VIIRS/NPP Terrain-Corrected Geolocation Swath Data

Global satellite data provides precise geolocation for each pixel from the VIIRS sensor aboard the Suomi NPP platform. The dataset includes geodetic latitude, longitude, surface height, solar and sensor viewing angles, a land/water mask, and quality flags for every 750-meter pixel. Produced by the LAADS organization, this dataset is actively maintained, with metadata updated as recently as March 2026.

Use Cases

• Precise co-registration of VIIRS spectral data using the geodetic latitude and longitude coordinates for each pixel.
• Atmospheric correction and radiative transfer modeling leveraging the solar zenith/azimuth and sensor zenith/azimuth angles.
• Land cover and coastal studies utilizing the integrated land/water mask to separate terrestrial and aquatic pixels.
• Quality control and filtering of downstream products based on the per-pixel quality flag.
• Topographic analysis and terrain modeling using the surface height above the geoid data.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution 750-meter geolocation for VIIRS moderate-resolution bands.
• Includes terrain correction using a digital terrain model for improved accuracy.
• Contains multiple derived geophysical parameters (solar/sensor angles, height, mask) per pixel.

Limitations

• Specific row count, total size, and complete column list are unknown across all sources.
• License information is conflicting, listed as 'other-license-specified' on some platforms and 'None' on others.

Provenance

Source

LAADS (Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive & Distribution System)

Collection Method

Derived from SNPP platform ephemeris, attitude data, VIIRS sensor geometry, Earth ellipsoid, geoid, and a digital terrain model.

Freshness

2026-03-12 20:28:44.805768

Geography

Global