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Description

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MCD43A3 Version 6.1 Albedo Model 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 16 day which is reflected in the Julian date in the file name.

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 MCD43A3 provides black-sky albedo (directional hemispherical reflectance) and white-sky albedo (bihemispherical reflectance) data at local solar noon for MODIS bands 1 through 7 and the visible, near infrared (NIR), and shortwave bands. Along with the albedo layers 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
Projects
TERRA ,
Aqua
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
C2278860820-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
2966902
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
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 Daily L3 Global - 500m V061 [Dataset]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD43A3.061 Date Accessed: 2026-07-14

File Naming Convention

MCD43A3.A2025212.h11v12.061.2025221032740.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD43A3) 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
Variations in surface albedo arising from flooding and desiccation cycles on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah Craft, Kevin M., Horel, John D. Reflectance, Anisotropy, Albedo
Coupled estimation of 500 m and 8-day resolution global evapotranspiration and gross primary production in 20022017 Zhang, Yongqiang, Kong, Dongdong, Gan, Rong, Chiew, Francis H.S., McVicar, Tim R., Zhang, Qiang, Yang, Yuting Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Leaf Area Index (LAI), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Evapotranspiration, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Latent Heat Flux, Surface Pressure, Heat Flux, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Surface Temperature, Humidity, Surface Winds, Rain, Precipitation Rate, Snow, Soil Moisture/Water Content, Soil Temperature, Snow Water Equivalent, Runoff, Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Vegetation Productivity
Direct comparison and triple collocationWhich is more reliable in the validation of coarse-scale satellite surface albedo products Wu, Xiaodan, Xiao, Qing, Wen, Jianguang, You, Dongqin Albedo, Anisotropy
Developing land surface directional reflectance and albedo products from geostationary GOES-R and Himawari dataTheoretical basis, operational implementation, and validation He, Tao, Zhang, Yi, Liang, Shunlin, Yu, Yunyue, Wang, Dongdong Albedo, Anisotropy
Detectability of CO2 emission plumes of cities and power plants with the Copernicus Anthropogenic CO2 Monitoring (CO2M) mission Kuhlmann, Gerrit, Broquet, Gregoire, Marshall, Julia, Clement, Valentin, Loscher, Armin, Meijer, Yasjka, Brunner, Dominik Albedo, Anisotropy, Clouds, Cloud Frequency, Cloud Height, Atmospheric Emitted Radiation, Emissivity, Optical Depth/Thickness, Radiative Flux, Reflectance, Transmittance, Cloud Condensation Nuclei, Cloud Droplet Concentration/Size, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness, Cloud Precipitable Water, Cloud Asymmetry, Cloud Ceiling, Cloud Top Pressure, Cloud Top Temperature, Cloud Vertical Distribution, Cloud Emissivity, Cloud Radiative Forcing, Cloud Reflectance, Cloud Types
Accelerated Springtime Melt of Snow on Tundra Downwind from Northern Alaska River Systems Resulting from Niveo-aeolian Deposition Events De Boer, Gijs, Cox, Christopher J., Creamean, Jessie M. Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy
An approach for downscaling SMAP soil moisture by combining Sentinel-1 SAR and MODIS data Bai, Jueying, Cui, Qian, Zhang, Wen, Meng, Lingkui Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo, Anisotropy, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Leaf Characteristics, Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Reflectance
Balancing prediction accuracy and generalization abilityA hybrid framework for modelling the annual dynamics of satellite-derived land surface temperatures Liu, Zihan, Zhan, Wenfeng, Lai, Jiameng, Hong, Falu, Quan, Jinling, Bechtel, Benjamin, Huang, Fan, Zou, Zhaoxu Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo, Anisotropy
Basin scale rainfall-evapotranspiration dynamics in a tropical semiarid environment during dry and wet years Mutti, Pedro R., da Silva, Lindenberg L., Medeiros, Salomao de S., Dubreuil, Vincent, Mendes, Keila R., Marques, Thiago V., Lucio, Paulo S., Santos e Silva, Claudio M., Bezerra, Bergson G. Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo, Anisotropy
Coefficients optimization of the GLASS broadband emissivity based on FTIR and MODIS data over the Taklimakan Desert Yalkun, Aynigar, Mamtimin, Ali, Liu, Suhong, Yang, Fan, He, Qing, Qi, Feifei, Liu, Yongqiang Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance
Combining MODIS and national land resource products to model land cover-dependent surface albedo for Norway Bright, Ryan M., Astrup, Rasmus Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance
Exploration of machine learning techniques in emulating a coupled soil canopy atmosphere radiative transfer model for multi-parameter estimation from satellite observations Shi, Hanyu, Xiao, Zhiqiang, Tian, Xiaodan Reflectance, Albedo, Anisotropy, Shortwave Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Evaluating the spatial representativeness of the MODerate Resolution Image Spectroradiometer albedo product (MCD43) at ameriflux sites Zhou, Hongmin, Liang, Shunlin, He, Tao, Wang, Jindi, Bo, Yanchen, Wang, Dongdong Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Albedo, Anisotropy
Evaluation of ten machine learning methods for estimating terrestrial evapotranspiration from remote sensing Carter, Corinne, Liang, Shunlin Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Reflectance, Anisotropy, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo
Influence of recent warming and ice dynamics on glacier surface elevations in the Canadian High Arctic, 19952014 MORTIMER, COLLEEN A., SHARP, MARTIN, VAN WYCHEN, WESLEY Albedo, Anisotropy, Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation, Glacier Elevation/Ice Sheet Elevation, Ice Roughness, Terrain Elevation
Novel Measurements of Fine-Scale Albedo: Using a Commercial Quadcopter Levy, Charlotte R., Burakowski, Elizabeth, Richardson, Andrew D. Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo, Anisotropy
Spring warming in Yukon mountains is not amplified by the snow albedo feedback Williamson, Scott N., Anslow, Faron S., Clarke, Garry K. C., Gamon, John A., Jarosch, Alexander H., Hik, David S. Albedo, Anisotropy
Spatiotemporal variability of Canadian High Arctic glacier surface albedo from MODIS data, 20012016 Mortimer, Colleen A., Sharp, Martin Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Albedo, Anisotropy
Sensitivity of Glacier Runoff to Winter Snow Thickness Investigated for Schmidt, Louise Steffensen, Langen, Peter L., Aalgeirsdottir, Gufinna, Palsson, Finnur, Gumundsson, Sverrir, Gunnarsson, Andri Albedo, Anisotropy
Surface albedo and toc-r 300 m products from PROBA-V instrument in the framework of Copernicus Global Land Service Roujean, Jean-Louis, Leon-Tavares, Jonathan, Smets, Bruno, Claes, Patrick, Camacho De Coca, Fernando, Sanchez-Zapero, Jorge Albedo, Anisotropy
Surface forcing of non-stand-replacing fires in Siberian larch forests Chen, Dong, Loboda, Tatiana V Albedo, Anisotropy, Forests, Infrared Imagery, Burned Area, Reforestation
Use of remote sensing indicators to assess effects of drought and human-induced land degradation on ecosystem health in Northeastern Brazil Mariano, Denis A., Santos, Carlos A.C. dos, Wardlow, Brian D., Anderson, Martha C., Schiltmeyer, Allie V., Tadesse, Tsegaye, Svoboda, Mark D. Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Albedo, Anisotropy
Towards Estimating Land Evaporation at Field Scales Using GLEAM Martens, Brecht, De Jeu, Richard A. M., Verhoest, Niko E. C., Schuurmans, Hanneke, Kleijer, Jonne, Miralles, Diego G. Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Albedo, Anisotropy
Detecting trends in wetland extent from MODIS derived soil moisture estimates Gumbricht, Thomas Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Albedo, Anisotropy
Accuracy Assessment on MODIS (V006), GLASS and MuSyQ Land-Surface Albedo Wu, Xiaodan, Wen, Jianguang, Xiao, Qing, You, Dongqin, Dou, Baocheng, Lin, Xinwen, Hueni, Andreas Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo, Anisotropy
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