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Description

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MCD43A1 Version 6.1 Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function and Albedo (BRDF/Albedo) Model Parameters dataset is produced daily using 16 days of Terra and Aqua MODIS data at 500 meter (m) resolution. Data are temporally weighted to the ninth day of the retrieval period which is reflected in the Julian date in the file name. MCD43A1 provides the three model weighting parameters (isotropic, volumetric, and geometric) used to derive the Albedo (MCD43A3) and Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) (MCD43A4) products.

Users are urged to use the band specific quality flags to isolate the highest quality full inversion results for their own science applications as described in the User Guide.

The MCD43A1 provides the three model weighting parameters for MODIS spectral bands 1 through 7 as well as the visible, near infrared (NIR), and shortwave bands. Along with the three-dimensional parameter layers for these bands are the simplified mandatory quality layers for each of the 10 bands. Essential quality information provided in the corresponding MCD43A2 data file should be consulted when using this product.

Known Issues

Version Description

The following changes and improvements were implemented for inputs to MODIS Version 6.1 BRDF/Albedo Model Parameters data products: (1) Version 6.1 Level-1B (L1B) products have been improved by undergoing various calibration changes that include: changes to the response-versus-scan angle (RVS) approach that affects reflectance bands for Aqua and Terra MODIS, corrections to adjust for the optical crosstalk in Terra MODIS infrared (IR) bands, and corrections to the Terra MODIS forward look-up table (LUT) update for the period 2012 – 2017, and (2) A polarization correction has been applied to the L1B Reflective Solar Bands (RSB).

Product Summary

Platforms
Terra ,
Aqua
Instruments
MODIS
Spatial Extent

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

Spatial Resolution
500 Meters x 500 Meters
Spatial Reference System(s)
MODIS Sinusoidal Tiling System
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2000-02-16 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) ,
MODIS Adaptive Processing System, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/MODAPS)
Concept ID
C2343116130-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
2919077
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. (2021). MODIS/Terra+Aqua BRDF/Albedo Model Parameters Daily L3 Global - 500m V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD43A1.061 Date Accessed: 2026-05-13

File Naming Convention

MCD43A1.A2025212.h11v12.061.2025221032740.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD43A1) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025212), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h11v12), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025221032740), and the Data Format (hdf).

Documents

USER'S GUIDE

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD)

PRODUCT QUALITY ASSESSMENT

SCIENCE DATA PRODUCT VALIDATION

GENERAL DOCUMENTATION

Publications Citing This Dataset

Filters
Title Year Author Topic
Improving the accuracy of short-term numerical weather forecasts for the territory of Belarus using the mesoscale WRF model and earth remote sensing data Lysenko, S. A., Zaiko, P. O. Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Evaluation of the vertically-resolved aerosol radiative effect on shortwave and longwave ranges using sun-sky photometer and ceilometer measurements Bazo, Elena, Granados-Munoz, Maria J., Roman, Roberto, Bravo-Aranda, Juan Antonio, Cazorla, Alberto, Valenzuela, Antonio, Gonzalez, Ramiro, Olmo, Francisco Jose, Alados-Arboledas, Lucas Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Decoupling in the vertical shape of HCHO during a sea breeze event: The effect on trace gas satellite retrievals and column-to-surface translation Souri, Amir H., Kumar, Rajesh, Chong, Heesung, Golbazi, Maryam, Knowland, K. Emma, Geddes, Jeffrey, Johnson, Matthew S. Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
On-Orbit Absolute Radiometric Calibration and Uncertainty Analysis of OCM2 Sensor onboard Oceansat-2 Satellite Kumawat, Nandkishor, Babu, K. N., Pandya, Mehul R. Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Modelled direct causes of dust emission change (20012020) in southwestern USA and implications for management Hennen, Mark, Chappell, Adrian, Webb, Nicholas P. Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Climate and management impacts on the spatiotemporal dynamics of water-carbon fluxes in the North China Plain Wang, Xingwang, Lei, Huimin, Li, Jiadi, Qu, Yanping, Kong, Dongdong, Huo, Zailin Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Sourcing albedo data for bifacial PV systems in complex landscapes Blakesley, James C., Koutsourakis, George, Parsons, Daniel E., Mica, Natalie A., Balasubramanyam, Suhas, Russell, Mark G. Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Towards Accurate Radiometric Calibration of INSAT-3D and INSAT-3DR IMAGER: Addressing Uncertainty and Error Sources Kumawat, Nandkishor, Babu, K. N., Pandya, Mehul R., Tripathi, Saurabh, Sathiyamoorthy, V. Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Monitoring rainfall events in desert areas using the spectral response of biological soil crusts to hydration: Evidence from the Gurbantunggut Desert, China Chen, Ruilin, Tan, Xiaoyue, Zhang, Yuanming, Chen, Hui, Yin, Benfeng, Zhu, Xiaolin, Chen, Jin Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Total Surface Precipitation Rate
A daily and 500 m coupled evapotranspiration and gross primary production product across China during 20002020 He, Shaoyang, Zhang, Yongqiang, Ma, Ning, Tian, Jing, Kong, Dongdong, Liu, Changming Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Terrestrial Water Storage, Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Evapotranspiration, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Land Surface Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Emissivity, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Aerosol Characterization Using Machine Learning Natraj, Vijay, Chen, Sihe, Zeng, Zhao-Cheng, Yung, Yuk L. Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Adjusting solar-induced fluorescence to nadir-viewing provides a better proxy for GPP Hao, Dalei, Zeng, Yelu, Zhang, Zhaoying, Zhang, Yongguang, Qiu, Han, Biriukova, Khelvi, Celesti, Marco, Rossini, Micol, Zhu, Peng, Asrar, Ghassem R., Chen, Min Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Albedo impacts of current agricultural land use: Crop-specific albedo from MODIS data and inclusion in LCA of crop production Sieber, Petra, Ericsson, Niclas, Hammar, Torun, Hansson, Per-Anders Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Albedo on cropland: Field-scale effects of current agricultural practices in Northern Europe Sieber, Petra, Bohme, Sepp, Ericsson, Niclas, Hansson, Per-Anders Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Cascading droughtheat dynamics during the 2021 Southwest United States Heatwave Osman, M., Zaitchik, B. F., Winstead, N. S. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Can column formaldehyde observations inform air quality monitoring strategies for ozone and related photochemical oxidants? Travis, K. R., Judd, L. M., Crawford, J. H., Chen, Gao, Szykman, James, Whitehill, Andrew, Valin, Lukas C., Spinei, Elena, Janz, Scott, Nowlan, Caroline R., Kwon, HyeongAhn, Fried, Alan, Walega, James Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Automatic Detection of Marine Litter: A General Framework to Leverage Nagy, Manon, Istrate, Luca, Simtinica, Matei, Travadel, Sebastien, Blanc, Philippe Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Impact of BRDF spatiotemporal smoothing on land surface albedo estimation Yang, Jian, Shuai, Yanmin, Duan, Junbo, Xie, Donghui, Zhang, Qingling, Zhao, Ruishan Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Hillslope erosion improvement targets: Towards sustainable land management across New South Wales, Australia Yang, Xihua, Leys, John, Gray, Jonathan, Zhang, Mingxi Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Implementation of an albedo-based drag partition into the WRF-Chem v4. 1 AFWA dust emission module Michaels, Michelle, Letcher, Theodore, LeGrand, Sandra, Webb, Nicholas, Putnam, Justin Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Effect of the Partitioning of Diffuse and Direct APAR on GPP Estimation Chen, Siyuan, Sui, Lichun, Liu, Liangyun, Liu, Xinjie Albedo, Anisotropy, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance
Matching high resolution satellite data and flux tower footprints improves their agreement in photosynthesis estimates Kong, Juwon, Ryu, Youngryel, Liu, Jiangong, Dechant, Benjamin, Rey-Sanchez, Camilo, Shortt, Robert, Szutu, Daphne, Verfaillie, Joe, Houborg, Rasmus, Baldocchi, Dennis D. Reflectance, Anisotropy, Albedo
Machine learning-based aerosol characterization using OCO-2 O2 A-band observations Chen, Sihe, Natraj, Vijay, Zeng, Zhao-Cheng, Yung, Yuk L. Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
Land surface phenology retrieval through spectral and angular harmonization of Landsat-8, Sentinel-2 and Gaofen-1 data Lu, Jun, He, Tao, Song, Dan-Xia, Wang, Cai-Qun Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
CHRIS/PROBA-1 Status Including Cross-Mission and Radcalnet Radiometric Assessment Lavender, Samantha, Biasutti, Roberto, Fischer, Peggy Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
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