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Description

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MCD43A4 Version 6.1 Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) dataset is produced daily using 16 days of Terra and Aqua MODIS data at 500 meter (m) resolution. The view angle effects are removed from the directional reflectances, resulting in a stable and consistent NBAR product. Data are temporally weighted to the ninth 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 MCD43A4 provides NBAR and simplified mandatory quality layers for MODIS bands 1 through 7. 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
C2218719731-LPCLOUD
Data State
ACTIVE
Number of Files/Granules
2942645
Processing Level
3
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Reflectance ,
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 Nadir BRDF Adjusted Ref Daily L3 Global - 500m V061 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD43A4.061 Date Accessed: 2026-05-13

File Naming Convention

MCD43A4.A2025212.h04v10.061.2025221032559.hdf

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (MCD43A4) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2025212), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h04v10), the Version of the data collection (061), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2025221032559), 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
Satellite solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and near-infrared reflectance capture complementary aspects of dryland vegetation productivity dynamics Wang, Xian, Biederman, Joel A., Knowles, John F., Scott, Russell L., Turner, Alexander J., Dannenberg, Matthew P., Kohler, Philipp, Frankenberg, Christian, Litvak, Marcy E., Flerchinger, Gerald N., Law, Beverly E., Kwon, Hyojung, Reed, Sasha C., Parton, William J., Barron-Gafford, Greg A., Smith, William K. Reflectance, Anisotropy
Spatiotemporal remote sensing image fusion using multiscale two-stream convolutional neural networks Chen, Yuehong, Shi, Kaixin, Ge, Yong, Zhou, Ya'nan Reflectance, Anisotropy
Spatiotemporal fusion modelling using STARFMExamples of Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 NDVI in Bavaria Dhillon, Maninder Singh, Dahms, Thorsten, Kubert-Flock, Carina, Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf, Zhang, Jie, Ullmann, Tobias Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance, Anisotropy
Quantification of Urban Forest and Grassland Carbon Fluxes Using Field Measurements and a SatelliteBased Model in Washington DC/Baltimore Area Winbourne, J. B., Smith, I. A., Stoynova, H., Kohler, C., Gately, C. K., Logan, B. A., Reblin, J., Reinmann, A., Allen, D. W., Hutyra, L. R. Reflectance, Anisotropy
TROPOMI SIF reveals large uncertainty in estimating the end of plant growing season from vegetation indices data in the Tibetan Plateau Yang, Jilin, Xiao, Xiangming, Doughty, Russell, Zhao, Miaomiao, Zhang, Yao, Kohler, Philipp, Wu, Xiaocui, Frankenberg, Christian, Dong, Jinwei Reflectance, Anisotropy, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Albedo
Thirty-eight years of CO2 fertilization has outpaced growing aridity to drive greening of Australian woody ecosystems Rifai, Sami W., De Kauwe, Martin G., Ukkola, Anna M., Cernusak, Lucas A., Meir, Patrick, Medlyn, Belinda E., Pitman, Andy J. Reflectance, Anisotropy, Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
The restoration potential of the grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau Wang, Ruijing, Feng, Qisheng, Jin, Zheren, Liang, Tiangang Reflectance, Anisotropy, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
An exploration of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) factors simulated by SCOPE for capturing GPP across vegetation types Yang, Songxi, Yang, Jian, Shi, Shuo, Song, Shalei, Zhang, Yangyang, Luo, Yi, Du, Lin Reflectance, Anisotropy, Heat Flux, Air Temperature, Skin Temperature, Specific Humidity, Water Vapor, Precipitation Rate, Snow/Ice, Evaporation, Latent Heat Flux, Latent Heat Flux, Sensible Heat Flux, Diffusion, Surface Winds, Wind Speed, U/V Wind Components, Wind Stress, Wind Stress, Surface Roughness, Planetary Boundary Layer Height, Ice Fraction, Geopotential Height, Atmospheric Ozone, Pressure Thickness, Sea Level Pressure, Surface Pressure, Upper Air Temperature, Atmospheric Water Vapor, Cloud Liquid Water/Ice, Cloud Fraction, U/V Wind Components, Ozone Profiles, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Atmospheric Radiation, Longwave Radiation, Shortwave Radiation, Radiative Flux, Radiative Forcing, Surface Radiative Properties, Albedo, Emissivity, Cloud Properties, Cloud Optical Depth/Thickness, Skin Temperature, Sea Surface Skin Temperature, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Satellite observed vegetation dynamics and drivers in the Namib sand sea over the recent 20 years Qiao, Na, Wang, Lixin Reflectance, Anisotropy, Albedo, Total Surface Precipitation Rate
2017 Ventenata dubia distribution in the Blue Mountains Ecoregion of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho - probability Nietupski, Ty C., Kerns, Becky K. Reflectance, Anisotropy
A unified vegetation index for quantifying the terrestrial biosphere Camps-Valls, Gustau, Campos-Taberner, Manuel, Moreno-Martinez, Alvaro, Walther, Sophia, Duveiller, Gregory, Cescatti, Alessandro, Mahecha, Miguel D., Munoz-Mari, Jordi, Garcia-Haro, Francisco Javier, Guanter, Luis, Jung, Martin, Gamon, John A., Reichstein, Markus, Running, Steven W. Reflectance, Anisotropy, Albedo
Adaptive drift and barrier-avoidance by a fly-forage migrant along a Vansteelant, Wouter M.G., Gangoso, Laura, Bouten, Willem, Viana, Duarte S., Figuerola, Jordi Reflectance, Anisotropy
Adopting differenceindifferences method to monitor crop response to agrometeorological hazards with satellite dataA case study of dryhot wind Wang, Shuai, Rao, Yuhan, Chen, Jin, Liu, Licong, Wang, Wenqing Reflectance, Anisotropy
An improved cloud gap-filling method for longwave infrared land surface temperatures through introducing passive microwave techniques Dowling, Thomas P. F., Song, Peilin, Jong, Mark C. De, Merbold, Lutz, Wooster, Martin J., Huang, Jingfeng, Zhang, Yongqiang Reflectance, Anisotropy, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
An adaptive adversarial domain adaptation approach for corn yield Ma, Yuchi, Zhang, Zhou, Yang, Hsiuhan Lexie, Yang, Zhengwei Reflectance, Anisotropy
An Algorithm for the Retrieval of High Temporal-Spatial Resolution Yang, Gang, Wang, Jiyan, Xiong, Junnan, Yong, Zhiwei, Ye, Chongchong, Sun, Huaizhang, Liu, Jun, Duan, Yu, He, Yufeng, He, Wen Reflectance, Anisotropy, Albedo
An effective method for generating spatiotemporally continuous 30 m vegetation products Li, Xiuxia, Liang, Shunlin, Jin, Huaan Reflectance, Anisotropy
Assessing the effects of time interpolation of NDVI composites on phenology trend estimation Li, Xueying, Zhu, Wenquan, Xie, Zhiying, Zhan, Pei, Huang, Xin, Sun, Lixin, Duan, Zheng Reflectance, Anisotropy, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Assessment and comparison of six machine learning models in estimating evapotranspiration over croplands using remote sensing and meteorological factors Liu, Yan, Zhang, Sha, Zhang, Jiahua, Tang, Lili, Bai, Yun Reflectance, Anisotropy
Can vegetation index track the interannual variation in gross primary production of temperate deciduous forests? Liu, Fan, Wang, Chuankuan, Wang, Xingchang Reflectance, Anisotropy
Assessment of the efficiency of using MODIS MCD43A4 in mapping of rice planting calendar in the Mekong delta Diem, P K, Diem, N K, Hung, H V Reflectance, Anisotropy
Validating commonly used drought indicators in Kenya Bowell, Andrew, Salakpi, Edward E, Guigma, Kiswendsida, Muthoka, James M, Mwangi, John, Rowhani, Pedram Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Is Alaska's YukonKuskokwim Delta Greening or Browning? Resolving Mixed Signals of Tundra Vegetation Dynamics and Drivers in the Maritime Arctic Frost, Gerald V., Bhatt, Uma S., Macander, Matthew J., Hendricks, Amy S., Jorgenson, M. Torre Reflectance, Anisotropy, RIVER/LAKE ICE BREAKUP, River Ice Depth/Extent, Plant Phenological Changes, Snow Depth, Range Changes, Vegetation Species, Rural Areas, Conservation, Vulnerable Populations, Use/Feeding Habitats
Integrating remotely sensed fuel variables into wildfire danger assessment for China Quan, Xingwen, Xie, Qian, He, Binbin, Luo, Kaiwei, Liu, Xiangzhuo Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Interannual variations of vegetation optical depth are due to both water stress and biomass changes Konings, Alexandra G., Holtzman, Nataniel M., Rao, Krishna, Xu, Liang, Saatchi, Sassan S. Reflectance, Anisotropy, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
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