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Full catalog/VNP09A1
VNP09A1·v002·dataset

True surface color, best-of-week (VIIRS, Suomi-NPP, 1 km)

VIIRS/NPP Surface Reflectance 8-Day L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V002
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 3 active HDF-EOS5
In plain English

What it measures. The true color of the land surface in nine bands of light, with the haze and aerosols of the atmosphere removed, at about 1 km detail. Each grid cell holds the cleanest, clearest view from an 8-day stretch.

How it's made. Built from the VIIRS instrument on the NASA/NOAA Suomi-NPP satellite, picking the best cloud-free observation over each 8-day window and correcting it for atmospheric gases and aerosols.

How & where you'd use it. A foundational layer for tracking vegetation, land cover, and surface change over time, and an input to many higher-level land products.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2012-01-01 → ongoing
  • Measured bySuomi-NPP (VIIRS)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsHDF-EOS5
  • 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 8-day Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) surface reflectance (VNP09A1) Version 2 composite product provides an estimate of land surface reflectance from the NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) VIIRS sensor for nine moderate resolution bands (M1 - M5, M7, M8, M10, M11) at nominal 1 kilometer resolution (~926 meter). The 1 kiliometer dataset is derived through resampling the native 750 meter VIIRS resolution in the Level 2 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 that is selected on the basis of high observation coverage, low sensor angle, the absence of clouds or cloud shadow, and aerosol loading. Included in the product along with the fifteen reflectance bands are day of year, reflectance band quality, control, reflectance state quality assurance, relative azimuth angle, sensor zenith angle, and solar zenith angle layers. Known Issues * For complete information about known issues please refer to the [MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website](https://landweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/knownissue?sensor=VIIRS) and in Section 4.0 of the User Guide.

Get the data

vnp09a1_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VNP09A1",
    version="002",
    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 LPCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.