VNP43D33: VIIRS NIR BRDF Geometric Parameter for Global Climate Models

VNP43D33 provides the geometric parameter for the Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and Albedo model at a 0.865 μm near-infrared (NIR) wavelength. This daily product is generated from 16 days of Suomi NPP VIIRS data, aggregated to a 30 arc-second (1,000 meter) Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) covering the entire globe. The geometric parameter, alongside isotropic and volumetric parameters, is used to derive surface albedo and anisotropy for climate simulation and land surface monitoring.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface energy balance in climate simulations based on the NIR BRDF geometric parameter.
• Monitoring seasonal changes in land surface anisotropy using daily, globally-complete CMG data.
• Deriving albedo for the VIIRS NIR broadband (0.865 μm) in conjunction with isotropic and volumetric parameters.
• Assessing the impact of aerosols on BRDF/Albedo retrievals, as noted in known issues with the high aerosol flag.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage on a standardized Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) at 1-km resolution.
• Offers daily temporal resolution synthesized from a 16-day observation window.
• Is part of a well-documented NASA/NOAA product suite with a defined algorithm (ATBD).

Limitations

• This Version 1 product was decommissioned on July 31, 2025, directing users to newer Version 2 products.
• Metadata for specific column names, row counts, and file sizes is unavailable across all sources.
• Contains a known issue where an abnormally high aerosol flag in upstream data reduces acceptable retrievals.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) via the Suomi NPP satellite.

Collection Method

Derived from Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) observations, processed through the VNP43 BRDF/Albedo algorithm.

Freshness

Last updated metadata on 2026-04-09, but the data product itself is decommissioned.

Geography

Global