and Aqua MODIS satellite observations. The dataset is temporally weighted to the ninth day and provided at a 30 arc second (approximately 1,000 meter) resolution as a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) product. It was created by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Version 6 product was decommissioned on July 31, 2023.

Use Cases

• Parameterizing climate simulation models based on the daily, global white-sky albedo data.
• Analyzing land surface radiative properties based on the visible broadband albedo.
• Studying temporal changes in surface reflectance using the daily, temporally-weighted data product.
• Isolating high-quality data for scientific applications based on the band-specific quality flags mentioned in the user guide.

Strengths

• Global spatial coverage suitable for climate modeling.
• Daily temporal production using 16 days of MODIS data from two satellite platforms (Terra and Aqua).
• Data are provided at a consistent 30 arc second (1km) Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) resolution.

Limitations

• The Version 6 product has known issues, particularly over arid bright surfaces, and has been decommissioned; users are directed to Version 6.1.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Produced daily from 16 days of Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data.

Time Range

Daily data, temporally weighted to the ninth day of a 16-day acquisition period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 12 23:38:11.324108; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global