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Description

The VNP09GA VIIRS Version 1 data product was decommissioned on April 8th, 2025. Users are encouraged to use Version 2 data products, which provide better calibration and consistency for the end user. VIIRS Version 2 data products are available from both the SNPP (VNP09GA) and NOAA-20 (VJ109GA) satellites.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) daily surface reflectance (VNP09GA) Version 1 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) at nominal 500 meter resolution (~ 463 meter) and nine moderate resolution bands (M1-M5, M7, M8, M10, M11) at nominal 1 kilometer (~926 meter) resolution. The 500 meter and 1 kilometer datasets are derived through resampling the native 375 meter and 750 meter VIIRS resolutions, respectively, in the Level 2 input product. These bands are corrected for atmospheric conditions such as the effects of molecular gases, including ozone and water vapor, and for the effects of atmospheric aerosols.

The inputs to the surface reflectance algorithm are top-of-atmosphere reflectance for the VIIRS visible bands,the VIIRS cloud mask and aerosol product, aerosol optical thickness and atmospheric data obtained from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis system. Along with the twelve reflectance bands are reflectance band quality, sensor azimuth angle,solar azimuth angle, sensor zenith angle, solar zenith angle, and observations layers. The reflectance layers from the VNP09GA data product are used as input data for many of the VIIRS land products.

Known Issues

  • The VIIRS Land Surface Reflectance product (VNP09) may incorrectly flag retrievals as 'High Aerosol' over brighter surfaces and at higher view angles. This will impact the downstream VIIRS BRDF/Albedo (VNP43) and Vegetation Index (VNP13) data products which use the aerosol quantity flag to screen out high aerosol values.
  • Corrections will be implemented in Collection 2 reprocessing in 2022.
  • For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website and in Section 4.0 "Caveats and Known Problems" of the User Guide.

Version Description

Collection Version 1 Processing and Reprocessing

Product Summary

Platforms
Suomi-NPP
Instruments
VIIRS
Spatial Extent
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Spatial Resolution
500 Meters x 500 Meters
Geographic Region
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2012-01-19 to 2024-06-16
Temporal Resolution
1 Day
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
Land Science Investigator-led Processing System, Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Sciences and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA (NASA/GSFC/SED/ESD/TISL/LandSIPS)
Concept ID
C2763377722-LPCLOUD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Processing Level
2G
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Reflectance

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

Vermote, E., Franch, B., & Claverie, M. (2016). VIIRS/NPP Surface Reflectance Daily L2G Global 1km and 500m SIN Grid V001 [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/VNP09GA.001 Date Accessed: 2025-11-02

File Naming Convention

VNP09GA.A2024168.h01v10.001.2024169094144.h5

The file name begins with the Product Short Name (VNP09GA) followed by the Julian Date of Acquisition formatted as AYYYYDDD (A2024168), the Tile Identifier which is horizontal tile and vertical tile provided as hXXvYY (h01v10), the Version of the data collection (001), the Julian Date and Time of Production designated as YYYYDDDHHMMSS (2024169094144), and the Data Format (h5).

Documents

image of VIIRS surface reflectance data

Work with Daily NASA VIIRS Surface Reflectance Data

Learn how to use Python to define the coordinate reference system (CRS) and export science dataset (SDS) layers as GeoTIFF files that can be loaded into a GIS and/or Remote Sensing software program.
Tutorial
Sept. 11, 2018
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Publications Citing This Dataset

Variables

Variables are a set of physical properties whose values determine the characteristics or behavior of something. For example, temperature and pressure are variables of the atmosphere. Parameters and variables can be used interchangeably. Variable level attributes provide individual information for each variable.

The Name in this table is the variable name. Fill value indicates missing or undefined data points in a variable. Valid range is the range of values the variable can store. Scale factor is used to increase or decrease the size of an object and can be used to correct for distortion. For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
I1_SurfRefl_1 500 m Surface Reflectance Band I1 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
I2_SurfRefl_1 500 m Surface Reflectance Band I2 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
I3_SurfRefl_1 500 m Surface Reflectance Band I3 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
iobs_res_1 Observation number N/A uint8 255 255 to 254 N/A
Land_QF1_1 Quality Flag 1 Bit Field uint8 255 255 to 255 N/A
Land_QF2_1 Quality Flag 2 Bit Field uint8 255 255 to 255 N/A
Land_QF3_1 Quality Flag 3 Bit Field uint8 255 255 to 255 N/A
Land_QF4_1 Quality Flag 4 Bit Field uint8 255 255 to 255 N/A
Land_QF5_1 Quality Flag 5 Bit Field uint8 255 255 to 255 N/A
Land_QF6_1 Quality Flag 6 Bit Field uint8 255 255 to 255 N/A
Land_QF7_1 Quality Flag 7 Bit Field uint8 255 255 to 255 N/A
num_observations_1km Number of observations 1 km N/A int8 -1 -1 to 127 N/A
num_observations_500m Number of observations 500 m N/A int8 -1 -1 to 127 N/A
obscov_1km_1 Observations coverage 1 km Percent int8 -1 -1 to 100 0.01
obscov_500m_1 Observation coverage 500 m Percent int8 -1 -1 to 100 0.01
orbit_pnt_1 Orbit Pointer N/A int8 -1 -1 to 15 N/A
SensorAzimuth_1 Sensor Azimuth Angle Degree int16 -32767 -32767 to 18000 0.01
SensorZenith_1 Sensor Zenith Angle Degree int16 -32767 -32767 to 18000 0.01
SolarAzimuth_1 Solar Azimuth Angle Degree int16 -32767 -32767 to 18000 0.01
SolarZenith_1 Solar Zenith Angle Degree int16 -32767 -32767 to 18000 0.01
SurfReflect_M1_1 1 km Surface Reflectance Band M1 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
SurfReflect_M2_1 1 km Surface Reflectance Band M2 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
SurfReflect_M3_1 1 km Surface Reflectance Band M3 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
SurfReflect_M4_1 1 km Surface Reflectance Band M4 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
SurfReflect_M5_1 1 km Surface Reflectance Band M5 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
SurfReflect_M7_1 1 km Surface Reflectance Band M7 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
SurfReflect_M8_1 1 km Surface Reflectance Band M8 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
SurfReflect_M10_1 1 km Surface Reflectance Band M10 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
SurfReflect_M11_1 1 km Surface Reflectance Band M11 N/A int16 -28672 -28672 to 16000 0.0001
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