Evaluation of the Reprocessed Suomi NPP VIIRS Sensor Data Record for Deriving a Consistent Time Series of Active Fire Data

The recent reprocessing of the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) Sensor Data Record (SDR) for the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) mission has major implications for generating a consistent time series of active fires. At the beginning of the Suomi NPP mission in particular, the operational VIIRS SDR product, generated by NOAA’s Interface Data Processing Segment (IDPS), produced output in key bands for fire detection that caused spurious detections or omissions in the active fire Environmental Data Record (EDR). Incremental improvements and corrections in the VIIRS SDR algorithm resulted in more stable and accurate data that enabled to production of a more mature Active Fire EDR, which now includes also a full fire mask and fire radiative power (FRP). This presentation provides and evaluation of the reprocessed VIIRS SDR, in particular bands M13, M15, I4 and I5, which are the principal bands for heritage daytime and nighttime fire detection algorithms. A comparison between the reprocessed and the original operational SDR data will be presented, with a focus on dual-gain calibration gain setting, saturation flagging and reported radiances near and at the saturation level. Additionally, time series of summary statistics, including the frequency of band saturation will be presented to evaluate any possible effects of sensor degradation on the fire signal during 6 years of the Suomi NPP mission.