MODIS White Sky Albedo Image Improves Climate Modeling
Visualizations by
Lori Perkins
Released on July 1, 2002
The MODIS instrument, flying aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, measures how much solar radiation is reflected by the Earth's surface almost every day over the entire planet. The colors in this image emphasize the albedos ranging from 0.0 to 0.4 over the Earth's land surfaces. Areas colored red show the brightest, most reflective regions; yellows and greens are intermediate values; and blues and violets show relatively dark surfaces. White indicates no data were available, and no albedo data are provided over the oceans. This image was produced using data composited over a 6-day period, from April 7-22, 2002.