ASSESSMENT OF SUOMI NPP VIIRS VEGETATION INDEX EDR

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Vegetation Index (VI) Environmental Data Record (EDR) includes the Top of the Atmosphere (TOA) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Top of the Canopy (TOC) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). The VI EDR is an operational product generated by the Interface Data Processing Segment (IDPS) of the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) ground segment. In this work, we present the results of our quality assessment of the VI EDR product after launch via product inter-comparison to Aqua MODIS and NOAA-18 AVHRR/3. In general, the early VIIRS VI EDR product showed good product integrity and was found radiometrically performing well, while the product still contained some temporal, geographic, and target brightness-dependent biases, and residual contaminations. The VI EDR was promoted to beta maturity status in February 2013, and it is now available to the general public through NOAA's Comprehensive Large Array-Data Stewardship System (CLASS). A series of improvements to the VI EDR product including adding a Top of the Canopy NDVI layer and enhancing the product Quality Flags (QF) were proposed and are in the development phase. The ongoing validation efforts and product improvements will lead to the VI EDR reaching provisional maturity status in the near term.