VIIRS ocean color products: A progress update

In this paper, we provide overview of the progress on the evaluations of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) ocean color products with long-term time series and more in situ data for matchup analysis. Specifically, VIIRS ocean color products include normalized water-leaving radiance spectra nL w (λ) at VIIRS five spectral bands, chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a), water diffuse attenuation coefficients at the wavelength of 490 nm, K d (490), and at the domain of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), K d (PAR). VIIRS ocean color products derived from the NOAA Multi-Sensor Level-1 to Level-2 (MSL12) ocean color data processing system are evaluated and compared routinely with in situ data from the Marine Optical Buoy (MOBY) and several AERONET-OC sites. In order to meet requirements from all users, we propose to routinely produce two ocean color data streams, i.e., the near-real-time (NRT) data and delayed science quality data. The NRT ocean color data stream has the advantage of quick data turn around with data latency −12–24 hours, while the science quality data stream has high consistence (with the mission-long data reprocessing) and accuracy of ocean color products. In addition, we have significantly improved on-orbit sensor calibration by combining the lunar calibration into the current solar calibration method. Our results show that VIIRS is now providing high-quality global ocean color products in support of the scientific research and operational applications.