VNP43D79: VIIRS White-Sky Albedo for Day/Night Band

Daily global white-sky albedo data for the VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 μm) is produced using a 16-day rolling window, weighted to the ninth day, at a 30 arc-second (1,000 meter) resolution. The dataset is part of the VNP43D BRDF/Albedo product suite, formatted in a Climate Modeling Grid for global climate simulations. This specific product (VNP43D79) was decommissioned in its Version 1 form on July 31, 2025, with users directed to newer Version 2 data products.

Use Cases

• Modeling diffuse light conditions in climate simulations based on the white-sky albedo (bihemispherical reflectance) parameter.
• Analyzing long-term surface brightness trends from the Day/Night Band (DNB) for nocturnal environmental studies.
• Integrating albedo data into land surface models using the 30 arc-second Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) format.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage in a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) designed for climate simulation models.
• Offers daily temporal resolution synthesized from a 16-day data window to improve signal quality.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance and established use in the scientific community.

Limitations

• The dataset is explicitly noted as decommissioned (Version 1), limiting its use for new analyses without migration to the newer version.
• Metadata completeness is low, with no column details, row counts, or file sizes provided across sources.
• The description is truncated mid-sentence regarding known issues ('The abnormally high activation of the high aerosol flag in th'), indicating incomplete documentation.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Produced from the Suomi NPP satellite's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor.

Time Range

Daily coverage, though the specific date range for Version 1 is not provided.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:00:47.619615

Geography

Global