VIIRS DNB image showing your site darkness

[symmetal]

I recently subscribed to receive VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP polar orbiting satellites data via Eumetcast and the VIIRS DNB (Day/Night Band) channel detects visible and IR light from 500nm to 900 nm. The night time pass instrument is very sensitive and shows the intensity of any light sources. On moonless nights it will even measure the visible radiance from the ground due to airglow.

I've been waiting for a clear night over the whole UK and yesterday obliged, though there was a full moon, but the reflected moon radiance shows ground features very well and you can get an idea of how dark your site is. The resolution is 750m directly below the satellite. Lights on fishing boats in the North Sea show up clearly.

NOAA-20 VIIRS DNB Image pass 2022-03-19, 02:20 UTC (Image centre). Full moon illumination. Click for full size

Alan

[iwols]

Hi Alan an eye opener as always thanks for sharing ,what software are you using  for the processing,cheers

[symmetal]

4 hours ago, iwols said:

Hi Alan an eye opener as always thanks for sharing ,what software are you using  for the processing,cheers

Thanks Ian, 

I use EUMETCastView to display the data. It's free to download. 🙂 It'll also display many other satellite image formats. You'll need to subscribe to 

GDS-SNPP/NOAA-20: VIIRS EDR

RDS-EARS: VIIRS

on the Eumetsat EO-Portal and they appear on channels, E1B-RDS-1 and E1H-RDS-2. If you only receive the Basic service you'll get RDS-1. For RDS-2 on the HVS-1 service you may need a larger dish. 😉

Here's another NOAA-20 VIIRS image mapping three of the different IR channels to RGB. This pass is at 01:44 UTC on 21 Mar. Clouds and land mass at night show up very well. Much better than the AVHRR channels which are intended for daytime use.

Alan
 

[iwols]

great image alan,very reluctant to try anything apart from my channel 2 reception 😬

[iwols]

in fact just tried them and they are not working now,did the ini update you suggested in a previous post a while ago and seem to be working now,first time ive tried for a few weeks,thanks....really need to try having a go with different data but worried about messing my working system up ,any suggestions on what would be the easiest to have a go at,does EUMETCastView  process any data i am likely to be receiving ,cheers Alan

Edited March 24, 2022 by iwols

[symmetal]

11 hours ago, iwols said:

in fact just tried them and they are not working now,did the ini update you suggested in a previous post a while ago and seem to be working now,first time ive tried for a few weeks,thanks....really need to try having a go with different data but worried about messing my working system up ,any suggestions on what would be the easiest to have a go at,does EUMETCastView  process any data i am likely to be receiving ,cheers Alan

The old Eumetcast channel names stopped being used on 22 March, and the ini update matches the new names to the old download locations so your MSG Data Manager keeps working.

EUMETCastView will process pretty much any geo-stationary and polar orbiting satellites. It's not so easy to use as MSG Data Manager and takes a bit of learning but is worth it.  Currently I believe you're subscribed to polar orbiting Global Metop AVHRR data (now on E1B-EPS-10) and the regional (Europe) Metop and NOAA AVHRR data (now on E1B-RDS-1) 

You can on the Basic service also subscribe to

(Geostationary satellites)

• Meteosat IODC SEVIRI, the same data type as your currently receiving but centred over the Indian Ocean
• Russia's Electro-L N3
• China's Fengyun-2

(Polar Orbiting)

• NOAA-20 VIIRS

which should keep you busy. 🙂

Alan