S-NPP VIIRS day-night band calibration and status update

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day-Night Band (DNB) onboard the Suomi-National Polar Orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite measures broadband visible radiances providing imagery of clouds and other Earth features over illumination levels spanning 7 orders of magnitude, ranging from quarter moon to full sunlight (3e-5 to 200 W/m2/sr). Due to its original purpose to provide imagery rather than radiometric products as well as this extensive radiance range, the DNB calibration requirements are less restrictive as compared to the other 21 VIIRS bands. Over time the importance of the DNB data product imagery has engendered efforts to improve the calibration stability of the DNB over its mission. This paper discusses The Aerospace Corporation's support of the DNB calibration over the S-NPP mission.