VJ103DNB: VIIRS Day/Night Band Geolocation Swath Data

VIIRS/JPSS1 Day/Night Band Resolution Terrain Corrected Geolocation L1 6-Min Swath 750 m product provides precise geolocation vectors for the panchromatic Day-Night band sensor. The algorithm uses Earth ellipsoid, geoid, and digital terrain models along with satellite ephemeris and attitude data. It outputs geodetic coordinates and related parameters for each Level 1 pixel.

Use Cases

• Precise georeferencing of VIIRS nighttime imagery based on line-of-sight vectors.
• Atmospheric correction of radiance data using solar and lunar zenith/azimuth angles.
• Land/water classification and masking for environmental studies using the land/water mask.
• Quality assessment and filtering of satellite observations using the quality flag.
• Terrain-corrected analysis of surface features using surface height above the geoid.

Strengths

• Provides terrain-corrected geolocation using a digital terrain model for enhanced accuracy.
• Includes comprehensive angular parameters (solar, lunar, sensor zenith/azimuth) for each pixel.
• Dataset is maintained by a major space agency (NASA), suggesting institutional support.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• Conflicting license information exists between platforms ('other-license-specified' vs 'None').
• Documentation gaps exist regarding data collection frequency and specific processing algorithms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from SNPP platform ephemeris, attitude data, and VIIRS sensor geometry.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-04-09 according to datagov platform.

Geography

Global coverage from the Suomi NPP (SNPP) satellite orbit.