NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS): Generating High Quality Global Environmental Data Products

The VIIRS instrument which is onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) and will be carried on NOAA JPSS satellites has transitioned much of the capability of the experimental MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments into the operational domain. VIIRS incorporated technological advances from previous operational sensors and research & development (R&D) sensors, and has been demonstrated excellent sensor performance since the launch of S-NPP in October 2011. VIIRS provides a continuation of global environment monitoring for Land, Ocean, Cloud, and Atmosphere. The high quality observations and derived products generated from VIIRS have been used to improve operational environmental forecast skills and enhance our understanding of climate change processes. During past few years, NOAA STAR science teams have been focused on maintenance, development, calibration/validation (Cal/Val), and upgrade of the VIIRS algorithms. By far, most of the S-NPP VIIRS sensor and environmental data products have been fully validated and characterized through rigorous JPSS Cal/Val review process. The validated science algorithms are then used for reprocessing of the entire S-NPP mission life-cycle VIIRS data product records.

In this paper we will present an update of the performance of the S-NPP/JPSS VIIRS environmental data products, with focus on mapping of the existing MODIS products to the VIIRS products. We will also highlight the latest development of the NOAA enterprise algorithms that help to streamline consistent science to be applied to multiple satellite platforms. The goal of the paper is to provide information that will be helpful to the users for their planning to transition from using MODIS to VIIRS data products in their operation and applications.