VNP43D51: VIIRS Day/Night Band Valid Observation Quality for Global Climate Modeling

VNP43D51 provides a daily global layer of valid observation quality for the VIIRS Day/Night Band at 30 arc-second (1,000 meter) resolution. This product is part of the BRDF/Albedo suite generated from 16 days of Suomi NPP satellite data, temporally weighted to the ninth day and formatted for the Climate Modeling Grid. It was decommissioned on July 31, 2025, with users directed to Version 2 products.

Use Cases

• Assessing input data quality for BRDF model inversions based on the valid observation layer.
• Monitoring temporal changes in surface reflectance conditions for the Day/Night Band.
• Evaluating the impact of high aerosol flags on downstream albedo products over arid regions.
• Incorporating quality-controlled VIIRS observations into global climate simulation models.

Strengths

• Provides a specific data layer (valid observation quality) for the VIIRS Day/Night Band, a unique sensor capability.
• Offers global coverage at a consistent 30 arc-second resolution within a standardized Climate Modeling Grid.
• Generated daily using a 16-day composite, providing a temporally smoothed product weighted to a central date.

Limitations

• Dataset is decommissioned (as of July 31, 2025), indicating it is a legacy Version 1 product with known issues.
• Metadata on row count, file size, and specific columns is unavailable across all sources.
• A known issue reduces high-quality BRDF inversions due to an overly sensitive aerosol flag in upstream data, particularly over bright surfaces.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Processed daily from 16 days of satellite observations using BRDF/Albedo algorithms.

Time Range

Daily production, but specific historical date range is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated metadata indicates 2026-04-09, but the product itself was decommissioned in 2025.

Geography

Global coverage.