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Description

The NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and Albedo Snow-free Model Parameters Daily Global 0.05 Degree Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) Version 2 product (VNP43C2) is derived from the 30 arc second CMG VNP43D Version 2 product suite. VNP43C2 is generated daily from all available snow-free acquisitions over a 16-day moving window emphasizing the ninth day of the retrieval period, which is reflected in the Julian date in the filename. VNP43C2 supplies the weighting parameters associated with the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal BRDF model, which is used to produce the VNP43C3 Albedo and VNP43C4 Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) products. The highest quality full inversion values are used for the temporal fitting effort and supplemented with lower quality pixels, spatial fitting, and spatial smoothing as needed. The status of each pixel can be found in the ancillary layers. 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 VNP43C2 product includes 39 layers containing the three parameters (fiso, fvol, and fgeo) 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. Along with the parameter data for the 13 bands are four ancillary layers for uncertainty, quality, local solar noon, and percent finer resolution inputs.

Known Issues

Improvements/Changes from Previous Versions

  • Improved calibration algorithm and better coefficients for entire Suomi NPP mission
  • Improved geolocation accuracy and updates to fix outliers around maneuver periods and other events
  • Corrections to the aerosol quantity flag (low, average, high) mainly over brighter surfaces in the mid to high latitudes such as desert and tropical vegetation areas. This has an impact on the retrieval of other downstream data products such as VNP13 Vegetation Indices and VNP43 BRDF/Albedo.
  • Improved cloud mask input product for corrections along coastlines and artifacts from use of coarse resolution climatology data
  • Replaced the land/water mask input product with MODIS heritage seven class land/water mask
  • More details can be found in this VIIRS Land V2 Changes document.

Version Description

Collection Version 1 Processing and Reprocessing

Product Summary

Platforms
Suomi-NPP
Instruments
VIIRS
Spatial Extent
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Spatial Resolution
5600 Meters x 5600 Meters
Geographic Region
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2012-01-19 to Present
Temporal Resolution
1 Day
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
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)
School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts, Boston (UMASS-B/SFE)
Concept ID
C2847917321-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
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/NPP BRDF/Albedo Snow-free Albedo Model Parameters Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V002 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43C2.002 Date Accessed: 2025-10-29

File Naming Convention

VNP43C2.A2025215.002.2025224210808.h5

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (VNP43C2) 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 (2025224210808), and the Data Format (h5).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_DNB BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for Day/Night band (0.7 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_M1 BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for band M1 (0.412 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_M2 BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for band M2 (0.445 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_M3 BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for band M3 (0.488 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_M4 BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for band M4 (0.555 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_M5 BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for band M5 (0.672 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_M7 BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for band M7 (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_M8 BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for band M8 (1.240 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_M10 BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for band M10 (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_M11 BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for band M11 (2.25 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_nir BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for NIR broadband (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_shortwave BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for shortwave broadband (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter1_vis BRDF Albedo isotropic weight for vis broadband (0.64 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_DNB BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for Day/Night band (0.7 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_M1 BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for band M1 (0.412 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_M2 BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for band M2 (0.445 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_M3 BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for band M3 (0.488 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_M4 BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for band M4 (0.555 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_M5 BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for band M5 (0.672 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_M7 BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for band M7 (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_M8 BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for band M8 (1.240 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_M10 BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for band M10 (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_M11 BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for band M11 (2.25 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_nir BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for NIR broadband (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_shortwave BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for shortwave broadband (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter2_vis BRDF Albedo volumetric weight for vis broadband (0.64 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_DNB BRDF Albedo geometric weight for Day/Night band (0.7 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_M1 BRDF Albedo geometric weight for band M1 (0.412 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_M2 BRDF Albedo geometric weight for band M2 (0.445 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_M3 BRDF Albedo geometric weight for band M3 (0.488 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_M4 BRDF Albedo geometric weight for band M4 (0.555 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_M5 BRDF Albedo geometric weight for band M5 (0.672 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_M7 BRDF Albedo geometric weight for band M7 (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_M8 BRDF Albedo geometric weight for band M8 (1.240 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_M10 BRDF Albedo geometric weight for band M10 (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_M11 BRDF Albedo geometric weight for band M11 (2.25 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_nir BRDF Albedo geometric weight for NIR broadband (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_shortwave BRDF Albedo geometric weight for shortwave broadband (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Parameter3_vis BRDF Albedo geometric weight for vis broadband (0.64 μm) N/A int16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Albedo_Uncertainty BRDF inversion information N/A uint16 32767 32767 to 32766 0.001
BRDF_Quality BRDF and albedo quality information N/A uint8 255 255 to 5 N/A
Local_Solar_Noon Local solar noon zenith angle Degree uint8 255 255 to 90 N/A
Percent_Inputs Percent finer resolution data which contributed to the CMG Percent uint8 255 255 to 100 N/A
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