Surface brightness at solar noon, green band (NOAA-20, daily)
What it measures. Shows how brightly the land surface reflects light in a green wavelength band, adjusted to a standard straight-down view at local noon, mapped globally at about 1 km.
How it's made. Produced daily from 16 days of VIIRS observations on the NOAA-20 satellite, with view-angle effects mathematically removed and the result placed on a global climate grid.
How & where you'd use it. A building-block layer for tracking vegetation and land surface conditions and for feeding climate models that need consistent surface reflectance.
What's measured
Coverage & cadence
- Time span2018-01-05 → ongoing
- Measured byNOAA-20 (VIIRS)
- Processing levelLevel 3
- Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
- FormatsHDF-EOS5
- 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 NOAA-20 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and Albedo Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) for Band M3 (VJ143D82) is produced daily using 16 days of data at 30 arc second (1,000 meter) resolution. Data are temporally weighted to the ninth day, which is reflected in the file name. The VJ143D product suite is provided in a Climate Modeling Grid (CMG), which covers the entire globe for use in climate simulation models. Due to the large file size, each VJ143D product contains just one data layer. VJ143D80 through VJ143D89 are the NBAR products of the VJ143D BRDF/Albedo product suite. NBAR values are provided for the nine VIIRS moderate resolution bands (M1 through M5, M7, M8, M10, and M11) included in the [VJ143MA4](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VJ143MA4.002) product. In addition to the bands included in VJ143MA4, this product suite includes NBAR values for the VIIRS Day/Night Band (DNB). The NBAR algorithm removes view angle effects from directional reflectances to model the values as if they were collected from a nadir view at local solar noon. Details regarding methodology are available on the VJ143MA4 product page and in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). VJ143D82 is the NBAR for VIIRS band M3 (0.488 μm). 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).
Get the data
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc") # free Earthdata Login
results = earthaccess.search_data(
short_name="VJ143D82",
version="002",
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. Official links
- Earthdata Search allows users to search, discover, visualize, refine, and access NASA Earth Observation data. GET DATA
- The LDOPE Land Product Quality Assessment website provides known issues, maneuvers, and product quality of the land products. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- The technical information in the User's Guide enables users to interpret and use the data products. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- The ATBD provides physical theory and mathematical procedures for the calculations used to produce the data products. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- The File Specification provides a description of the product file including Scientific Data Sets and their attributes. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Validation at stage 3 has been achieved for the VIIRS BRDF/Albedo product suite. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
- Further details regarding VIIRS product validation and maturity status are available from VIIRS Land Product Quality Assessment site. VIEW RELATED INFORMATION