MODIS Albedo and Land Cover for Southern Africa Dry Season 2000

July to October 2000 data provides spatially complete land surface albedo maps and a static land ecosystem classification for Southern Africa. The dataset contains albedo measurements for 10 wavelengths, in both white-sky and black-sky types, across 7 sixteen-day periods at 1-minute resolution. It is a NASA product derived from MODIS (MOD43B3 and MOD12Q1) sources, packaged in HDF files.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal albedo variations using the 7 time periods of white-sky and black-sky albedo data.
• Mapping land cover types across Southern Africa using the IGBP classification scheme at 1-minute resolution.
• Studying the relationship between surface reflectance (albedo across 10 wavelengths) and ecosystem type.
• Modeling climate and energy balance using spatially complete albedo maps for a specific geographic region.

Strengths

• Provides albedo data at 10 specific wavelengths, offering spectral detail for analysis.
• Covers a defined temporal sequence of 7 sixteen-day periods during the 2000 dry season.
• Includes a companion global land cover classification product (IGBP scheme) at matching 1-minute resolution.
• Data is derived from official NASA MODIS products (MOD43B3 and MOD12Q1), ensuring a standardized source.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a single dry season in 2000, reducing utility for long-term trend analysis.
• Platforms conflict on the last updated date (2000-10-15 vs. 2026-03-12), suggesting potential metadata inconsistency.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided across any source.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), derived from MODIS products MOD43B3 and MOD12Q1.

Collection Method

Generated from official Terra/MODIS-derived land surface albedo and land ecosystem classification datasets.

Time Range

2000-07-11 to 2000-10-15

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:47:28.382681

Geography

Southern Africa, from approximately 5°N to 30°S latitude and 5°E to 60°E longitude.