Operation and Characterization of the Day/Night Band (DNB) for the NPP Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)

The Day/Night Band (DNB) is one of 22 spectral bands within the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The DNB is designed to provide imagery of the Earth in the visible and near infrared spectral regions under illumination conditions ranging from full sunlight in daytime to quarter moon in nighttime – a radiance variation spanning more than 6 orders of magnitude. The DNB is also designed to provide a near constant horizontal sample interval of nominally 742 meters across the entire earth scan. This is achieved by utilizing on-the-fly aggregation in the DNB's Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) imager. Described herein is the operation of the DNB along with important characterization results, including sensitivity and dynamic range, obtained from the thermal-vacuum testing of VIIRS Flight Unit #1.