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

MCD43D59 Version 6.1 is a daily global white-sky albedo dataset for the visible broadband, produced by NASA using 16 days of Terra and Aqua MODIS data. The Climate Modeling Grid product has a 30 arc second (approximately 1,000 meter) resolution and is temporally weighted to the ninth day of the 16-day observation period. Users are directed to consult the provided user guide and known issues website for quality assessment and application guidance.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and validating climate simulation models based on the dataset's designation as a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) product.
• Analyzing land surface radiative properties and changes over time based on daily global white-sky albedo data.
• Isolating high-quality full inversion results for scientific applications based on the band-specific quality flags mentioned in the user guide.

Strengths

• Data is produced daily using observations from two satellite platforms (Terra and Aqua MODIS).
• Provides global coverage at a 30 arc second (approximately 1,000 meter) spatial resolution.
• Version 6.1 incorporates specific calibration improvements, including RVS, optical crosstalk, and polarization corrections.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Each product file contains just one data layer, which may complicate analysis requiring multiple bands.

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 coverage is not explicitly stated.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:22:54.453570; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Covers the entire globe.