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Full catalog/VNP43DNBA4
VNP43DNBA4·v002·dataset

True land reflectance corrected for sun angle (VIIRS Suomi-NPP, 1 km)

VIIRS/NPP DNB BRDF/Albedo Nadir BRDF-Adjusted Ref Daily L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V002
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 3 active HDF-EOS5
In plain English

What it measures. Land surface reflectance adjusted as if always viewed from directly overhead, stripping out the effect of the satellite's changing look angle.

How it's made. Generated from 16 days of Suomi-NPP VIIRS day/night-band data, corrected to a common straight-down view with a reflectance model and weighted to the ninth day.

How & where you'd use it. Provides a stable, angle-corrected reflectance layer for monitoring vegetation and land change over time, built to match the MODIS product family.

What's measured

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

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

TThe NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) Version 2 product provides NBAR estimates at 1 kilometer (km) resolution. The VNP43DNBA4 product is produced daily using 16 days of VIIRS data and is weighted temporally to the ninth day, which is reflected in the file name. The view angle effects are removed from the directional reflectances resulting in a stable and consistent NBAR product. The VNP43 data products are designed after the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) BRDF/Albedo product suite. The VNP43 algorithm uses the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal (RTLSR) semi-empirical kernel-driven BRDF model, with the three kernel weights from [VNP43DNBA1](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43DNBA1.002) to reconstruct surface anisotropic effects, correcting the directional reflectance to a common view geometry (VNP43DNBA4), while also computing integrated black-sky albedo (BSA) at local solar noon and white-sky albedo (WSA) ([VNP43DNBA3](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43DNBA3.002)). 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 VNP43DNBA4 product includes BRDF/Albedo mandatory quality and nadir reflectance for the VIIRS DNB. A low-resolution browse image is also available showing NBAR of the DNB as a red, green, blue (RGB) 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

vnp43dnba4_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VNP43DNBA4",
    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.