Illuminating the Capabilities of the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band

Remote Sensing

Steven D. Miller¹  William Straka⁵  Stephen P. Mills⁶  Christopher D. Elvidge⁴  Thomas F. Lee³  Jeremy Solbrig³  Andi Walther⁵  Andrew K. Heidinger² 

[1] Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;Center for Satellite Applications and Research, Advanced Satellite Products Branch, National Satellite, Data and Information Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Madison, WI 53706, USA; E-Mail:;Satellite Meteorological Applications Section, Marine Meteorology Division, Monterey Naval Research Laboratory, CA 93907, USA; E-Mails:;National Geophysical Data Center, National Satellite, Data and Information Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO 80305, USA; E-Mail:;Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA; E-Mails:;Renaissance Man Engineering, Glendale, CA 91202, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: satellite imagery;    nighttime visible/near-infrared;    moonlight;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs5126717

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Daytime measurements of reflected sunlight in the visible spectrum have been a staple of Earth-viewing radiometers since the advent of the environmental satellite platform. At night, these same optical-spectrum sensors have traditionally been limited to thermal infrared emission, which contains relatively poor information content for many important weather and climate parameters. These deficiencies have limited our ability to characterize the full diurnal behavior and processes of parameters relevant to improved monitoring, understanding and modeling of weather and climate processes. Visible-spectrum light information does exist during the nighttime hours, originating from a wide variety of sources, but its detection requires specialized technology. Such measurements have existed, in a limited way, on USA Department of Defense satellites, but the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite, which carries a new Day/Night Band (DNB) radiometer, offers the first quantitative measurements of nocturnal visible and near-infrared light. Here, we demonstrate the expanded potential for nocturnal low-light visible applications enabled by the DNB. Via a combination of terrestrial and extraterrestrial light sources, such observations are always available—expanding many current existing applications while enabling entirely new capabilities. These novel low-light measurements open doors to a wealth of new interdisciplinary research topics while lighting a pathway toward the optimized design of follow-on satellite based low light visible sensors.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland