VNP43D55: Black-Sky Albedo for VIIRS Band M2 at 1km Daily Global

Daily 1,000-meter resolution black-sky albedo data for the 0.445 μm wavelength (VIIRS band M2) is produced using a 16-day temporal window weighted to the ninth day. This dataset is part of a global Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) product suite designed for climate simulation models. It provides directional hemispherical reflectance values, a function of solar zenith angle, for the entire globe.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface energy balance in climate simulations based on the daily, globally-covered Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) data.
• Analyzing temporal changes in land surface reflectance based on the daily production using a 16-day composite.
• Studying the anisotropy of surface reflectance (BRDF) based on the black-sky albedo (directional hemispherical reflectance) parameter.
• Incorporating moderate-resolution albedo data into Earth system models based on the 30 arc-second (1km) spatial resolution.

Strengths

• Provides a specific geophysical parameter (black-sky albedo for band M2 at 0.445 μm) at a consistent 1,000-meter resolution.
• Offers daily global coverage in a Climate Modeling Grid format, which is explicitly designed for use in climate simulation models.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance and curation within official data repositories.

Limitations

• Metadata for size, row count, and specific columns is unavailable across all sources, limiting precise technical assessment.
• Each file contains only one data layer due to large file size, which may complicate multi-band analysis.
• The 'last updated' date of 2026-04-09 appears inconsistent and may reflect a system placeholder rather than actual data currency.

Provenance

Source

NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite, VIIRS sensor, processed by LPCLOUD.

Collection Method

Produced daily using 16 days of data, temporally weighted to the ninth day.

Time Range

Daily production; temporal coverage of the Suomi NPP mission.

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:59:09.264284

Geography

Global coverage.