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Full catalog/VNP43IA3
VNP43IA3·v002·dataset

How much sunlight the ground reflects (Suomi-NPP, daily, 500 m)

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

What it measures. How much sunlight the land surface reflects (its albedo), at 500-meter resolution worldwide. It gives reflectance both for direct sun and for diffuse sky light at local noon.

How it's made. Derived from the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi-NPP satellite, combining 16 days of observations and modeling how a surface reflects light from different angles. Note: this Version 1 product was retired in July 2025 in favor of Version 2.

How & where you'd use it. Feeds climate and energy-balance studies, since how much sunlight the ground bounces back affects warming. Mostly used as input to research models rather than directly.

What's measured

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

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2012-01-17 → 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 VNP43IA3 Version 1 data product was decommissioned on July 31, 2025. Users are encouraged to use the [VNP43IA3](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43IA3.002) and [VJ143IA3](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VJ143IA3.002) Version 2 data products. The NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and Albedo (VNP43IA3) Version 2 product provides albedo values at 500 meter (m) resolution for the bihemispherical reflectance white-sky albedo (WSA) and directional hemispherical reflectance black-sky albedo (BSA) at local solar noon. The VNP43IA3 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 VNP43 data products are designed to promote the continuity of NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) BRDF/Albedo data product suite. The VNP43 algorithm uses the RossThick/Li-Sparse-Reciprocal (RTLSR) semi-empirical kernel-driven BRDF model, with the three kernel weights from [VNP43IA1](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43IA1.002) to reconstruct surface anisotropic effects, correcting the directional reflectance to a common view geometry ([VNP43IA4](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43IA4.002)), while also computing integrated black-sky albedo (BSA) at local solar noon and white-sky albedo (WSA) (VNP43IA3). 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 VNP43IA3 product provides a total of 9 SDS variables including: BSA, WSA, and mandatory quality layers for VIIRS imagery bands I1, I2, and I3. A low-resolution browse image is also available showing retrievals of WSA for band I1 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

vnp43ia3_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VNP43IA3",
    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.