VJ203IMG: VIIRS Satellite Geolocation Data at 375-Meter Resolution

The VJ203IMG product contains line-of-sight vectors for each 375-meter pixel from the JPSS-2/NOAA-21 satellite's VIIRS instrument. It provides geodetic latitude, longitude, surface height, solar and sensor angles, a land/water mask, and a quality flag for every pixel location. This terrain-corrected geolocation data is produced by NASA and serves as a fundamental input for generating higher-level VIIRS imagery products.

Use Cases

• Correcting geometric distortions in satellite imagery based on the terrain-corrected geolocation algorithm.
• Generating higher-level land surface products based on the fundamental geolocation coordinates and angles.
• Masking land and water features in imagery analysis based on the included land/water mask.
• Assessing data quality for downstream processing based on the per-pixel quality flag.

Strengths

• Geolocation errors were corrected, with along-scan errors reduced to about 350 m and along-track errors to about 165 m.
• Includes multiple derived parameters per pixel: latitude, longitude, height, solar/sensor angles, and a land/water mask.
• Product underwent an on-orbit validation, and a large Day-Night band geolocation error of about 2000 m was corrected.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale processing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from the JPSS-2/NOAA-21 satellite's VIIRS sensor using ephemeris, attitude data, and digital terrain models.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 20:16:24.909490; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Global coverage from polar orbit.