VIIRS

The sea surface height team in NOAA’s Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry produces two experimental mesoscale eddy products:

• Multiparameter Eddy Significance Index (MESI)
• MUltiparameter NRT System for Tracking Eddies Retroactively (MUNSTER)

The NOAA Multi-Sensor Level-1 to Level-2 (MSL12) Ocean Color, science quality, multi-sensor global gap-filled analysis includes chlorophyll-a, K_d(490), and SPM products. These global gap-free data are generated using the data interpolating empirical orthogonal function (DINEOF) method (Liu and Wang, 2022). The data that go into this product currently come from 3 instruments: the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite, VIIRS on the NOAA-20 satellite, plus the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) on the Sentinel 3A satellite from the Copernicus program of the European Union.

Oceanic Heat Content (OHC) is the measure of the integrated vertical temperature from the sea surface to the depth of the 26°C isotherm and computed from the altimeter-derived isotherm depths in the upper ocean relative to 20°C.  Global 0.25 degree grids are generated daily for OHC, mixed layer depth and depths of 20°C and 26°C isotherms for 3 ocean basins:  North Atlantic, North Pacific and South Pacific 

NOAA CoastWatch / OceanWatch / PolarWatch produces Level 3 sea surface temperature datasets using the VIIRS sensor aboard the SNPP satellite. 

The NOAA geo-polar blended SST is a daily 0.05° (~5km) global high resolution satellite-based sea surface temperature (SST) Level-4 analyses generated on an operational basis. This analysis combines SST data from US, Japanese and European geostationary infrared imagers, and low-earth orbiting infrared (U.S. and European) SST data, into a single high-resolution 5-km product.  The three flavors of blended SST products are night only; day/night, and diurnal warming. 

These VIIRS SST data are produced using the NOAA Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Ocean (ACSPO) SST system, from the afternoon NPP, N20 and N21 satellites, in two formats: L2P and L3U (uncollated). The data are reported in 10 min granule files in NetCDF4 format, compliant with the GHRSST Data Specifications v2 (GDS2). For each satelite, there are 144 granules per 24 hr interval, with a total data volume of ~7.1 GB/day for L2P, and ~0.4 GB/day for L3U.

VIIRS Sea Ice Concentration, Sea Ice Thickness and Ice Surface Temperature NOAA CoastWatch/OceanWatch/PolarWatch Level 3, Daily and daily 4-day rolling merged, mapped composites in both polar stereographic projections and CW sector mapped for Northern and Southern hemispheres.

VIIRS Ocean Color multi-sensor gap-filled analysis (Level 4) is produced with input from the VIIRS multi-sensor (SNPP + NOAA-20) daily merged chlorophyll and monthly climatology using the DINEOF method of interpolation for gap-filling.  The chlorophyll algorithm used is OCI.  The NOAA ocean color science team provides the gap-filled data file to NOAA CoastWatch.  CoastWatch converts these to the NetCDF product and serves them.

VIIRS Science Quality Ocean Color Level 2 (EDR) is produced by NOAA/STAR Ocean Color Team through NOAA Multi-Sensor Level 1 to Level 2 processing system (MSL12) using an improved calibration for the satellite data record (OC-SDR, which is Level 1b).  CoastWatch Level-3 composites, binned and mapped data products also available.

Ocean Color Level 2 (EDR) is produced through NOAA Multi-Sensor Level 1 to Level 2 processing system (MSL12) from IDPS satellite data record (SDR, Level 1b).  Level 3 mapped and composite products are also available, now including a 2-sensor (VIIRS:  SNPP plus NOAA-20) merged daily chlorophyll and diffuse attenuation coefficients (Kd(490) and Kd(PAR) .

Near-real-time (NRT) global daily chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) anomaly products that can be used to detect and identify algae blooms from satellite ocean color measurements such as those from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) and NOAA-20. Specifically, the production of the two Chl-a anomaly products, one for the Chl-a anomaly in difference and another for the Chl-a anomaly ratio (actually, the proportional difference or relative difference; product is labelled "pdif" in the files) compared to the 61-day Chl-a median value from the previous time period (as a Chl-a reference), has been implemented in the daily global NRT satellite data processing. These two Chl-a anomaly products represent the global ocean and coastal/inland water Chl-a abnormal condition for a given location and can provide more complete characteristics for the daily phytoplankton (or algae) biomass status by comparing to the normal condition. 

VIIRS Ocean Color multi-sensor (SNPP + NOAA-20) daily merge (Level 3 composite) is produced from the NOAA Multi-Sensor Level 1 to Level 2 processing system (MSL12) near real time processing stream by the NOAA ocean color science team.  NOAA CoastWatch converts files to NetCDF and serves them here.

VIIRS Ocean Color multi-sensor gap-filled analysis (Level 4) is produced with input from the VIIRS multi-sensor (SNPP + NOAA-20) daily merged chlorophyll and monthly climatology using the DINEOF method of interpolation for gap-filling.  The chlorophyll algoritm used is OCI.  The NOAA ocean color science team provides the gap-filled data file to NOAA CoastWatch.  CoastWatch converts these to the NetCDF product and serves them.

MBON Seascapes identifies spatially explicit water masses with particular biogeochemical features using a model and satellite-derived measurements.  The seascape product is generated as monthly and 8-day composites at 5 km spatial resolution

True color bands are provided from VIIRS on both S-NPP and NOAA-20 VIIRS spacecraft.  These top-of-atmosphere products are generated from the emissive bands (M-bands) for wavelengths corresponding to Red, Green, and Blue and are provided in CoastWatch HDF and PNG daily composite mapped regions

NOAA CoastWatch co-gridded VIIRS SST products are Level 3 daily composites in compatible format and projection with other CoastWatch Level 3 sector and global products (such as CoastWatch sector VIIRS ocean color).  Twenty four CoastWatch sector files mapped to equatorial projection that cover the globe (see Description tab for sector definitions) two polar stereographic sectors in 750 m nominal, native resolution and a global, 4 km resolution, single file mapped product is also available. These CoastWatch Level 3 products are generated from ACSPO L2P SST as input.

NOAA Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Ocean (ACSPO) L3S-LEO SST is a family of multisensor gridded ("L3") 0.02º resolution super-collated ("S") products. The L3S-LEO family is organized into three lines: PM, AM and Daily. The AM and PM lines correspond to 9:30am/pm and 1:30am/pm equator crossing times, respectively. The Daily line combines PM and AM (day and night) SSTs into a single daily L3S SST that is normalized to 1:30am viewing conditions.