Suomi-NPP VIIRS: Level-1A Satellite Imagery

Global satellite imagery is captured by the VIIRS instrument aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) spacecraft, which launched in October 2011. The Level-1A data contains unprocessed, full-resolution instrument data across 22 spectral bands, including visible, infrared, and a day-night band, with spatial resolutions of 375m and 750m. This dataset serves as the successor to MODIS for generating Earth science data products.

Use Cases

• Calibrating atmospheric and oceanographic models based on unprocessed radiometric data.
• Monitoring nighttime lights and low-light phenomena using the day-night band (DNB).
• Generating higher-level environmental data products as a successor to MODIS.
• Conducting multi-spectral analysis across 22 bands ranging from 412 nm to 12 μm.

Strengths

• Provides data from 22 distinct spectral bands, enabling detailed multi-spectral analysis.
• Offers high spatial resolution with 5 image bands at 375m and 16 moderate-resolution bands at 750m at nadir.
• Serves as a key operational successor to the MODIS instrument for continuous Earth observation.
• Data is annotated with ancillary information including radiometric and geometric calibration coefficients.

Limitations

• Column names and a precise row count are not provided, limiting understanding of the data structure.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.
• The dataset's update frequency and processing latency are not described.

Provenance

Source

NASA/NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), specifically the Suomi-NPP spacecraft.

Collection Method

Collected by the Visible and Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument.

Time Range

Coverage begins after the Suomi-NPP launch in October 2011.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to two platforms.

Geography

Global coverage from a polar-orbiting satellite.