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VIIRS Green Vegetation Fraction

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OSPO has been producing Green Vegetation Fraction (GVF) as a NOAA-Unique Product (NUP) from the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor onboard the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), for applications in numerical weather and seasonal climate prediction models at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The retrieval algorithm uses VIIRS red (I1), near-infrared (I2) and blue (M3) bands centered at 0.640 μm, 0.865 μm and 0.490 μm, respectively, to calculate the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and derive GVF from EVI. GVF is produced as a daily rolling weekly composite at 4-km resolution (global scale) and 1- km resolution (regional scale).

GVF data products are needed for land surface initialization in numerical weather prediction models and land surface monitoring. The previous GVF operational product was based on Top of the Atmosphere (TOA) Normalized Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from the AVHRR sensor. With the launch of the Earth-observing JPSS series, Suomi NPP (S-NPP), J01(NOAA-20), and J02(NOAA-21), NESDIS has sustained the production of a new real-time weekly VIIRS GVF products. The VIIRS GVF is based on the Top of Canopy (TOC) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI).