VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) On Board Suomi NPP Satellite
Main objectives	·       Scanning Radiometer ·       Collects radiometric measurements, visible and infrared imagery of land, ocean, and atmosphere. ·       Measures cloud and aerosol properties, ocean color, sea/land surface temperature, fires, ice movement, and Earth’s albedo. ·       Used in monitoring global climate change
VIIRS Sensor on Board Suomi NPP satellite (nasa.gov) V)V		VIIRS imagery of Aerosol index (noaa.gov)
Platform
Satellite name	VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite)
Manufacturer	Raytheon Company
Operator	NOAA, NASA, USAF
Sensors	VIIRS is a sensor on board the Suomi NPP
Launch date	October 28, 2011, Acquired first data on November 21, 2011
Launch vehicle	Suomi NPP satellite, Delta II 7920-10 Rocket
Satellite mass	275 kg
Design lifetime	5 years
Maximal lifetime	5 years
Orbit
Altitude	834 km
Inclination	98.68 degrees
Orbital period	101.44 minutes
Characteristics	Sun-synchronous
Overpass time	No specific time
Repeat coverage	14 days
Coverage	Global
Sensor
Type	Passive optical imaging sensor
Manufacturer	Raytheon
Sensor type	Pushbroom scanner
Swath width (FOV)	3040 km
Pixel size (GIFOV)	370/740 m
Radiometric resolution	N/A
Spectral bands	VIIRS Band Central Wavelength (micrometers) Bandwidth (micrometers) Wavelength Range (micrometers) Part of Spectrum Spatial Resolution M1 0.412 0.02 0.402-0.422 Vis/Reflective 750 m M2 0.445 0.018 0.436-0.454 Vis/Reflective 750 m M3 0.488 0.02 0.478-0.488 Vis/Reflective 750 m M4 0.555 0.02 0.545-0.565 Vis/Reflective 750 m M5 Blue 0.672 0.02 0.662-0.682 Vis/Reflective 750 m M6 0.746 0.015 0.739-0.754 Near IR 750 m M7 Green 0.865 0.039 0.846-0.855 Near IR 750 m M8 1.240 0.020 1.23-1.25 Shortwave IR 750 m M9 1.378 0.015 1.371-1.386 Shortwave IR 750 m M10 Red 1.61 0.06 1.58-1.64 Shortwave IR 750 m M11 2.25 0.05 2.23-2.28 Shortwave IR 750 m M12 3.7 0.18 3.61-3.79 Medium-wave IR 750 m M13 4.05 0.155 3.97-4.13 Medium-wave IR 750 m M14 8.55 0.3 8.4-8.7 Longwave IR 750 m M15 10.763 1.0 10.26-11.26 Longwave IR 750 m M16 12.013 0.95 11.54-12.49 Longwave IR 750 m DNB 0.7 0.4 0.5-0.9 Vis/Reflective 750 m I1 Blue 0.64 0.08 0.6-0.68 Vis/Reflective 375 m I2 Green 0.865 0.039 0.85-0.88 Near IR 375 m I3 Red 1.61 0.06 1.58-1.64 Shortwave IR 375 m
	I4  3.74  0.38  3.55-3.93  Medium-wave IR  375 m I5  11.45  1.9  10.5-12.4  Longwave IR  375 m
Data
Data provider	NASA, NOAA
Data distribution	Free-of-charge
Data access	http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/, http://www.class.ncdc.noaa.gov/
Data archive	2011-Current, Global Extent
Processing levels	Files to Granules
Data format	RDR, SDR files stored in HDF-5 format
Image catalog	http://www.nsof.class.noaa.gov/saa/products/search?datatype_family=VIIRS
Publications (Over 3000)
Pavolonis, Michael J., Andrew K. Heidinger, and Taneil Uttal. "Daytime global cloud typing from AVHRR and VIIRS: Algorithm description, validation, and comparisons." Journal of Applied Meteorology 44.6 (2005): 804-826.  This paper provides a detailed description of classifying cloud cover and cloud types using three multipspectral algorithms from AVHRR and VIIRS.
Hutchison, K. D., et al. "Automated cloud detection and classification of data collected by the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)." International Journal of Remote Sensing 26.21 (2005): 4681-4706.  Basic overview of VIIRS, AVHRR, MODIS and their cloud masking abilities.
Lee, Thomas F., et al. "NASA MODIS Previews NPOESS VIIRS Capabilities."Weather and forecasting 21.4 (2006): 649-655.  This publication goes into detail of the capabilities of VIIRS and improvements to previous satellites.
Yu, Yunyue, Jeffrey L. Privette, and Ana C. Pinheiro. "Analysis of the NPOESS VIIRS land surface temperature algorithm using MODIS data." Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on 43.10 (2005): 2340-2350.  This paper outlines the eventual replacement of AVHRR and MODIS by VIIRS. It also has extensive information about the improvements and superiority of VIIRS.
Elvidge, Christopher D., et al. "Why VIIRS data are superior to DMSP for mapping nighttime lights." Proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Advanced Network35 (2013): 62-69. This article provides details about nighttime mapping capabilities and how VIIRS is the best method for collecting data. Ever since VIIRS launched in 2011, this article provides evidence that VIIRS is superior in collecting nighttime data over previous satellites. This is especially useful for defense purposes.
References
WIKI	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_Infrared_Imaging_Radiometer_Suite
EOportal	https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/s/suomi-npp
Spectral bands	http://www.goes-r.gov/users/comet/npoess/multispectral_topics/rgb/navmenu.php_tab_1_page_5.1.0.htm
Data format	http://www.nsof.class.noaa.gov/saa/products/search?sub_id=0&datatype_family=VIIRS_EDR&submit.x=30&submit.y=1