VIIRS/NPP: Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Swath Data

750-meter spatial resolution data provides near real-time land surface temperature and emissivity retrievals for three thermal infrared bands (M14, M15, M16). The VNP21 algorithm, based on the ASTER TES method, uses full radiative transfer simulations for atmospheric correction. This product is generated from VIIRS/NPP satellite observations in a 6-minute Level 2 swath format.

Use Cases

• Monitoring urban heat island effects based on high-resolution (750m) land surface temperature data.
• Assessing agricultural drought and crop water stress using retrieved emissivity and temperature values.
• Validating and improving climate models with near real-time, physics-based land surface parameter retrievals.
• Studying land surface energy balance and radiative properties using simultaneous temperature and spectral emissivity data.

Strengths

• Employs a physics-based algorithm (VNP21) that dynamically retrieves both temperature and emissivity simultaneously.
• Provides data at a native spatial resolution of 750 meters at nadir for detailed analysis.
• Available in a Near Real Time (NRT) format, supporting time-sensitive environmental monitoring.
• Algorithm is documented in a publicly available Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD).

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific license details are missing or conflicting across platforms.
• The dataset's provenance lacks clear author attribution and detailed column information.
• Documentation is referenced but not embedded within the provided metadata.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing using the VIIRS/NPP sensor and the VNP21 retrieval algorithm.

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:58:59.939656

Geography

Global swath coverage from the VIIRS/NPP satellite.