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Full catalog/VNP02MOD
VNP02MOD·v2·dataset

Raw camera-like image bands (VIIRS, Suomi-NPP, 750 m)

VNP02MOD | VIIRS/NPP Moderate Resolution 6-Min L1B Swath 750 m
land NASA LAADS Level 1B active netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. The light and heat energy recorded by the VIIRS instrument's medium-resolution (750-meter) bands, with calibrated values and quality information for each pixel. The accompanying text also describes per-pixel ground locations and viewing angles.

How it's made. Built from the raw signal of the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi-NPP satellite, calibrated over six-minute stretches of orbit.

How & where you'd use it. A foundational image product that feeds higher-level maps of clouds, aerosols, ocean color and land. It is generally used as an input to finished products rather than directly.

What's measured

SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › INFRARED WAVELENGTHS › INFRARED RADIANCESPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › INFRARED WAVELENGTHS › REFLECTED INFRAREDSPECTRAL/ENGINEERING › VISIBLE WAVELENGTHS › VISIBLE RADIANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2012-01-19 → ongoing
  • Measured bySuomi-NPP (VIIRS)
  • Processing levelLevel 1B
  • 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 VNP02MOD | VIIRS/NPP Moderate Resolution 6-Min L1B Swath 750m, short-name VNP02MOD contains the derived line-of-sight (LOS) vectors for each of the 750-m moderate-resolution, or M-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 VNP03MOD 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

vnp02mod_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VNP02MOD",
    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.