VJ203MOD_NRT: VIIRS/JPSS2 Terrain-Corrected Geolocation Swath

NASA's VIIRS sensor on the JPSS-2/NOAA-21 satellite provides terrain-corrected geolocation data with a validated accuracy within 75 meters. The product contains line-of-sight vectors and geodetic coordinates for each 750-meter moderate-resolution pixel. It serves as a fundamental input for generating higher-level environmental data products.

Use Cases

• Correcting atmospheric distortion in other VIIRS M-band products based on sensor zenith and azimuth angles.
• Masking land and ocean features for analysis using the included land/water mask.
• Calculating solar illumination conditions for surface reflectance models using solar zenith and azimuth angles.
• Validating and improving geolocation for other satellite datasets using the corrected 75-meter accuracy reference.

Strengths

• Geolocation accuracy is validated and corrected to within 75 meters (1-sigma) in both scan directions.
• Product is derived from multiple inputs including a digital terrain model, Earth ellipsoid, and precise satellite ephemeris data.
• Data is available in near real-time (NRT), supporting time-sensitive applications.

Limitations

• Specific column names and data volume (row count, file size) are not provided in any source.
• Metadata shows a conflict in last updated date: one source lists 2025-04-13, another lists 2026-04-09.
• The license is listed only as 'other-license-specified' without explicit terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the VIIRS sensor aboard the Joint Polar-orbiting Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2/NOAA-21) platform and processed with a terrain-corrected geolocation algorithm.

Freshness

Last updated dates conflict between 2025-04-13 and 2026-04-09.

Geography

Global swath coverage from a polar-orbiting satellite.