The image above is extracted from the first of four Science Data Sets in the BRDF/Albedo Quality product. It describes basic QA for BRDF/Albedo data acquired between February 26 and March 13, 2001 over Central America including the Yucatan Peninsula, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and some of Costa Rica (h09v07).
The MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) BRDF/Albedo Quality product (MCD43A2) describes the overall condition of the other BRDF and Albedo products. MCD43A2 data are 16-day composites at 500-meter spatial resolution provided as a level-3 gridded product in the Sinusoidal projection and include albedo quality, snow conditions, ancillary information, and inversion information.
Both Terra and Aqua data are used in the generation of this product, providing the highest probability for quality input data and designating it as an MCD, meaning Combined, product.
Version-5 MODIS/Terra+Aqua BRDF/Albedo products are Validated Stage 1, meaning that accuracy has been estimated using a small number of independent measurements obtained from selected locations and time periods and ground-truth/field program efforts. Although there may be later improved versions, these data are ready for use in scientific publications.
Temporal Coverage | February 24, 2000 - |
Area | ~10 x 10 lat/long |
File Size | ~1 MB |
Projection | Sinusoidal |
Data Format | HDF-EOS |
Dimensions | 2400 x 2400 rows/columns |
Resolution | 500 meters |
Science Data Sets (SDS HDF Layers) | 4 |
Science Data Sets for MODIS Terra+Aqua BRDF/Albedo Quality 16-Day L3 Global 500m SIN Grid V005 (MCD43A2):
Science Data Sets (HDF Layers) 4 |
UNITS | BIT TYPE | FILL | VALID RANGE |
BRDF_Albedo_Quality | Concatenated flags | 8-bit unsigned integer | 255 | 0–254 |
Snow_BRDF_Albedo | Concatenated flags | 8-bit unsigned integer | 255 | 0–254 |
BRDF_Albedo_Ancillary | Concatenated flags | 16-bit unsigned integer | 32767 | 0–32766 |
BRDF_Albedo_Band_Quality | Concatenated flags | 32-bit unsigned integer | 4294967295 | 0–4294967294 |
One of the more significant differences between the V004 and V005 BRDF/Albedo data products is that the quality information is no longer embedded as a Science Data Set in each product. BRDF/Albedo Quality is now generated as stand alone data in a separate product, MCD43A2, which can be applied to the other BRDF/Albedo products externally through pixel matching.
The table below lists the four Science Data Sets represented in the Quality product, with their associated QC bit legends.
*NOTE: The first two Quality SDSs (BRDF_Albedo_Quality and Snow_BRDF_Albedo) are not bit packed. They are complete byte words that can be read directly.
Byte Word. | BRDF_Albedo_Quality* |
1 | Processed, see other QA (magnitude BRDF inversions) |
0 | Processed, good quality (full BRDF inversion) |
255 | Fill Value |
Byte Word. | Snow_BRDF_Albedo* |
1 | Snow albedo retrieved |
0 | Snow-free albedo retrieved |
255 | Fill Value |
Bit Comb. | BRDF_Albedo_Ancillary |
00–03 | Platform |
0 | Terra |
1 | Terra/Aqua |
2 | Aqua |
04–07 | Land/Water |
0 | Shallow ocean |
1 | Land (Nothing else but land) |
2 | Ocean and lake shorelines |
3 | Shallow inland water |
4 | Ephemeral water |
5 | Deep inland water |
6 | Moderate or continental ocean |
7 | Deep ocean |
08–14 | Solar Zenith Angle at Local Solar Noon |
15 | QAFill |
Bit Comb. | BRDF_Albedo_Band_Quality |
00–03 | Band 1 Quality |
0 | best quality, full inversion (WoDs, RMSE majority good) |
1 | good quality, full inversion |
2 | Magnitude inversion (numobs >=7) |
3 | Magnitude inversion (numobs >=3&<7) |
4 | Fill value |
04–07 | Band 2 Quality (see explanation for band 1) |
08–11 | Band 3 Quality (see explanation for band 1) |
12–15 | Band 4 Quality (see explanation for band 1) |
16–19 | Band 5 Quality (see explanation for band 1) |
20–23 | Band 6 Quality (see explanation for band 1) |
24–27 | Band 7 Quality (see explanation for band 1) |
28–30 | TBD |
31 | QAFill (0 = not fill-value; 1 = fill value) |
Please find the current MODIS-related Data Redistribution and Pricing policies on the MODIS Policies Section of this Web Site
LP DAAC Acknowledgement and Citations Policy
In the event that data distributed from the Land Processes DAAC are incorporated into your research, please supply the following acknowledgment within your published work: "These data are distributed by the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC), located at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center (lpdaac.usgs.gov)." If possible, please e-mail or send us reprints/citations of papers or oral presentations based on data obtained from the LP DAAC (see below for mailing address and e-mail address). This will help us to stay informed of how the data are being utilized.
LP DAAC User Services
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
47914 252nd Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57198-0001
The complete data record for this product is available through the WIST search and order interface. A near-complete record is available on-line through the Data Pool.
Please find links to (and information about) these data access tools on the Get Data Section of this Web Site.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS)
47914 252nd Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57198-0001
Phone Number: | 605-594-6116 |
Toll Free: | 866-573-3222 |
866-LPE-DAAC | |
Fax: | 605-594-6963 |
Email: | lpdaac@eos.nasa.gov |
Web: | http://lpdaac.usgs.gov |