VJ143D65: Black-Sky Albedo for Shortwave Broadband from NOAA-20 VIIRS

NOAA-20 VIIRS satellite data provides daily global black-sky albedo measurements at a 1,000-meter resolution, synthesized from a 16-day observation window. This specific product, VJ143D65, captures directional hemispherical reflectance for the shortwave broadband (1.61 μm) and is formatted on a Climate Modeling Grid for direct use in simulations. It is part of a larger suite that includes albedo for nine moderate resolution bands, three broadbands, and the unique Day/Night Band.

Use Cases

• Parameterizing land surface reflectance in climate models based on the Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) structure.
• Analyzing seasonal changes in Earth's energy budget using the daily, globally-complete black-sky albedo product.
• Studying surface anisotropy and BRDF effects by comparing this shortwave broadband data with other bands in the VJ143D suite.
• Incorporating the Day/Night Band (DNB) albedo values for low-light or nocturnal surface property research.

Strengths

• Provides daily, global coverage at a consistent 30 arc-second (1 km) spatial resolution.
• Data incorporates improvements from the S-NPP VIIRS V002 algorithm, including enhanced calibration and geolocation accuracy.
• Temporally weighted to represent the ninth day of a 16-day composite, balancing recency with observational stability.

Limitations

• Metadata on specific columns, row counts, and file sizes is unavailable across all platforms.
• Each product file contains only one data layer due to large file sizes, requiring multiple files for full spectral analysis.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms provided.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Produced daily from NOAA-20 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor data.

Time Range

Daily production, using a rolling 16-day composite window.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:07:55.194565

Geography

Global coverage on a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG).