VIIRS/SNPP Cloud Properties 6-min L2 Swath 750m

The VIIRS/SNPP Cloud Properties 6-min L2 Swath 750m product is designed to facilitate continuity in cloud properties between the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on the Aqua and Terra platforms and the series of VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instruments, beginning with the Suomi NPP spacecraft. The VIIRS Cloud Properties product consists of cloud optical and physical parameters. These parameters are derived using observations in visible through infrared spectral channels. VIIRS infrared channel radiances are primarily used to derive cloud top temperature, cloud top height, effective emissivity, an infrared cloud phase product (ice vs. water, opaque vs. non-opaque) and cloud fraction under both daytime and nighttime conditions. The VIIRS solar reflectance channels are primarily used to derive cloud optical thickness, particle effective radius, water path, and to inform the phase used in the optical retrievals. The VIIRS Cloud Properties product is a Level-2 product generated at 750 m (at nadir) spatial resolution.

The current version-1.1 of the Level-2 CLDPROP product collection is corrected to address an issue with the cloud optical properties’ thermodynamic phase that caused erroneous liquid water cloud phase results.