VNP43D03: VIIRS BRDF Geometric Parameter for Band M1

NASA/NOAA's Suomi NPP VIIRS VNP43D03 product provides the Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) geometric parameter for band M1 (0.412 μm). It is produced daily using a 16-day temporal composite at a 30 arc-second (1,000 meter) resolution on a global Climate Modeling Grid (CMG). The geometric parameter, along with isotropic and volumetric parameters, is used to derive BRDF and albedo values for this specific spectral band.

Use Cases

• Deriving BRDF/Albedo values for VIIRS band M1 based on the geometric parameter combined with isotropic and volumetric parameters.
• Climate simulation modeling using global, daily surface reflectance parameters provided on a Climate Modeling Grid.
• Analyzing land surface anisotropy and reflectance properties at a 1-kilometer resolution.
• Tracking changes in surface radiative properties over time using a daily product with a 16-day temporal weighting.

Strengths

• Provides a specific, critical model parameter (geometric) for deriving BRDF/albedo.
• Offers global coverage at a consistent 30 arc-second (1km) resolution suitable for climate models.
• Data incorporates improvements from a previous version, including a better calibration algorithm and improved geolocation accuracy.

Limitations

• Column names and dataset size/row counts are unknown across all sources.
• Each VNP43D product file contains only one data layer, requiring multiple files for a complete analysis.
• License information is inconsistently reported ('other-license-specified' on datagov, 'None' on nasa_earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Produced daily from the Suomi NPP VIIRS instrument using a 16-day data composite.

Freshness

2026-03-12 19:55:47.452553 (from datagov)

Geography

Global