Polarization Sensitivity of the VIIRS instrument on NPP - outcome of the various sensor test data

The polarization sensitivity for VIIRS is characterized during the testing phases at the instrument level. The results of a first test were abandoned along with the testing equipment in a consensus choice to use a new test configuration. A preliminary run of the new test was done in the ambient test phase. Unexpected variations across the detectors of single bands were observed. Based on these results, the test equipment was optimized and new VIIRS polarization characterization data are available from the post-TVac phase. This paper describes the two test setups and the results. A path forward for correcting VIIRS for the sensor induced polarization is proposed and discussed.