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Full catalog/VNP43MA1
VNP43MA1·v002·dataset

Surface reflectivity model parameters (VIIRS, Suomi-NPP, 1 km)

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

What it measures. The underlying model settings that describe how the land surface reflects light from different sun and viewing angles, at 1-km detail. These are technical parameters rather than a ready-to-read map.

How it's made. Produced daily from 16 days of Suomi-NPP VIIRS data by fitting a reflectance model to the observations.

How & where you'd use it. A building-block input: researchers feed these parameters into formulas to compute surface brightness and albedo, and they support related true-color and albedo products rather than being used directly by most people.

What's measured

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

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 NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) and Albedo Model Parameters (VNP43MA1) Version 2 product provides BRDF/Albedo model parameters at 1 kilometer (km) resolution. The VNP43MA1 product is produced daily using 16-day VIIRS data and is weighted temporally to the 9th 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 VNP43MA1 to reconstruct surface anisotropic effects, correcting the directional reflectance to a common view geometry ([VNP43MA4](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43MA4.002)), while also computing integrated black-sky albedo (BSA) at local solar noon and white-sky albedo (WSA) ([VNP43MA3](https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP43MA3.002)). 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 VNP43MA1 data product provides a total of 24 SDS variables including: mandatory quality bands and three multi-dimensional model parameter bands representing fiso, fvol, and fgeo for VIIRS moderate resolution bands M1-M5, M7-M8, and M10-M11. A low-resolution browse is also provided showing BRDF/Albedo parameters for bands M5, M7, and M5 as an 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

vnp43ma1_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VNP43MA1",
    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.