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Full catalog/MCD43D49
MCD43D49·v061·dataset

How much visible sunlight the land reflects (daily, 1 km)

MODIS/Terra+Aqua BRDF/Albedo Black Sky Albedo VIS Daily L3 Global 30ArcSec CMG V061
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 3 active HDF-EOS2
In plain English

What it measures. This tracks how much visible sunlight the land surface bounces back to space (its visible-light albedo), worldwide at about 1 km resolution, updated daily. It specifically captures the reflectance you would see under direct sun with no haze.

How it's made. Built from 16 days of observations by the MODIS instruments on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, the measurements are processed into a single gridded global layer designed for climate models.

How & where you'd use it. Climate scientists feed this into simulations of how Earth absorbs and reflects sunlight, which affects temperature and energy balance. It is a specialist input rather than a casual reference.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › ALBEDOLAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › ANISOTROPYLAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2000-02-16 → ongoing
  • Measured byTerra (MODIS) · Aqua (MODIS)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsHDF-EOS2
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

The MCD43D49 Version 6.1 Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function and Albedo (BRDF/Albedo) Black-Sky Albedo dataset is produced daily using 16 days of Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data at 30 arc second (1,000 meter (m)) resolution. Data are temporally weighted to the ninth day which is reflected in the Julian date in the file name. This Climate Modeling Grid (CMG) product covers the entire globe for use in climate simulation models. Due to the large file size, each MCD43D product contains just one data layer. MCD43D42 through MCD43D61 are the albedo products of the MCD43D BRDF/Albedo product suite. There are 10 black-sky albedo and 10 white-sky albedo layers representing MODIS bands 1 through 7 and the visible, near-infrared (NIR), and shortwave bands. The black-sky albedo (directional hemispherical reflectance) is defined as albedo in the absence of a diffuse component and is a function of solar zenith angle. White-sky albedo (bihemispherical reflectance) is defined as albedo in the absence of a direct component when the diffuse component is isotropic. 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](https://www.umb.edu/spectralmass/modis-user-guide-v006-and-v0061/mcd43d-cmg-30-arc-second-products/). MCD43D49 is the black-sky albedo for the MODIS visible broadband. Known Issues * For complete information about known issues please refer to the [MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website](https://landweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/knownissue?sensor=MODIS&sat=TerraAqua&as=61).

Get the data

mcd43d49_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="MCD43D49",
    version="061",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from LPCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.