VJ203DNB: VIIRS Day/Night Band Geolocation Data

VJ203DNB is a NASA VIIRS Level 1 terrain-corrected geolocation product from the JPSS-2/NOAA-21 satellite. It provides geodetic coordinates and related parameters for each pixel in the Day/Night Band, including solar, lunar, and sensor angles, a land/water mask, and quality flags. The product's geolocation algorithm incorporates Earth ellipsoid, geoid, and digital terrain models with satellite ephemeris and attitude data.

Use Cases

• Precise georeferencing of night-time light observations based on the provided latitude, longitude, and sensor geometry.
• Analyzing lunar illumination effects on satellite imagery using the moon zenith, azimuth, and illumination fraction data.
• Masking land and water pixels for terrestrial or oceanic studies using the included land/water mask.
• Correcting for terrain displacement in satellite imagery using the surface height above the geoid parameter.

Strengths

• Geolocation errors have been corrected, with specific cited accuracies: 350 m along-scan, 165 m along-track for standard bands, and 2000 m for the Day/Night Band.
• Contains a detailed suite of geolocation parameters for each pixel, including solar, lunar, and sensor angles, and a quality flag.
• Dataset is hosted by NASA and appears on multiple authoritative government data platforms, indicating its importance and validation.

Limitations

• Column names and exact data structure are not specified in the provided metadata, which complicates initial data exploration.
• Key metadata such as dataset size, row count, and temporal coverage are not provided across any source.
• One source lists a license as 'other-license-specified', but the specific terms are not detailed.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Derived from JPSS-2/NOAA-21 satellite platform ephemeris, attitude data, VIIRS sensor geometry, and digital terrain models.

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:02:19.521544

Geography

Global coverage from polar-orbiting satellite swaths.