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Full catalog/VNP43D87
VNP43D87·v002·dataset

Surface brightness at solar noon, shortwave band (Suomi-NPP, daily)

VIIRS/NPP BRDF/Albedo NBAR at Solar Noon Band M10 Daily L3 Global 30ArcSec CMG V002
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 3 active HDF-EOS5
In plain English

What it measures. Shows how brightly the land surface reflects light in a shortwave-infrared 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 Suomi-NPP satellite, with view-angle effects removed and the result placed on a global climate grid.

How & where you'd use it. A building-block layer used in land-surface and climate studies; shortwave-infrared reflectance helps reveal moisture, snow, and surface material differences.

What's measured

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

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2012-01-19 → ongoing
  • Measured bySuomi-NPP (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 NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and Albedo Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) for Band M10 (VNP43D87) 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 VNP43D 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 VNP43D product contains just one data layer. VNP43D80 through VNP43D89 are the NBAR products of the VNP43D 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 [VNP43MA4](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43MA4.002) product. In addition to the bands included in VNP43MA4, 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 [VNP43MA4](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43MA4.002) product page and in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). VNP43D87 is the NBAR for VIIRS band M10 (1.61 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

vnp43d87_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VNP43D87",
    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.