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Description

The NOAA-20 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and Albedo Albedo Daily Global 0.05 Degree Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) Version 2 product (VJ143C3) is derived from the 30 arc second CMG VJ143D Version 2 product suite. VJ143C3 is generated daily from all available high-quality reflectance data over a 16-day moving window emphasizing the ninth day of the retrieval period, which is reflected in the Julian date in the filename. The VJ143 algorithm uses the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal (RTLSR) semi-empirical kernel-driven BRDF model, with the three kernel weights from VJ143C1 to compute white-sky albedos and the black-sky albedos at local solar noon for the VIIRS Day/Night band (DNB), moderate resolution bands M1 through M5, M7, M8, M10, and M11, as well as the shortwave band, visible band, and near-infrared (NIR) broadbands. The quality and inversion status of the majority of the underlying 30 arc second pixels is provided as well as the percentage of the underlying pixels that were present or were snow covered. Users are encouraged to assess the quality information before using the BRDF/Albedo data. This 0.05 degree (5,600 meters at the equator) CMG product covers the entire globe for use in climate simulation models.

The VJ143C3 product includes 26 layers containing white-sky albedos and the black-sky albedos for the VIIRS DNB, moderate resolution bands M1 through M5, M7, M8, M10, and M11, as well as the shortwave band, visible band, and NIR broadbands. Along with the albedo data for the 13 bands are five ancillary layers for uncertainty, quality, local solar noon, percent finer resolution inputs, and snow cover. A low-resolution image is also available showing retrievals of WSA for the shortwave broadband in JPEG format.

Known Issues

Version Description

NOAA-20 (JPSS-1) VIIRS data products, designated as "VJ1", were introduced in VIIRS Version 2.

Product Summary

Platforms
NOAA-20
Instruments
VIIRS
Spatial Extent

N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180

Spatial Resolution
5600 Meters x 5600 Meters
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2018-01-05 to Present
Temporal Resolution
1 Day
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) ,
School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts, Boston (UMASS-B/SFE) ,
Land Science Investigator-led Processing System, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Sciences and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/LandSIPS)
Concept ID
C2841143783-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
2958
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Albedo ,
Anisotropy ,
Reflectance

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Schaaf, C., Wang, Z., Erb, A., & Paynter, I. (2025). VIIRS/JPSS1 BRDF/Albedo Albedo Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V002 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VJ143C3.002 Date Accessed: 2026-02-19

File Naming Convention

VJ143C3.A2025215.002.2025223144126.h5

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (VJ143C3) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025215), the Version of the data collection (002), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025223144126), and the Data Format (h5).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

Variables

The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables. Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data, user guide, and/or other product documentation.

For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
Albedo_BSA_DNB Black-sky albedo for Day/Night band (0.7 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_M1 Black-sky albedo for band M1 (0.412 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_M2 Black-sky albedo for band M2 (0.445 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_M3 Black-sky albedo for band M3 (0.488 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_M4 Black-sky albedo for band M4 (0.555 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_M5 Black-sky albedo for band M5 (0.672 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_M7 Black-sky albedo for band M7 (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_M8 Black-sky albedo for band M8 (1.240 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_M10 Black-sky albedo for band M10 (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_M11 Black-sky albedo for band M11 (2.25 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_nir Black-sky albedo for NIR broadband (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_shortwave Black-sky albedo for shortwave broadband (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_BSA_vis Black-sky albedo for vis broadband (0.64 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_DNB White-sky albedo for Day/Night band (0.7 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_M1 White-sky albedo for band M1 (0.412 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_M2 White-sky albedo for band M2 (0.445 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_M3 White-sky albedo for band M3 (0.488 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_M4 White-sky albedo for band M4 (0.555 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_M5 White-sky albedo for band M5 (0.672 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_M7 White-sky albedo for band M7 (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_M8 White-sky albedo for band M8 (1.240 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_M10 White-sky albedo for band M10 (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_M11 White-sky albedo for band M11 (2.25 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_nir White-sky albedo for NIR broadband (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_shortwave White-sky albedo for shortwave broadband (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
Albedo_WSA_vis White-sky albedo for vis broadband (0.64 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 1000 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Uncertainty BRDF inversion information N/A uint16 32767 0 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Quality BRDF and albedo quality information N/A uint8 255 0 to 5 N/A
Local_Solar_Noon Local solar noon zenith angle Degree uint8 255 0 to 90 N/A
Percent_Inputs Percent finer resolution data which contributed to the CMG Percent uint8 255 0 to 100 N/A
Percent_Snow Percent of underlying data flagged as snow Percent uint8 255 0 to 100 N/A
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