• VIIRS Version 1 (Collection 1) snow and sea ice data sets will cease forward processing on June 17, 2024. The Version 1 data will remain available for download, but users are encouraged to transition to VIIRS Version 2. VIIRS Version 2 includes new snow, sea ice, and ice surface temperature data sets from both the NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-20 (NOAA-20) satellite.

VIIRS

Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite
In this section
Version History

The following information summarizes the differences between various versions of VIIRS data.

Current Version: V2 (Collection 2)

Temporal Coverage

2012-01-19 to Present (Suomi-NPP) and 2018-01-05 present (JPSS-1/NOAA-20)

Version Summary

This version is the initial release of all VIIRS JPSS-1/NOAA-20 (VJ1**) data sets, as well as several gridded and global VIIRS SNPP (VNP**) data sets.

There were no significant changes to the sea ice or ice surface temperature algorithms. The snow cover algorithms were revised in Version 2 so that:

  • The snow cover algorithms were made consistent with MODIS Collection 6.1 algorithms. 
  • The snow cover detection algorithm can now read detector QA flags in V[NP|J1]02IM to find noisy detectors and to average over-noisy detectors

Processing History

April 2023: Forward processing begins for VIIRS JPSS-1 and S-NPP Collection 2 sea ice, ice surface, and snow cover data sets. Reprocessing begins from 2017. All data are held in reserve for the time being.

June 2023: Forward processed and reprocessed VIIRS JPSS-1 and S-NPP Collection 2 sea ice, ice surface, and snow cover data are publicly released. Reprocessing continues for the 2017 to present time stream and a second reprocessing stream is begun for the older (2012-2017) S-NPP data. All reprocessed data are publicly released as they are ingested.

July 2023: All VIIRS forward processing and reprocessing are placed on hold due to a system-wide, backend issue that has affected all operations at the SIPS. 

August 2023: Forward processing of both SNPP and JPSS-1 VIIRS data recommences.

October 2023: Reprocessing of both SNPP and JPSS-1 VIIRS data recommences.

November 2023: Reprocessing of JPSS-1 VIIRS data completes.

March 2024: Reprocessing of SNPP VIIRS data completes.

Version 1 (Collection 1)

Temporal Coverage

2012-01-19 to Present (Suomi-NPP) 

Version Summary

This version is the initial release of all VIIRS Suomi-NNP (VNP**) snow cover, sea ice, and ice surface temperature data sets.

  • Snow cover, sea ice, and ice surface temperature algorithms and resulting data products were developed to be compatible with MODIS Collection 6.1 algorithms, resulting in nearly-identical algorithms and similar data products.
  • Differences between the MODIS C6 and the VIIRS algorithms originate from the physical differences between the MODIS and VIIRS instruments, include spatial resolution and band locations.

Processing History

July 2017: Initial data release for VNP10 V1. The full temporal coverage for this data set is 1 January 2012 to present.

August 2017: Initial data release for VNP30 V1. Data are initially available for limited date ranges. Reprocessing is ongoing, and new data will be published as they become available. Once reprocessing is complete, the temporal coverage will span 1 January 2012 to present.

November 2017: Initial data release for VNP29 V1. Data are initially available for limited date ranges. Reprocessing is ongoing, and new data will be published as they become available. Once reprocessing is complete, the temporal coverage will span 1 January 2012 to present.

August 2019: Initial data release for VNP10A V1. The full temporal coverage for this data set is 1 January 2012 to present.

November 2019: Initial data release for VNP10A1F V1. The full temporal coverage for this data set is 1 January 2012 to present.

March 2020: Data from VNP10, VNP10A1, and VNP10A1F reprocessed due to an error in planetary ephemeris data.