Snow and ice products from Suomi NPP VIIRS

Abstract The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument was launched in October 2011 on the satellite now known as the Suomi National Polar‐orbiting Partnership. VIIRS was designed to improve upon the capabilities of the operational Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer and provide observation continuity with NASA's Earth Observing System's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). VIIRS snow and ice products include sea ice surface temperature, sea ice concentration, sea ice characterization, a binary snow map, and fractional snow cover. Validation results with these “provisional” level maturity products show that ice surface temperature has a root‐mean‐square error of 0.6–1.0 K when compared to aircraft data and a similar MODIS product, the measurement accuracy and precision of ice concentration are approximately 5% and 15% when compared to passive microwave retrievals, and the accuracy of the binary snow cover (snow/no‐snow) maps is generally above 90% when compared to station data. The ice surface temperature and snow cover products meet their accuracy requirements with respect to the Joint Polar Satellite System Level 1 Requirements Document. Sea Ice Characterization, which consists of two age categories, has not been observed to meet the 70% accuracy requirements of ice classification. Given their current performance, the ice surface temperature, snow cover, and sea ice concentration products should be useful for both research and operational applications, while improvements to the sea ice characterization product are needed before it can be used for these applications.