Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite
The VIIRS sensor is a component of the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite. The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), a NOAA/NASA program, and the Defense Weather Satellite System, a U.S. Air Force program, were tasked with the next generation requirements for environmental research, weather forecasting and climate monitoring measurement capabilities that Suomi NPP represents. These capabilities include: atmospheric parameters such as clouds, radiation, temperature, humidity and ozone distribution; land surface parameters such as snow cover, vegetation and land use; ocean parameters such as sea surface temperature, phytoplankton production, sea ice, surface wind fields and sea height; and solar parameters such as total solar irradiance.
Suomi NPP was launched at 5:48 a.m. EDT on Oct. 28, 2011, from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California, with 5 key instruments, including VIIRS (image at right).
VIIRS extends and improves upon a series of measurements initiated by its predecessors, the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). VIIRS data is used to measure cloud and aerosol properties, ocean color, ocean and land surface temperature, ice movement and temperature, fires, and the Earth's albedo. Climatologists use VIIRS data to improve our understanding of global climate change.
