VNP43D89: VIIRS Day/Night Band Nadir Reflectance at Solar Noon

Daily global data from 2012 to present, produced using a 16-day rolling window and temporally weighted to the ninth day. The dataset provides Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) for the VIIRS Day/Night Band at a 30 arc-second (1,000 meter) Climate Modeling Grid resolution, correcting for view-angle effects to model reflectance as if viewed from nadir at local solar noon. It is part of the VNP43D BRDF/Albedo product suite designed for climate simulation models.

Use Cases

• Modeling global surface albedo for climate simulations based on the Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) format.
• Analyzing nighttime light or low-light reflectance changes over time using the Day/Night Band (DNB) NBAR values.
• Studying land surface anisotropy and reflectance properties with view-angle corrected data from the NBAR algorithm.
• Monitoring long-term trends in surface radiative properties using the daily, 16-day composite temporal resolution.

Strengths

• Provides a specific, atmospherically and geometrically corrected reflectance product (NBAR) for the VIIRS Day/Night Band, which is not included in the standard moderate resolution band suite.
• Offers global, daily coverage at a consistent 1km resolution on a Climate Modeling Grid, suitable for climate-scale analysis.
• Algorithm improvements noted, including better calibration coefficients and geolocation accuracy for the entire Suomi NPP mission.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low: column names, row counts, and specific data layers are not detailed in the provided sources.
• Each product file contains only one data layer due to large file size, which may complicate multi-band analysis.
• Known issues exist and require external reference to a separate quality assessment website for full understanding.

Provenance

Source

NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor.

Collection Method

Produced daily using 16 days of data, applying a BRDF/Albedo NBAR algorithm to directional reflectances.

Time Range

Covers the entire Suomi NPP mission from its launch in 2011, with daily production ongoing.

Freshness

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

Geography

Global coverage.