VNP43D77: VIIRS White-Sky Albedo for Near-Infrared Band

Daily global white-sky albedo data for the near-infrared broadband (0.865 μm) is produced at a 30 arc-second (1,000 meter) resolution using 16-day temporal composites. This dataset is part of the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP VIIRS BRDF/Albedo product suite, formatted on a Climate Modeling Grid for use in climate simulations. The VNP43D77 Version 1 product was decommissioned on July 31, 2025, with users directed to newer Version 2 data products.

Use Cases

• Parameterizing surface reflectance in climate simulation models based on the Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) format.
• Analyzing temporal trends in land surface albedo using the daily, 16-day composite data.
• Studying the bihemispherical reflectance (white-sky albedo) of the Near-Infrared band for vegetation and land cover monitoring.
• Integrating VIIRS albedo products with other moderate resolution bands (M1-M5, M7, M8, M10, M11) for broadband analysis.

Strengths

• Provides global coverage on a Climate Modeling Grid, designed specifically for climate simulation models.
• Offers a consistent daily time series at a 1,000-meter spatial resolution.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance and curation within official repositories.

Limitations

• The dataset is deprecated; Version 1 was decommissioned on July 31, 2025, limiting its use for current research.
• Metadata for size, row count, and specific columns is unavailable across all sources.
• One source notes a known issue regarding abnormally high activation of a high aerosol flag, which may affect data quality.

Provenance

Source

NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing data processed through the BRDF/Albedo algorithm, using 16 days of data temporally weighted to the ninth day.

Time Range

Daily production; specific date range of observations is not provided.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:00:17.482226

Geography

Global coverage.