Publications

Puschell, JJ; Ardanuy, PE; Schueler, CF (2016). System engineering of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS): improvements in imaging radiometry enabled by innovation driven by requirements. REMOTE SENSING SYSTEM ENGINEERING VI, 9977, UNSP 997703.

Abstract
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is the new US operational environmental imaging spectroradiometer in polar orbit. The first VIIRS flight unit onboard Suomi NPP has been providing high-quality visible/infrared Earth observations since 2011. VIIRS provides an unprecedented combination of higher spatial resolution data across a wider area and more complete spectral coverage with onboard calibration than legacy instruments including AVHRR developed in the 1970s for NOAA, OLS developed in the 1970s for US DoD, MODIS developed in the 1990s for the NASA Terra and Aqua satellites and SeaWiFS developed for the commercial SeaStar system in the 1990s. A highly sensitive low light level day/night band (DNB) in VIIRS is improving weather forecasting around the world and providing new ways to observe the Earth from space. VIIRS replaces four legacy sensors with a single instrument enabled by innovations that were driven by requirements defined by NPOESS in the late 1990s. This paper highlights innovations developed by the VIIRS design team in response to challenging driving NPOESS requirements that resulted in remarkable improvements in operational remote sensing.

DOI:
10.1117/12.2242302

ISSN:
0277-786X