VIIRS/JPSS1 Surface Reflectance: 8-Day Global Composite

Global land surface reflectance data from the NOAA-20 VIIRS sensor provides atmospherically corrected estimates for three imagery bands (I1, I2, I3) at a nominal 500-meter resolution. Each pixel represents the best observation over an 8-day period, selected for high coverage, low sensor angle, and absence of clouds or aerosols. The Version 2 product includes improvements to calibration, geolocation, aerosol flagging, cloud masking, and land/water classification.

Use Cases

• Monitoring vegetation health and phenology based on atmospherically corrected surface reflectance bands.
• Analyzing land surface albedo and radiative properties using the three corrected imagery bands.
• Serving as a foundational input for downstream products like vegetation indices (VNP13) and BRDF/albedo models (VNP43).
• Assessing surface changes over time by comparing the best-quality observations from consecutive 8-day periods.

Strengths

• Data is corrected for atmospheric effects including molecular gases (ozone, water vapor) and aerosols.
• Version 2 includes specific improvements to calibration, geolocation accuracy, aerosol flagging over bright surfaces, cloud masking, and land/water classification.
• Each pixel is selected from an 8-day period based on quality criteria including high observation coverage and absence of clouds or cloud shadow.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are not provided in any source description.
• Known issues exist, requiring users to consult external resources like the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.
• The dataset's row count, size, and precise temporal coverage are not specified in the input.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from NOAA-20 VIIRS sensor observations, resampled from native 375m to 500m resolution, and atmospherically corrected to produce Level 2G composites.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:03:07.480805

Geography

Global