VNP46A3 - VIIRS/NPP Lunar BRDF-Adjusted Nighttime Lights Monthly L3 Global 15 arc second Linear Lat Lon Grid

Description

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) supports a Day-Night Band (DNB) sensor that provides global daily measurements of nocturnal visible and near-infrared (NIR) light that are suitable for Earth system science and applications. The VIIRS DNB's ultra-sensitivity in lowlight conditions enable us to generate a new set of science-quality nighttime products that manifest substantial improvements in sensor resolution and calibration when compared to the previous era of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System's (DMSP/OLS) nighttime lights image products. Such improvements allow the VIIRS DNB products to better monitor both the magnitude and signature of nighttime phenomena, and anthropogenic sources of light emissions.

VNP46A3 is the short-name for the third nighttime lights (NTL) product in the Black Marble suite, which provides monthly composites generated from daily atmospherically- and lunar-BRDF-corrected NTL radiance to remove the influence of extraneous artifacts and biases. Known by its long-name, VIIRS/NPP Lunar BRDF-Adjusted Nighttime Lights Monthly L3 Global 15 arc-second Linear Lat Lon Grid, this product contains 28 layers. They provide information on the NTL composite, the number of observations, quality, and standard deviation for multi-view zenith angle categories (near-nadir, off-nadir, and all angles), their snow-covered and snow-free statuses besides land-water mask, latitude and longitude coordinate information. They also include detailed information and description of the quality flags. This description pertains to the SNPP VIIRS Monthly Lunar BRDF-adjusted NTL collection, whose record starts from January 1st 2012.

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