Open AccessNASA MODIS Previews NPOESS VIIRS Capabilities
Author(s) -
Thomas F. Lee,
Steven D. Miller,
Carl F. Schueler,
Shawn W. Miller
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
weather and forecasting
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.393
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1520-0434
pISSN - 0882-8156
DOI - 10.1175/waf935.1
Subject(s) - visible infrared imaging radiometer suite , remote sensing , environmental science , geostationary orbit , moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer , satellite , pixel , nadir , weather satellite , geostationary operational environmental satellite , computer science , meteorology , radiometer , geology , geography , artificial intelligence , aerospace engineering , engineering
The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), scheduled to fly on the satellites of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, will combine the missions of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), which flies on current National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites, and the Operational Linescan System aboard the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites. VIIRS will offer a number of improvements to weather forecasters. First, because of a sophisticated downlink and relay system, VIIRS latencies will be 30 min or less around the globe, improving the timeliness and therefore the operational usefulness of the images. Second, with 22 channels, VIIRS will offer many more products than its predecessors. As an example, a true-color simulation is shown using data from the Earth Observing System’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), an application current geostationary imagers cannot produce because of a missing “green” wavelength channel. Third, VIIRS images will have improved quality. Through a unique pixel aggregation strategy, VIIRS pixels will not expand rapidly toward the edge of a scan like those of MODIS or AVHRR. Data will retain nearly the same resolution at the edge of the swath as at nadir. Graphs and image simulations depict the improvement in output image quality. Last, the NexSat Web site, which provides near-real-time simulations of VIIRS products, is introduced.