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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
2956255
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: 2026-06-08

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
The biophysical climate mitigation potential of boreal peatlands during Helbig, Manuel, Waddington, James M, Alekseychik, Pavel, Amiro, Brian, Aurela, Mika, Barr, Alan G, Black, T Andrew, Carey, Sean K, Chen, Jiquan, Chi, Jinshu, Desai, Ankur R, Dunn, Allison, Euskirchen, Eugenie S, Flanagan, Lawrence B, Friborg, Thomas, Garneau, Michelle, Grelle, Achim, Harder, Silvie, Heliasz, Michal, Humphreys, Elyn R, Ikawa, Hiroki, Isabelle, Pierre-Erik, Iwata, Hiroki, Jassal, Rachhpal, Korkiakoski, Mika, Kurbatova, Juliya, Kutzbach, Lars, Lapshina, Elena, Lindroth, Anders, Lofvenius, Mikaell Ottosson, Lohila, Annalea, Mammarella, Ivan, Marsh, Philip, Moore, Paul A, Maximov, Trofim, Nadeau, Daniel F, Nicholls, Erin M, Nilsson, Mats B, Ohta, Takeshi, Peichl, Matthias, Petrone, Richard M, Prokushkin, Anatoly, Quinton, William L, Roulet, Nigel, Runkle, Benjamin R K, Sonnentag, Oliver, Strachan, Ian B, Taillardat, Pierre, Tuittila, Eeva-Stiina, Tuovinen, Juha-Pekka, Turner, Jessica, Ueyama, Masahito, Varlagin, Andrej, Vesala, Timo, Wilmking, Martin, Zyrianov, Vyacheslav, Schulze, Christopher Albedo, Anisotropy
The seasonal evolution of albedo across glaciers and the surrounding landscape of Taylor Valley, Antarctica Bergstrom, Anna, Gooseff, Michael N., Myers, Madeline, Doran, Peter T., Cross, Julian M. Albedo, Anisotropy
Synergistic use of hyperspectral uv-visible omi and broadband meteorological imager MODIS data for a merged aerosol product Go, Sujung, Kim, Jhoon, Park, Sang Seo, Kim, Mijin, Lim, Hyunkwang, Kim, Ji-Young, Lee, Dong-Won, Im, Jungho Albedo, Anisotropy, Aerosol Extinction, Aerosol Optical Depth/Thickness, Solar Irradiance, Visible Radiance
Spatially non-stationary effect of underlying driving factors on surface urban heat islands in global major cities Li, Long, Zha, Yong, Zhang, Jiahua Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Albedo, Anisotropy
Spatiotemporal variations of albedo in managed agricultural landscapes: inferences to global warming impacts (GWI) Sciusco, Pietro, Chen, Jiquan, Abraha, Michael, Lei, Cheyenne, Robertson, G. Philip, Lafortezza, Raffaele, Shirkey, Gabriela, Ouyang, Zutao, Zhang, Rong, John, Ranjeet Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance
Validation of space-based albedo products from upscaled tower-based measurements over heterogeneous and homogeneous landscapes Song, Rui, Muller, Jan-Peter, Kharbouche, Said, Yin, Feng, Woodgate, William, Kitchen, Mark, Roland, Marilyn, Arriga, Nicola, Meyer, Wayne, Koerber, Georgia, Bonal, Damien, Burban, Benoit, Knohl, Alexander, Siebicke, Lukas, Buysse, Pauline, Loubet, Benjamin, Leonardo, Montagnani, Lerebourg, Christophe, Gobron, Nadine Albedo, Anisotropy
Warming effort and energy budget difference of various human land use intensityCase study of beijing, China Zhou, Shenghui, Wang, Ke, Yang, Shiqi, Li, Wenli, Zhang, Yuxuan, Zhang, Bin, Fu, Yiming, Liu, Xiaoyan, Run, Yadi, Chubwa, Oliva, Zhao, Guosong, Dong, Jinwei, Cui, Yaoping Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Evapotranspiration, Latent Heat Flux, Albedo, Anisotropy
Trends and drivers of land surface temperature along the urban-rural gradients in the largest urban agglomeration of China Jia, Wenxiao, Zhao, Shuqing Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, 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
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
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
Land surface temperature response to irrigated paddy field expansionA case study of semi-arid Western Jilin Province, China Liu, Tingxiang, Yu, Lingxue, Zhang, Shuwen Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Albedo, Anisotropy
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
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
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
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
High-Resolution Global Contiguous SIF of OCO-2 Yu, L., Wen, J., Chang, C. Y., Frankenberg, C., Sun, Y. Albedo, Anisotropy
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)
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
Combining MODIS and national land resource products to model land cover-dependent surface albedo for Norway Bright, Ryan M., Astrup, Rasmus Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance
Persistent albedo reduction on southern Icelandic glaciers due to ashfall from the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption Moller, Rebecca, Dagsson-Waldhauserova, Pavla, Moller, Marco, Kukla, Peter A., Schneider, Christoph, Gudmundsson, Magnus T. Albedo, Anisotropy
Persistent Hydrological Consequences of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico Miller, P. W., Kumar, A., Mote, T. L., Moraes, F. D. S., Mishra, D. R. 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, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo, Anisotropy
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