# NASA Black Marble VNP46 Nighttime Lights
*data products*

## Specifications
- **level**: L3
- **distributor**: nasa
- **access endpoint**: https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/missions-and-measurements/science-domain/nighttime-lights
- **access model**: open
- **primary data portal url**: https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/missions-and-measurements/science-domain/nighttime-lights
- **use cases**: ["Night-time light radiance for human activity and economic proxy analysis"]
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **entity type**: data_product
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-11
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: nasa
- **attributes**: {"level":"L3","distributor":"nasa","access_endpoint":"https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/missions-and-measurements/science-domain/nighttime-lights","access_model":"open","primary_data_portal_url":"https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/missions-and-measurements/science-domain/nighttime-lights","use_cases":"[\"Night-time light radiance for human activity and economic proxy analysis\"]","deployment_context":"orbital"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
NASA Black Marble is a suite of nighttime lights products derived from the VIIRS Day/Night Band (DNB) aboard Suomi-NPP (from 2012) and NOAA-20 (from 2018). The suite comprises four product granules: VNP46A1 (daily at-sensor top-of-atmosphere radiance), VNP46A2 (daily gap-filled surface radiance), VNP46A3 (monthly composites), and VNP46A4 (annual composites).[^viirs-land-blackmarble][^roman-2018] Products are delivered on a 500 m (15 arc-second) HDF-EOS5 tile grid.[^vnp46a1-doi] The underlying DNB pixel geometry is 750 m; the VIIRS Land Team documents cite 500 m in reference to the tile grid while NASA Earthdata project pages reference the 750 m DNB pixel.[^viirs-land-blackmarble][^earthdata-blackmarble] Black Marble applies atmospheric correction, bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) normalisation, and cloud masking to isolate surface-emitted light from lunar illumination and atmospheric contributions.[^roman-2018] Products are distributed open-access via NASA LAADS DAAC. A NOAA-21 (VJ246) product was listed as in development as of mid-2026.[^earthdata-blackmarble]

## Compositional position
- NASA Black Marble VNP46 Nighttime Lights --[related]--> suomi-npp (missions)
- NASA Black Marble VNP46 Nighttime Lights --[related]--> noaa-20 (missions)
- NASA Black Marble VNP46 Nighttime Lights --[related]--> noaa-21 (missions)
- economic-activity (topics) --[topic_capabilities]--> NASA Black Marble VNP46 Nighttime Lights

## Sources
- [viirs-land-blackmarble] | NASA Black Marble Product Suite - VIIRS Land Team | https://viirsland.gsfc.nasa.gov/Products/NASA/BlackMarble.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-11 | author=NASA GSFC VIIRS Land Team
- [earthdata-blackmarble] | Black Marble - NASA Earthdata | https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/projects/black-marble | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-11 | author=NASA Earthdata
- [roman-2018] | Roman et al. 2018 - NASAs Black Marble nighttime lights product suite (Remote Sensing of Environment) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.03.017 | tier=peer-reviewed | accessed=2026-06-11 | author=Roman et al.
- [laads-nighttime-lights] | LAADS DAAC Nighttime Lights / Black Marble product page | https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/missions-and-measurements/science-domain/nighttime-lights/ | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-11 | author=NASA LAADS DAAC
- [vnp46a1-doi] | VNP46A1 Daily Day Night Band 500m (Collection 2) DOI | https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP46A1.002 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-11 | author=NASA LAADS DAAC

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/data_products/nasa-black-marble-vnp46
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)