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Full catalog/VJ143IA1
VJ143IA1·v002·dataset

Sunlight-reflection model settings for land (NOAA-20, 500 m, daily)

VIIRS/JPSS1 BRDF/Albedo Model Parameters Daily L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V002
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 3 active HDF-EOS5
In plain English

What it measures. A set of three technical settings (model parameters) that describe how land reflects sunlight depending on the sun's and sensor's angles. They are model ingredients, not reflectivity values you can read directly.

How it's made. Produced from the VIIRS sensor on the NOAA-20 satellite, combining 16 days of data into a daily global grid at 500 m resolution, designed to continue MODIS's long-running albedo record.

How & where you'd use it. A building-block input: researchers feed these parameters into a formula to compute the land's reflectivity at any sun angle. Most people use the finished reflectivity products instead.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCELAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › ALBEDOLAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › ANISOTROPY

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2018-01-01 → 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 Model Parameters (VJ143IA1) Version 2 product provides kernel weights (parameters) at 500 meter (m) resolution. The VJ143IA1 product is produced daily using 16 days of VIIRS data, temporally weighted to the ninth day, which is reflected in the file name. The VJ143IA1 product provides three spectrally dependent kernel weights, also known as model parameters: isotropic (fiso), volumetric (fvol), and geometric (fgeo), which can be used to model anisotropic effects of the Earth’s surface. All VJ143 data products are designed to promote the continuity of NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) BRDF/Albedo data product suite. The VJ143 algorithm uses the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal (RTLSR) semi-empirical kernel-driven BRDF model, with the three kernel weights from VJ143IA1 to reconstruct surface anisotropic effects, correcting the directional reflectance to a common view geometry ([VJ143IA4](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VJ143IA4.002)), while also computing integrated black-sky albedo (BSA) at local solar noon and white-sky albedo (WSA) ([VJ143IA3](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VJ143IA3.002)). Researchers can use the BRDF model parameters with a simple polynomial, to obtain black-sky albedo at any solar illumination angle. Likewise, both the BSA and WSA Science Dataset (SDS) variables can be used with a simple polynomial, to manually estimate instantaneous actual albedo (blue-sky albedo). Additional details regarding the methodology are available in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). The VJ143IA1 data product provides a total of six SDS variables including: three mandatory quality variables for bands I1, I2, and I3 and three multi-dimensional model parameter bands representing fiso, fvol, and fgeo for each imagery band. Each data product file is provided in HDF-EOS5 format. A low-resolution browse is also available showing BRDF/Albedo parameters for VIIRS imagery bands: I1, I2, and I1 as an RGB (red, green, blue) image in JPEG format. 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=VIIRS).

Get the data

vj143ia1_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VJ143IA1",
    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.