VNP43DNBA3: VIIRS/NPP Daily Surface Albedo at 1km Resolution

VNP43DNBA3 Version 1 provided daily surface albedo values at a 1-kilometer spatial resolution, derived from 16 days of Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band data. The product calculated black-sky albedo at local solar noon and white-sky albedo using the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal BRDF model to correct for surface anisotropic effects. It was designed to ensure continuity with NASA's MODIS BRDF/Albedo data product suite.

Use Cases

• Modeling land surface energy budgets based on daily albedo values.
• Studying seasonal changes in surface reflectance using the 16-day temporal composite.
• Estimating instantaneous blue-sky albedo by applying a polynomial to the provided BSA and WSA Science Dataset layers.
• Continuity analysis with MODIS BRDF/Albedo products for long-term climate records.

Strengths

• Provides a specific 1-kilometer spatial resolution for detailed surface analysis.
• Uses a documented, semi-empirical kernel-driven BRDF model (RTLSR) for atmospheric correction.
• Designed for continuity with the established MODIS BRDF/Albedo product suite.

Limitations

• The Version 1 product was explicitly decommissioned on July 31, 2025, limiting its use for current analysis.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• Platforms list conflicting last-updated dates (2026-04-09 vs. 2025-02-08), creating uncertainty about metadata freshness.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Produced daily using 16 days of Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band data, weighted temporally to the ninth day.

Freshness

Last updated dates conflict: 2026-04-09 on datagov and 2025-02-08 on nasa_earthdata.

Geography

Global coverage at a 1km Sinusoidal (SIN) grid.