Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite was launched on Oct. 28, 2011, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with 5 key instruments, including the first Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) flight unit. 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).

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 measurement capabilities for climate monitoring that S-NPP represents. Today there are two VIIRS instruments in orbit, the JPSS-1 (J1), which has now transitioned to NOAA-20, and the S-NPP satellite. A third VIIRS instrument was launched aboard JPSS-2 on November 10, 2022, now designated as NOAA-21.

Since 2004, scientists funded by NOAA and NASA have evaluated and validated the operational Land products from JPSS VIIRS. The products were developed before launch by applying VIIRS algorithms to MODIS data. In 2014, after a long period of product evaluation, NASA began creating its own suite of operational products to provide dynamic continuity with their well-established MODIS data record. This program, known as 'The Science of Terra, Aqua, and Suomi-NPP' offered investigators an opportunity to conduct integrative research using the data and products from all platforms. In 2021, it was augmented to also include the JPSS series of satellites, which became collectively known as T/A/SNPP/JPSS.