CSU Project #: 5-31124
Sponsor: NOAA
Primary Investigator: Dr. Steve Miller
Start Date: August 31st, 2011
End Date: December 31st, 2013

• The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership mission (NPP), serving as risk-reduction to the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and providing continuity to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) climate mission, was launched successfully on 28 October 2011. The Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on board Suomi NPP provides atmospheric, cloud, and surface imagery for both weather and climate applications. VIIRS is the next-generation to the Advanced Very High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) which has flown on board the Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) since NOAA-15 in 1998. VIIRS was originally designed to merge the capabilities of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) and the NASA Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). These VIIRS calibration/validation projects directly address NOAA’s Weather and Water goal which seeks to serve society’s needs for weather and water information. This research falls within the NOAA-defined CIRA thematic area of Satellite Algorithm Development, Training and Education, as calibration/validation is an integral and critical first step in the algorithm development process. Outcomes of the current research may in some cases lead to adjustments in the original algorithm to correct issues discovered during the calibration/validation analysis. CIRA’s research can be divided in into a) VIIRS Imagery Algorithm and Validation Activities and b) VIIRS Cloud Base Height (CBH) and Cloud Cover/Layers (CCL) Validation.

• Climate-Weather Processes

---