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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 Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance Daily Global 0.05 Degree Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) Version 2 product (VNP43C4) is derived from the 30 arc second CMG VNP43D Version 2 product suite. VNP43C3 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 VNP43 algorithm uses the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal (RTLSR) semi-empirical kernel-driven BRDF model, with the three kernel weights from VNP43C1 to compute NBAR values for the VIIRS Day/Night band (DNB), and moderate resolution bands M1 through M5, M7, M8, M10, and M11. The algorithm removes view angle effects from directional reflectances to model the values as if they were collected from a nadir view at local solar noon. 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 VNP43C4 product includes 10 layers containing NBAR values for VIIRS DNB and moderate resolution bands M1 through M5, M7, M8, M10, and M11. Along with the NBAR data for the 10 bands are five ancillary layers for uncertainty, quality, local solar noon, percent finer resolution inputs, and snow cover. A low-resolution browse image is also available showing NBAR bands M5, M4, and M3 as a red, green, blue (RGB) image in JPEG format.

Known Issues

Version Description

The following modifications and enhancements were implemented for Suomi NPP Version 2 BRDF and albedo nadir data products: (1) Improved calibration algorithm and better coefficients for entire Suomi NPP mission, (2) Improved geolocation accuracy and updates to fix outliers around maneuver periods and other events, (3) 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, (4) Improved cloud mask input product for corrections along coastlines and artifacts from use of coarse resolution climatology data, (5) Replaced the land/water mask input product with MODIS heritage seven class land/water mask. Further details can be found in the VIIRS Land V2 Changes document (https://landweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/data/userguide/VIIRS_Land_C2_Cha…).

Product Summary

Platforms
Suomi-NPP
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
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
C2847918047-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
5132
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 Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Ref Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V002 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43C4.002 Date Accessed: 2026-02-15

File Naming Convention

VNP43C4.A2025215.002.2025224210808.h5

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (VNP43C4) 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

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
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
Nadir_Reflectance_DNB Nadir reflectance for Day/Night band (0.7 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
Nadir_Reflectance_M1 Nadir reflectance for band M1 (0.412 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
Nadir_Reflectance_M2 Nadir reflectance for band M2 (0.445 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
Nadir_Reflectance_M3 Nadir reflectance for band M3 (0.488 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
Nadir_Reflectance_M4 Nadir reflectance for band M4 (0.555 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
Nadir_Reflectance_M5 Nadir reflectance for band M5 (0.672 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
Nadir_Reflectance_M7 Nadir reflectance for band M7 (0.865 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
Nadir_Reflectance_M8 Nadir reflectance for band M8 (1.240 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
Nadir_Reflectance_M10 Nadir reflectance for band M10 (1.61 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
Nadir_Reflectance_M11 Nadir reflectance for band M11 (2.25 μm) N/A int16 32767 0 to 10000 0.0001
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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