VNP43D64: Black-Sky Albedo for Near-Infrared from VIIRS/NPP

NASA/NOAA's VNP43D64 Version 1 product provides daily Black-Sky Albedo (BSA) for the near-infrared broadband (0.865 μm) derived from the Suomi NPP VIIRS instrument. It is generated at a 30 arc-second (1,000 meter) global Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) resolution using a temporally weighted 16-day composite. This dataset was decommissioned on July 31, 2025, with users directed to Version 2 products.

Use Cases

• Inputting NIR broadband albedo into climate simulation models based on the Climate Modeling Grid format.
• Analyzing temporal trends in surface reflectance for the near-infrared spectrum using the daily, 16-day composite product.
• Studying land surface anisotropy and BRDF effects as part of the VNP43D BRDF/Albedo product suite.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage on a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) designed for direct use in climate models.
• Offers a specific, high-level geophysical parameter (Black-Sky Albedo) for the VIIRS NIR broadband at 0.865 μm.
• Is part of a multi-platform, well-documented NASA product suite with a defined versioning and deprecation path.

Limitations

• The dataset is deprecated (decommissioned July 31, 2025), limiting its use for current research.
• Metadata for row count, file size, and specific columns is unavailable ('unknown' or 'None') across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date (2026-04-09 vs. 2025-02-01), creating provenance uncertainty.

Provenance

Source

NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP VIIRS instrument, processed by LPCLOUD.

Collection Method

Produced daily using a 16-day data composite, temporally weighted to the ninth day.

Time Range

Daily production, but specific date range of available files is not provided.

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:44:01.630190

Geography

Global coverage.