VNP43C3: VIIRS/NPP Daily Global Albedo for Climate Models

NASA/NOAA's VNP43C3 product provides daily, global land surface albedo data at a 0.05-degree resolution for climate modeling. It is derived from Suomi NPP VIIRS sensor data using a 16-day moving window and the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal BRDF model. The dataset includes 26 layers covering white-sky and black-sky albedo for 13 spectral and broadbands, plus ancillary layers for quality, uncertainty, and snow cover.

Use Cases

• Calibrating surface albedo parameters in global climate simulation models based on the 0.05-degree Climate Modeling Grid.
• Monitoring seasonal changes in land surface reflectivity using the daily data generated from a 16-day moving window.
• Assessing snow cover impact on surface energy balance using the provided snow cover percentage ancillary layer.
• Validating higher-resolution albedo products by using the quality and uncertainty layers to filter reliable pixels.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage at a consistent 0.05-degree (approx. 5.6 km) resolution suitable for climate models.
• Includes 26 data layers with both spectral albedo for specific VIIRS bands and broadband albedo, plus five ancillary layers for quality control.
• Generated daily using a sophisticated, peer-reviewed BRDF model (RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal) applied to a 16-day data window.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low; specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided on any platform.
• Relies on a 16-day moving window for daily retrieval, which may smooth out very rapid surface changes.
• Users must carefully assess the provided quality and uncertainty layers before use, as noted in the descriptions.

Provenance

Source

NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor.

Collection Method

Derived from the 30 arc-second VNP43D Version 2 product suite using a semi-empirical kernel-driven BRDF model.

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:59:30.729924

Geography

Global land surface coverage.