VNP03MODLL: VIIRS Terrain-Corrected Geolocation Swaths

VNP03MODLL Version 1 is a decommissioned NASA/NOAA geolocation product from the Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS sensor. It provided terrain-corrected latitude, longitude, and height layers at 750-meter resolution for 6-minute swaths, each covering approximately 3,060 by 3,060 kilometers. The data was used to provide accurate spatial location for other VIIRS data products, such as the VNP14 fire detection swath.

Use Cases

• Providing precise geolocation for VIIRS fire detection products (VNP14) based on the described conjunction of these datasets.
• Correcting satellite imagery for terrain displacement using the provided height, latitude, and longitude layers.
• Supporting the georeferencing of other VIIRS moderate-resolution data products as described in the product's purpose.

Strengths

• Provides a specific spatial resolution of 750 meters and a temporal increment of 6 minutes per swath.
• Covers a large geographic area per swath, approximately 3,060 km along and across track.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA and U.S. government data portals indicates established importance and curation.

Limitations

• The dataset is decommissioned; forward processing stopped on June 17, 2024, and the product was fully decommissioned on July 31, 2025.
• Metadata is incomplete, with no row counts, file sizes, or detailed column lists provided across sources.
• Spatial coverage is limited by the underlying SRTM30 DEM, which uses GTOPO30 data only for areas between 60° North and 60° South.

Provenance

Source

NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) VIIRS sensor.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing, with geolocation derived by intersecting the VIIRS line of sight with Earth's geoid and the WGS84 ellipsoid, corrected using the SRTM30 Version 2 DEM.

Freshness

Last updated metadata dates vary: 2026-04-09 on Data.gov and 2024-06-17 on NASA Earthdata, but the product itself is no longer being produced.

Geography

Global, with terrain correction based on DEM data available from 60° North to 60° South.