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VIIRS/NPP+JPSS Combined Vegetation Index and Snow Products from MAIAC Daily L3 Global at 0.05Deg CMG V002

Published by LP DAAC;NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/LandSIPS | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | Catalog Last Checked: June 25, 2026 at 02:10 PM | Dataset Last Updated: June 23, 2026
The VCD19A3CMG Version 2 data product is a combined NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) and NOAA-20 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Vegetation Index and Snow Products Level 3 product produced daily in a 0.05 degree (5,600 meters at the equator) Climate Modeling Grid (CMG). The VCD9A3CMG product is corrected for atmospheric gases and aerosols using a Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm that is based on a time series analysis and a combination of pixel- and image-based processing. The VCD19A3CMG Vegetation Index and Snow product contains variables for NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), NDVI normalized to a fixed geometry, gap_filled daily NDVI for forward and backward scattering, daily Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) normalized to a fixed geometry, snow fraction, and snow grain size. Known Issues * MAIAC Lookup Tables (LUTs) are built assuming pseudo-spherical correction in single scattering which has a reduced accuracy for high sun/view zenith angles. A reduced MAIAC performance is expected at solar zenith angles > 78°. * MAIAC may be missing bright salt pans in several world deserts. In such cases, it may generate a persistent high Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) resulting in missing surface retrievals. * Because of inherent uncertainties of gridding on the coastline, the area of 1-3 pixels from the coastline may contain frequent artifacts in cloud mask (usually over-detection), AOD (higher values) and surface BRF. Users should exercise caution near the coastline as represented by the AOD QA bit 1010 (See Table 5.4 of the User Guide bits 8-11, 1010 -- AOD within +-2 km from the coastline is replaced by nearby AOD). * Atmospheric Correction (AC) over detected snow: as MAIAC does not retrieve AOD over snow, it assumes a low climatology AOD=0.05 globally and 0.02 at high elevations (H>4.2 km). Over north-central China, which is often heavily polluted and low AOD assumption can lead to a significant bias, we use AOD averaged over mesoscale area of 150 km using reliable AOD retrievals over snow-free pixels. Such approach does improve quality of AC as compared to low-AOD assumption as judged by the reduced boundaries and color artifacts, but it does not account for the aerosol variability inside 150 km area. * Ice mask is currently unreliable

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Complete Metadata
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accessLevel public
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description The VCD19A3CMG Version 2 data product is a combined NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) and NOAA-20 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Vegetation Index and Snow Products Level 3 product produced daily in a 0.05 degree (5,600 meters at the equator) Climate Modeling Grid (CMG). The VCD9A3CMG product is corrected for atmospheric gases and aerosols using a Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm that is based on a time series analysis and a combination of pixel- and image-based processing. The VCD19A3CMG Vegetation Index and Snow product contains variables for NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), NDVI normalized to a fixed geometry, gap_filled daily NDVI for forward and backward scattering, daily Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) normalized to a fixed geometry, snow fraction, and snow grain size. Known Issues * MAIAC Lookup Tables (LUTs) are built assuming pseudo-spherical correction in single scattering which has a reduced accuracy for high sun/view zenith angles. A reduced MAIAC performance is expected at solar zenith angles > 78°. * MAIAC may be missing bright salt pans in several world deserts. In such cases, it may generate a persistent high Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) resulting in missing surface retrievals. * Because of inherent uncertainties of gridding on the coastline, the area of 1-3 pixels from the coastline may contain frequent artifacts in cloud mask (usually over-detection), AOD (higher values) and surface BRF. Users should exercise caution near the coastline as represented by the AOD QA bit 1010 (See Table 5.4 of the User Guide bits 8-11, 1010 -- AOD within +-2 km from the coastline is replaced by nearby AOD). * Atmospheric Correction (AC) over detected snow: as MAIAC does not retrieve AOD over snow, it assumes a low climatology AOD=0.05 globally and 0.02 at high elevations (H>4.2 km). Over north-central China, which is often heavily polluted and low AOD assumption can lead to a significant bias, we use AOD averaged over mesoscale area of 150 km using reliable AOD retrievals over snow-free pixels. Such approach does improve quality of AC as compared to low-AOD assumption as judged by the reduced boundaries and color artifacts, but it does not account for the aerosol variability inside 150 km area. * Ice mask is currently unreliable
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identifier 10.5067/VIIRS/VCD19A3CMG.002
keyword 
[
  "earth-science-cryospheric-indicators-climate-indicators-snow-cover",
  "earth-science-glaciers-ice-sheets-cryosphere-firn",
  "earth-science-surface-radiative-properties-land-surface-reflectance",
  "earth-science-vegetation-biosphere-vegetation-index"
]
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-06-23
programCode 
[
  "026:000"
]
publisher 
{
  "name": "LP DAAC;NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/LandSIPS",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
spatial 
"["CARTESIAN", [{"NorthBoundingCoordinate": 90, "WestBoundingCoordinate": -180, "EastBoundingCoordinate": 180, "SouthBoundingCoordinate": -90}]]"
temporal 2012-01-19/2026-06-15
theme 
[
  "Earth Science"
]
title VIIRS/NPP+JPSS Combined Vegetation Index and Snow Products from MAIAC Daily L3 Global at 0.05Deg CMG V002

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