Skip to main content

Description

TThe NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) Version 2 product provides NBAR estimates at 1 kilometer (km) resolution. The VNP43DNBA4 product is produced daily using 16 days of VIIRS data and is weighted temporally to the ninth day, which is reflected in the file name. The view angle effects are removed from the directional reflectances resulting in a stable and consistent NBAR product. The VNP43 data products are designed after the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) BRDF/Albedo product suite.

The VNP43 algorithm uses the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal (RTLSR) semi-empirical kernel-driven BRDF model, with the three kernel weights from VNP43DNBA1 to reconstruct surface anisotropic effects, correcting the directional reflectance to a common view geometry (VNP43DNBA4), while also computing integrated black-sky albedo (BSA) at local solar noon and white-sky albedo (WSA) (VNP43DNBA3). Researchers can use the BRDF model parameters with a simple polynomial to obtain black-sky albedo at any solar illumination angle. Likewise, both the BSA and WSA Science Dataset (SDS) layers can be used with a simple polynomial to manually estimate instantaneous actual albedo (blue-sky albedo). Additional details regarding the methodology are available in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD).

The VNP43DNBA4 product includes BRDF/Albedo mandatory quality and nadir reflectance for the VIIRS DNB. A low-resolution browse image is also available showing NBAR of the DNB 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 DNB BRD and albedo nadir BRDF 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
1000 Meters x 1000 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
VIIRS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
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
C2847929303-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
1656566
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Reflectance ,
Albedo ,
Anisotropy

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 DNB BRDF/Albedo Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Ref Daily L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V002 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43DNBA4.002 Date Accessed: 2026-02-28

File Naming Convention

VNP43DNBA4.A2025220.h06v03.002.2025231060800.h5

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (VNP43DNBA4) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025220), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h06v03), the Version of the data collection (002), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025231060800), 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_Band_Mandatory_Quality_DNB BRDF/Albedo mandatory quality for DNB N/A uint8 255 0 to 1 N/A
Nadir_Reflectance_DNB Nadir BRDF/Albedo reflectance at local solar noon for DNB N/A int16 37267 0 to 10000 0.0001
You're viewing 2 of 2