NOAA-20/S-NPP VIIRS Sensor Data Record on-Orbit Performance Updates and Recent Improvements IGARSS 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium

This paper presents NOAA-20 and S-NPP Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Reflective Solar Bands (RSB) and Thermal Emissive Bands (TEB) Sensor Data Records (SDR) performance and recent improvements to support user communities. Results for NOAA-20 VIIRS and in 2019 are emphasized. NOAA-20 VIIRS geolocation errors are within ±100 m, comparable to S-NPP; RSBs have been stable after achieved validated maturity status, except that small upward trends were observed; TEBs agree with co-located Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) observations within ~0.1 K at nadir, more stable (relative to CrIS) compared to S-NPP TEBs in 2019. NOAA-20 RSBs continue bias ~2-4.5% lower than S-NPP. Three major improvements to VIIRS SDRs, including the new operational M6 saturation rollover flagging method, the operational TEB warm-up/cool-down bias correction, and the latest results for correcting NOAA-20 TEB scan angle/scene temperature dependent biases, are also presented to address users' concerns.