VIIRS/SNPP Dark Target Aerosol L2 6-Min Swath

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) NASA standard Level-2 (L2) dark target (DT) aerosol product provides satellite-derived measurements of Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) and their properties over land and ocean, and spectral AOT and their size parameters over oceans every 6 minutes, globally. The VIIRS incarnation of the DT aerosol product is based on the same DT algorithm that was developed and used to derive products from the Terra and Aqua mission’s MODIS instruments. Two separate and distinct DT algorithms exist. One helps retrieve aerosol information over ocean (dark in visible and longer wavelengths), while the second aids retrievals over vegetated/dark-soiled land (dark in the visible).

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated April 6, 2026, 22:12 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 20:00 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 93b7c7bf-0966-4d74-9e05-c812c7e4acfd
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/VIIRS/AERDT_L2_VIIRS_SNPP_NRT.001
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-03-30T22:16:02Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher UWI-MAD/SSEC/ASIPS
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 852674bdf1fabb74e253ab310e5d0dab1d8faa174e5ac42b842b83f244c48188
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial [[{"EastBoundingCoordinate":180,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":90,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-90,"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180}],"GEODETIC"]
temporal 2020-06-09/2024-05-01
theme {"Earth Science"}