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Full catalog/VJ109
VJ109·v2·dataset

True surface color of the land (VIIRS, NOAA-20, 375-750 m)

VIIRS/JPSS1 Atmospherically Corrected Surface Reflectance 6-Min L2 Swath 375m, 750m - V2
land NASA LAADS Level 2 active HDF-EOS
In plain English

What it measures. The land's true surface color (reflectance) across twelve VIIRS bands at 375- and 750-meter resolution, given as individual swath snapshots covering daytime land conditions (not ocean or night).

How it's made. Derived from the VIIRS sensor on the NOAA-20 satellite, with top-of-atmosphere readings corrected for atmospheric effects like gases and haze, in about six-minute swath segments.

How & where you'd use it. A foundational land product used to monitor vegetation and land cover and as the input for higher-level composite and gridded surface-reflectance products.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2018-01-05 → ongoing
  • Measured byNOAA-20 (VIIRS)
  • Processing levelLevel 2
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsHDF-EOS
  • 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 Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) surface reflectance products provide estimates of surface reflectance derived from the following twelve VIIRS reflective bands: I1-I3 (I-bands at 375 m resolution), M1-M5, M7, M8, M10, and M11 (M-bands at 750 m resolution). VJ109 is the short-name for the L2 orbital swath-based atmospherically corrected surface reflectance product at 375 m and 750 m resolutions. The VJ109 contains approximately 6 minutes' worth of data. Surface reflectance for each moderate-resolution or imagery-resolution pixel is retrieved separately for the Level-2 products. Surface reflectance is obtained by adjusting top-of-atmosphere reflectance to compensate for atmospheric effects. Corrections are made for the effects of molecular gases, including ozone and water vapor, and for the effects of atmospheric aerosols. All surface reflectance products are produced for daytime conditions only. The product is produced under all atmospheric conditions except for night and oceans.

Get the data

vj109_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VJ109",
    version="2",
    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.