VNP09H1: VIIRS Surface Reflectance 8-Day L3 Global 500m

AI-generated Key Takeaways

• The dataset provides 8-day composite surface reflectance estimates from the Suomi NPP VIIRS sensor at nominal 500m resolution.

• Data is available from 2012-01-19 to 2025-09-30 and is corrected for atmospheric conditions.

• Each pixel represents the best possible Level 2G observation over an 8-day period, selected based on quality criteria like cloud absence and sensor angle.

• The product includes three reflectance bands (I1, I2, I3) along with state quality assurance and reflectance band quality layers.

• LP DAAC NASA data is freely accessible, with a request for citation when used in publications.

Dataset Availability

2012-01-19T00:00:00Z–2025-09-30T00:00:00Z

Dataset Provider

NASA LP DAAC at the USGS EROS Center

Earth Engine Snippet

ee.ImageCollection("NASA/VIIRS/002/VNP09H1")

Cadence

1 Day

Tags

daily nasa noaa npp reflectance satellite-imagery sr viirs

Description

The 8-day Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Surface Reflectance (VNP09H1) Version 1 composite product provides an estimate of land surface reflectance from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) VIIRS sensor for three imagery bands (I1, I2, I3) at nominal 500m resolution (~463m). The 500m dataset is derived through resampling the native 375m VIIRS resolution in the L2 input product. The data are corrected for atmospheric conditions such as the effects of molecular gases, including ozone and water vapor, and for the effects of atmospheric aerosols. Each pixel represents the best possible Level 2G observation during an 8-day period, which is selected on the basis of high observation coverage, low sensor angle, the absence of clouds or cloud shadow, and aerosol loading. The three reflectance bands, this product includes a state quality assurance (QA) layer and a reflectance band quality layer.

Documentation:

• User's Guide

• Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD)

• General Documentation

• Land Product Quality Assessment website

Bands

Pixel Size
500 meters

Bands

Name	Min	Max	Pixel Size	Description
SurfReflect_I1	-100	16000	meters	500 m Surface Reflectance Band I1
SurfReflect_I2	-100	16000	meters	500 m Surface Reflectance Band I2
SurfReflect_I3	-100	16000	meters	500 m Surface Reflectance Band I3
SurfReflect_QC_500m			meters	Surface Reflectance Band Quality Control (QC)
Bitmask for SurfReflect_QC_500m Bits 0-1: MODLAND QA bits 0: Corrected product produced at ideal quality all bands 1: Corrected product produced at less than ideal quality some or all bands 2: Corrected product not produced due to cloud effects all bands 3: Corrected product not produced due to other reasons some or all bands may be fill value [Note that a value of (11) overrides a value of (01)]. Bits 2-3: Cloud State 0: Clear 1: Cloudy 2: Mixed 3: Not set, assumed clear Bits 4-7: Band 1 data quality four bit range 0: Highest quality 1: Noisy detector 2: Dead detector, data interpolated in L1B 3: Solar zenith >= 86 degrees 4: Solar zenith >= 85 and < 86 degrees 5: Missing input 6: Internal constant used in place of climatological data for at least one atmospheric constant 7: Correction out of bounds, pixel constrained to extreme allowable value 8: L1B data faulty 9: Not processed due to deep ocean or clouds Bits 8-11: Band 2 data quality four bit range 0: Highest quality 1: Noisy detector 2: Dead detector, data interpolated in L1B 3: Solar zenith >= 86 degrees 4: Solar zenith >= 85 and < 86 degrees 5: Missing input 6: Internal constant used in place of climatological data for at least one atmospheric constant 7: Correction out of bounds, pixel constrained to extreme allowable value 8: L1B data faulty 9: Not processed due to deep ocean or clouds Bit 12: Atmospheric correction performed 0: No 1: Yes Bit 13: Adjacency correction performed 0: No 1: Yes Bit 14: Different orbit from 500m 0: No 1: Yes
SurfReflect_State_500m			meters	Surface Reflectance State Quality Assurance (QA)
Bitmask for SurfReflect_State_500m Bits 0-1: Cloud state 0: Clear 1: Cloudy 2: Mixed 3: Not set, assumed clear Bit 2: Cloud shadow 0: No 1: Yes Bits 3-5: Land/water flag 0: Shallow ocean 1: Land 2: Ocean coastlines and lake shorelines 3: Shallow inland water 4: Ephemeral water 5: Deep inland water 6: Continental/moderate ocean 7: Deep ocean Bits 6-7: Aerosol quantity 0: Climatology 1: Low 2: Average 3: High Bits 8-9: Cirrus detected 0: None 1: Small 2: Average 3: High Bit 10: Cloud shadow 0: No cloud 1: Cloud Bit 11: Internal fire algorithm flag 0: No Fire 1: Fire Bit 12: Snow/ice flag 0: No 1: Yes Bit 13: Pixel is adjacent to cloud 0: No 1: Yes Bit 14: BRDF correction performed 0: No 1: Yes Bit 15: Internal snow flag 0: No snow 1: Snow

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

LP DAAC NASA data are freely accessible; however, when an author publishes these data or works based on the data, it is requested that the author cite the datasets within the text of the publication and include a reference to them in the reference list.

Citations

Citations:

• Please visit LP DAAC 'Citing Our Data' page

DOIs

• https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP09H1.002

Explore with Earth Engine

Important: Earth Engine is a platform for petabyte-scale scientific analysis and visualization of geospatial datasets, both for public benefit and for business and government users. Earth Engine is free to use for research, education, and nonprofit use. To get started, please register for Earth Engine access.

Code Editor (JavaScript)

var dataset = ee.ImageCollection('NASA/VIIRS/002/VNP09H1')
                  .filter(ee.Filter.date('2017-05-01', '2017-06-30'));
var rgb = dataset.select(['SurfReflect_I1', 'SurfReflect_I2', 'SurfReflect_I3']);
var rgbVis = {
  min: 0.0,
  max: 1.0,
};
Map.setCenter(17.93, 7.71, 2);
Map.addLayer(rgb, rgbVis, 'RGB');

Open in Code Editor

VNP09H1: VIIRS Surface Reflectance 8-Day L3 Global 500m

The 8-day Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Surface Reflectance (VNP09H1) Version 1 composite product provides an estimate of land surface reflectance from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) VIIRS sensor for three imagery bands (I1, I2, I3) at nominal 500m resolution (~463m). The 500m dataset is derived through …

NASA/VIIRS/002/VNP09H1, daily,nasa,noaa,npp,reflectance,satellite-imagery,sr,viirs

2012-01-19T00:00:00Z/2025-09-30T00:00:00Z

-90 -180 90 180

Google Earth Engine

https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets

• https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP09H1.002
• https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP09H1.002