The VIIRS Cloud Mask: Progress in the first year of S-NPP toward a common cloud detection scheme

Authors

Thomas Kopp, Aerospace CorporationFollow
William Thomas, The MITRE Corporation
Andrew Heidinger, NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research
Richard Frey, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Keith Hutchson, Redondo Beach, California
Barbara Lisager, Redondo Beach, California
Kurt Brueske, Omaha, Nebraska
Bonnie Reed, Global Science and Technology Corporation, Inc.

Date of this Version

2014

Citation

Kopp, T. J., W. Thomas, A. K. Heidinger, D. Botambekov, R. A. Frey, K. D. Hutchison, B. D. Iisager, K. Brueske, and B. Reed (2014), The VIIRS Cloud Mask: Progress in the first year of S-NPP toward a common cloud detection scheme, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 2441–2456, doi:10.1002/2013JD020458.

Comments

This article is a U.S. government work, and is not subject to copyright in the United States

Abstract

The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Cloud Mask (VCM) determines, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, whether or not a given location contains cloud. The VCM serves as an intermediate product (IP) between the production of VIIRS sensor data records and 22 downstream Environmental Data Records that each depends upon the VCM output. As such, the validation of the VCM IP is critical to the success of the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) product suite. The methods used to validate the VCM and the current results are presented in this paper. Detailed analyses of golden granules along with tools providing deep insights into granule performance, and specific cloud detection tests reveal the details behind a given granule’s performance. Matchup results with CALIPSO, in turn, indicate the large-scale performance of the VCM and whether or not it is meeting its specifications. Comparisons with other cloud masks indicate comparable performance for the determination of clear pixels. As of September 2013 the VCM is either meeting or within 2% of all of its documented requirements.