Derivation Of Global Surface Type Products From VIIRS

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is a new generation global observing system designed to replace the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS). It has been deployed onboard the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite and the first Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1, now renamed NOAA-20). SNPP VIIRS data have been used to derive global annual surface type (AST) products at the 1km resolution for 2012 and 2014-2017. These products use a 17-type global classification scheme developed by the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP). Their overall accuracies varied from 77.6% to 78.6%, but the among-year differences were not statistically significant. New AST maps will be produced using future VIIRS observations, with an anticipated release of the 2018 product in late 2019. VIIRS AST products are available from ftp://ftp.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/smcd/JPSS/VIIRS-AST.