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Full catalog/VNP09CMG
VNP09CMG·v002·dataset

True surface color of the land, daily (VIIRS, Suomi-NPP, 0.05 deg)

VIIRS/NPP Surface Reflectance Daily L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V002
land NASA LPCLOUD Level 3 active HDF-EOS5
In plain English

What it measures. What the land surface actually looks like by color, after the haze of the atmosphere has been removed, recorded across many wavelengths plus several heat-sensing bands, mapped worldwide at about 5.6 km.

How it's made. Produced daily from the VIIRS sensor on the Suomi-NPP satellite, corrected for gases and airborne particles and packaged on a coarse grid suited to climate models.

How & where you'd use it. Used to track vegetation, land cover, and surface changes over time, and to supply consistent surface inputs for global climate simulations.

What's measured

LAND SURFACE › SURFACE RADIATIVE PROPERTIES › REFLECTANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2012-01-17 → 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 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) daily surface reflectance Climate Modeling Grid (VNP09CMG) Version 2 product provides an estimate of land surface reflectance from the NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) VIIRS sensor. Data are provided for three imagery bands (I1-I3) and nine moderate resolution bands (M1-M5, M7, M8, M10, M11) at 0.05 degree (~5,600 meter) resolution. 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. This product uses a weighted average of the best quality observation and is formatted as a CMG for use in climate simulation models. This product includes a total of 33 variables, including the twelve reflectance bands, five moderate resolution brightness temperature bands (M12-M16) and information layers representing relative azimuth angle, sensor zenith angle, solar zenith angle, reflectance band quality, time of day, and number mapping. 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

vnp09cmg_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="VNP09CMG",
    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.