Validating VIIRS land and cryosphere products from the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP)

The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will launch the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) in 2011. The 22-band Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), slated to fly on NPP and all subsequent NPOESS missions, will provide continuity with the current NOAA AVHRR, NASA MODIS, and Department of Defense OLS instruments. Of the 22 official Environmental Data Records (EDRs) to be generated from VIIRS data, ten (10) are land or cryosphere variables. The NPOESS program, in partnership with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS), will execute an NPP Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) program to ensure the products comply with the requirements of the sponsoring agencies. This presentation describes the methods, correlative data, and schedule for validating the VIIRS Land and Cryosphere EDRs, Application Related Products (ARPs, such as Active Fire), and key Intermediate Products (IPs, such as Surface Reflectance and Sea Ice Concentration). The VIIRS Land and Cryosphere Validation Team is actively engaging the broader community, including operational users and the international validation community, to ensure a responsive, cost-efficient and proven approach.