VJ143IA4: Daily Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance at 500m Global Scale

Daily global data from the NOAA-20 VIIRS sensor provides Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) estimates at a 500-meter resolution. The VJ143IA4 product is generated using a 16-day rolling window of data, weighted to the ninth day, and applies the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal BRDF model to correct for view-angle effects, producing stable reflectance and albedo layers. It includes six Science Dataset layers for quality and nadir reflectance across VIIRS imagery bands I1, I2, and I3, supporting continuity with NASA's MODIS BRDF/Albedo product suite.

Use Cases

• Monitoring land surface albedo changes based on the integrated black-sky and white-sky albedo layers.
• Analyzing surface anisotropic effects for climate models using the kernel-driven BRDF model parameters.
• Generating consistent, view-angle corrected reflectance maps for land cover studies from the NBAR bands I1, I2, and I3.
• Estimating instantaneous actual (blue-sky) albedo by applying a polynomial to the provided BSA and WSA layers.

Strengths

• Provides daily global coverage at a consistent 500-meter spatial resolution.
• Uses a sophisticated, documented RTLSR BRDF model to correct for sensor view-angle effects, promoting data stability.
• Designed explicitly for continuity with the established NASA MODIS BRDF/Albedo data product suite.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific license details are missing or inconsistent across platforms.
• Relies on a 16-day composite window, which may smooth over very rapid surface changes.
• Documentation references known issues but directs users to an external website for complete details.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing from the NOAA-20 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor.

Time Range

Daily production, using a rolling 16-day window of input data.

Freshness

2026-03-12 20:05:03.167101

Geography

Global