Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day-Night Band On-Orbit Calibration and Performance

Abstract:

The Day-Night Band (DNB) onboard Suomi-NPP VIIRS is a panchromatic channel covering wavelengths from 0.5 to 0.9 mm that is capable of observing the Earth scene in visible/near-Infrared spectral range at spatial resolution of 750 m. The DNB operates at low, mid, or high gain stages, and it uses an onboard solar diffuser (SD) for low gain stage calibration. The SD observations also provide a mean to compute gain ratios between low-to-mid and mid-to-high gain stages. With its large dynamic range and high sensitivity, the DNB detectors can make observations during both daytime and nighttime. We will describe the DNB on-orbit calibration methodology used by the VIIRS Characterization Support Team (VCST) in supporting the NASA earth science community with consistent VIIRS sensor data records (SDRs) made available by the Land Science Investigator-led Processing Systems (SIPS). We will update the status of DNB calibration and characterization of its performance, including the SD degradation, detector gains and gain ratios trending, stray light contamination and its correction.