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Full catalog/VJ103IMG
VJ103IMG·v2.1·dataset

Where each image pixel sits on Earth (VIIRS, NOAA-20)

VIIRS/JPSS1 Imagery Resolution Terrain Corrected Geolocation L1 6-Min Swath 375 m
land NASA LAADS Level 1A active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. The exact Earth location of each pixel in the matching NOAA-20 image product: latitude, longitude, ground height, sun and sensor angles, and a land-or-water marker for every spot.

How it's made. Computed for the NOAA-20 VIIRS instrument by combining a model of Earth's shape and terrain with the satellite's position and pointing to place each pixel on the ground.

How & where you'd use it. A companion file that tells software precisely where each image pixel sits on the map. It is a building-block input used together with the imagery, not on its own.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › INFRARED WAVELENGTHS › INFRARED RADIANCESPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › INFRARED WAVELENGTHS › REFLECTED INFRAREDSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › SENSOR CHARACTERISTICS › GEOLOCATIONSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › VISIBLE WAVELENGTHS › VISIBLE RADIANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2017-12-13 → ongoing
  • Measured byNOAA-20 (VIIRS)
  • Processing levelLevel 1A
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

The VIIRS/JPSS1 Imagery Resolution Terrain Corrected Geolocation 6-Min L1 Swath 375m product, short-name VJ103IMG, contains the derived line- of-sight (LOS) vectors for each of the 375-m image-resolution or I-bands. The geolocation algorithm uses a number of inputs that include an Earth ellipsoid, geoid, and a digital terrain model along with the SNPP platform’s ephemeris and attitude data, and knowledge of the VIIRS sensor and satellite geometry. It produces geodetic coordinates (latitude and longitude), and related parameters for each VIIRS L1 pixel. The VJ103IMG product includes geodetic latitude, longitude, surface height above the geoid, solar zenith and azimuth angles, sensor zenith and azimuth angles, land/water mask, and quality flag for every pixel location.

Get the data

vj103img_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VJ103IMG",
    version="2.1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from LAADS
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.