VJ143DNBA4: Daily Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance at 1km

NOAA-20 VIIRS DNB Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) Version 2 provides daily, atmospherically corrected surface reflectance estimates at 1-kilometer resolution. The product is generated using 16 days of VIIRS data, weighted to the ninth day, and employs the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal BRDF model to correct for view-angle effects. It includes nadir reflectance, black-sky and white-sky albedo layers, and quality flags for land surface monitoring.

Use Cases

• Monitoring land surface albedo trends using the integrated black-sky and white-sky albedo science datasets.
• Correcting satellite imagery for bidirectional reflectance effects in time-series analysis based on the RTLSR BRDF model.
• Estimating instantaneous actual (blue-sky) albedo under specific solar illumination conditions using the provided polynomial method.
• Assessing surface reflectance consistency for land cover change detection via the daily, nadir-adjusted NBAR product.

Strengths

• Applies a sophisticated, peer-reviewed BRDF correction model (RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal) to remove view-angle effects.
• Provides daily global coverage at 1-kilometer spatial resolution, enabling frequent land surface monitoring.
• Derived from the NOAA-20 VIIRS sensor, ensuring continuity with heritage MODIS BRDF/Albedo products.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided across any platform.
• Relies on a 16-day composite weighted to a central day, which may smooth over rapid surface changes.
• Documentation references known issues on an external website, requiring users to seek additional quality information.

Provenance

Source

LPCLOUD (listed on nasa_earthdata), derived from NOAA-20 VIIRS satellite sensor data.

Collection Method

Algorithmic processing of daily satellite observations using a semi-empirical kernel-driven BRDF model.

Freshness

Last updated metadata date is 2026-04-09 according to nasa_earthdata and datagov.

Geography

Global coverage on a 1km sinusoidal grid.