Addressing Environmental Data Record Performance Attribute Deltas Between Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership and the Joint Polar Satellite System

The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) is our Nation's next generation of polar-orbiting environmental satellites. The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) was launched in October 2011 to provide risk reduction for the JPSS. Due to advances in technology, scientific discoveries, updated user requirements, and lessons learned from S-NPP, performance attributes have been modified from S-NPP to JPSS for several Environmental Data Records (EDRs). Modifications include (1) providing additional information for a product such as adding the Top of Canopy (TOC) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) field to the Vegetation Index EDR, (2) reclassifying Intermediate Products (IPs) as EDRs, such as the VIIRS Quarterly Surface Type IP, (3) modifying exclusion conditions, and (4) improving the horizontal resolutions for specific EDRs. Additionally, several algorithms will be modified to use improvements in radiative transfer models. This paper will discuss these and other modifications from S-NPP to JPSS and the rationale behind these changes.