MCD19A3D: Daily Global BRDF, Snow, and Vegetation Data

MCD19A3D Version 6.1 is a daily, 1-kilometer resolution MODIS product providing RossThick/Li-Sparse BRDF model parameters for eight spectral bands. It includes gap-filled snow grain size and fraction over snow-covered land, and gap-filled NDVI and Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance over snow-free land. The dataset is produced by the Multi-angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction algorithm and represents cloud-free, low-aerosol conditions.

Use Cases

• Modeling land surface anisotropy for albedo studies based on the provided RTLS BRDF kernel parameters.
• Monitoring snow cover properties and persistence using the gap-filled snow grain size and fraction layers.
• Analyzing vegetation health and phenology via the gap-filled Normalized Difference Vegetation Index.
• Correcting satellite imagery for view-angle effects using the Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance values.

Strengths

• Provides a multi-parameter suite including BRDF coefficients, snow metrics, and vegetation indices.
• Offers gap-filled data to mitigate cloud cover, retaining the last valid observation until an update.
• Includes a documented software fix for a known artifact in NDVI/NBAR layers implemented in June 2023.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is medium; specific column names and dataset size are not provided.
• Contains a known artifact in NDVI and NBAR layers over the southern polar region for dates prior to June 2023, which will not be reprocessed.
• Retrievals are limited to cloud-free and low aerosol conditions, which may create temporal gaps.

Provenance

Source

LPCLOUD (NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing from MODIS instruments aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, processed with the MAIAC algorithm.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-10 according to two platforms.

Geography

Global