VNP43IA3: Daily Global Land Surface Albedo at 500m

Global land surface albedo data is provided at a 500-meter resolution from the Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS instrument. The dataset contains daily products generated using a 16-day temporal window, weighted to the ninth day, and employs the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal BRDF model to derive black-sky and white-sky albedo values. It is designed to ensure continuity with NASA's MODIS BRDF/Albedo product suite.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface energy balance based on black-sky and white-sky albedo values.
• Monitoring land cover and vegetation changes using the 500-meter resolution imagery bands.
• Estimating instantaneous blue-sky albedo by applying a polynomial to the provided BSA and WSA layers.
• Correcting for surface anisotropic effects in satellite imagery using the derived BRDF model parameters.

Strengths

• Provides continuity with the established MODIS BRDF/Albedo data product suite.
• Offers a specific spatial resolution of 500 meters for detailed land surface analysis.
• Uses a 16-day temporal composite to produce a daily product, balancing noise reduction and temporal relevance.

Limitations

• The Version 1 product is decommissioned, requiring users to migrate to Version 2.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific license terms are not provided across platforms.
• The dataset description is truncated in multiple sources, indicating incomplete documentation.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing data from the Suomi NPP VIIRS instrument, processed with a kernel-driven BRDF model.

Time Range

Daily production, using a 16-day input window.

Freshness

2026-04-09

Geography

Global