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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
2942942
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: 2026-05-14

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
Influence of varying solar zenith angles on land surface phenology derived from vegetation indicesA case study in the harvard forest Li, Yang, Jiao, Ziti, Zhao, Kaiguang, Dong, Yadong, Zhou, Yuyu, Zeng, Yelu, Xu, Haiqing, Zhang, Xiaoning, Hu, Tongxi, Cui, Lei Reflectance, Anisotropy, Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Albedo
Extraction of crop information through the spatiotemporal fusion of OLI and MODIS images Oldoni, Lucas Volochen, Mercante, Erivelto, Antunes, Joao Francisco Goncalves, Cattani, Carlos Eduardo Vizzotto, Silva Junior, Carlos Antonio da, Caon, Iva Luiz, Prudente, Victor Hugo Rohden Reflectance, Anisotropy
Extreme fire weather is the major driver of severe bushfires in southeast Australia Wang, Bin, Spessa, Allan C., Feng, Puyu, Hou, Xin, Yue, Chao, Luo, Jing-Jia, Ciais, Philippe, Waters, Cathy, Cowie, Annette, Nolan, Rachael H., Nikonovas, Tadas, Jin, Huidong, Walshaw, Henry, Wei, Jinghua, Guo, Xiaowei, Liu, De Li, Yu, Qiang Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Fire Ecology, Biomass Burning, Wildfires, Fire Occurrence, Burned Area
Identifying and understanding alternative states of dryland landscape: A hierarchical analysis of time series of fractional vegetation-soil nexuses in China's Hexi Corridor Sun, Qiangqiang, Zhang, Ping, Jiao, Xin, Han, Wenchao, Sun, Yanan, Sun, Danfeng Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, Reflectance, Anisotropy
Identifying Basal Nighttime Radiance Levels for Estimating Traffic Flow based on VIIRS/DNB data Bragion, Gabriel da Rocha, Goncalves, Gabriel Crivellaro, DalAsta, Ana Paula, Santos, Ana Carolina de Faria, Oliveira, Lucas Maia de, Monteiro, Antonio Miguel Vieira, Amaral, Silvana Reflectance, Anisotropy
From standard weather stations to virtual micro-meteorological towers in ungauged sites: Modeling tool for surface energy fluxes, evapotranspiration, soil temperature, and soil moisture estimations Celis, Jorge A., Moreno, Hernan A., Basara, Jeffrey B., McPherson, Renee A., Cosh, Michael, Ochsner, Tyson, Xiao, Xiangming RADAR IMAGERY, Terrain Elevation, Topographical Relief Maps, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Reflectance, Anisotropy, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar), Albedo
Human footprint and protected areas shape elephant range across Africa Wall, Jake, Wittemyer, George, Klinkenberg, Brian, LeMay, Valerie, Blake, Stephen, Strindberg, Samantha, Henley, Michelle, Vollrath, Fritz, Maisels, Fiona, Ferwerda, Jelle, Douglas-Hamilton, Iain Reflectance, Anisotropy, Canopy Characteristics, Evergreen Vegetation, Crown, Deciduous Vegetation, Leaf Characteristics, Vegetation Cover, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
Hybrid phenology matching model for robust crop phenological retrieval Diao, Chunyuan, Yang, Zijun, Gao, Feng, Zhang, Xiaoyang, Yang, Zhengwei Reflectance, Anisotropy, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
GLC_FCS30: Global land-cover product with fine classification system at 30g m using time-series Landsat imagery Zhang, Xiao, Liu, Liangyun, Chen, Xidong, Gao, Yuan, Xie, Shuai, Mi, Jun Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Terrain Elevation, Digital Elevation/Terrain Model (DEM), Topographical Relief Maps, RADAR IMAGERY, Reflectance, Anisotropy
Improving the accuracy of spring phenology detection by optimally smoothing satellite vegetation index time series based on local cloud frequency Tian, Jiaqi, Zhu, Xiaolin, Chen, Jin, Wang, Cong, Shen, Miaogen, Yang, Wei, Tan, Xiaoyue, Xu, Shuai, Li, Zhilin Reflectance, Anisotropy, Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Emissivity, Land Surface Temperature
GlobalScale Consistency of Spaceborne Vegetation Indices, Chlorophyll Fluorescence, and Photosynthesis Doughty, Russell, Xiao, Xiangming, Kohler, Philipp, Frankenberg, Christian, Qin, Yuanwei, Wu, Xiaocui, Ma, Shuang, Moore, Berrien Reflectance, Anisotropy, Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity
Google Earth Engine Sentinel-3 OLCI Level-1 Dataset Deviates from the Original Data: Causes and Consequences Prikaziuk, Egor, Yang, Peiqi, van der Tol, Christiaan Reflectance, Anisotropy, Albedo
Global fuel moisture content mapping from MODIS Quan, Xingwen, Yebra, Marta, Riano, David, He, Binbin, Lai, Gengke, Liu, Xiangzhuo Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Leaf Characteristics, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction Of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fapar)
Detecting recent crop phenology dynamics in corn and soybean cropping systems of Kentucky Yang, Yanjun, Tao, Bo, Liang, Liang, Huang, Yawen, Matocha, Chris, Lee, Chad D., Sama, Michael, Masri, Bassil El, Ren, Wei Reflectance, Anisotropy
Development of a global annual land surface phenology dataset for 1982-2018 from the AVHRR data by implementing multiple phenology retrieving methods Wu, Wei, Sun, Ying, Xiao, Kun, Xin, Qinchuan Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Plant Phenology, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI)
Estimating evapotranspiration based on the satellite-retrieved near-infrared reflectance of vegetation (NIRv) over croplands Tang, Lili, Zhang, Sha, Zhang, Jiahua, Liu, Yan, Bai, Yun Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity
ECOSTRESS estimates gross primary production with fine spatial resolution for different times of day from the International Space Station Li, Xing, Xiao, Jingfeng, Fisher, Joshua B., Baldocchi, Dennis D. Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Clouds
Effects of meteorological parameters on surface water loss in burdur lake, turkey over 34 years Landsat google earth engine time-series Abujayyab, Sohaib K. M., Almotairi, Khaled H., Alswaitti, Mohammed, Amr, Salem S. Abu, Alkarkhi, Abbas F. M., Tasoglu, Enes, Hussein, Ahmad MohdAziz Reflectance, Anisotropy
Estimation of dry vegetation cover and mass from MODIS data: Wu, Jing, Kurosaki, Yasunori, Gantsetseg, Batdelger, Ishizuka, Masahide, Sekiyama, Tsuyoshi Thomas, Buyantogtokh, Batjargal, Liu, Jiaqi Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance, Anisotropy
Estimation of pixel-level seismic vulnerability of the building environment based on mid-resolution optical remote sensing images Fan, Xiwei, Nie, Gaozhong, Xia, Chaoxu, Zhou, Junxue Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Reflectance, Anisotropy
Evaluation of forest carbon uptake in South Korea using the national flux tower network, remote sensing, and data-driven technology Cho, Sungsik, Kang, Minseok, Ichii, Kazuhito, Kim, Joon, Lim, Jong-Hwan, Chun, Jung-Hwa, Park, Chan-Woo, Kim, Hyun Seok, Choi, Sung-Won, Lee, Seung-Hoon, Indrawati, Yohana Maria, Kim, Jongho Photosynthesis, Primary Production, Vegetation Productivity, Reflectance, Anisotropy, Land Use/Land Cover Classification
Evaluation of four image fusion NDVI products against in-situ spectral-measurements over a heterogeneous rice paddy landscape Kong, Juwon, Ryu, Youngryel, Huang, Yan, Dechant, Benjamin, Houborg, Rasmus, Guan, Kaiyu, Zhu, Xiaolin Reflectance, Anisotropy
Diurnal and seasonal trends and associated determinants of surface urban heat islands in large Bangladesh cities Dewan, Ashraf, Kiselev, Grigory, Botje, Dirk Albedo, Anisotropy, Reflectance, Land Surface Temperature, Emissivity, Land Use/Land Cover Classification, Snow Grain Size, Snow Cover
Divergent processes and trends of desertification in Inner Mongolia and Mongolia Guo, Xiaona, Chen, Ruishan, Thomas, David S.G., Li, Qiang, Xia, Zilong, Pan, Zhenzhen Reflectance, Anisotropy
Corn biomass estimation by integrating remote sensing and long-term observation data based on machine learning techniques Geng, Liying, Che, Tao, Ma, Mingguo, Tan, Junlei, Wang, Haibo Reflectance, Anisotropy
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