STAR Joint Polar Satellite System Algorithms & Data Products website National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration website NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research website

STAR JPSS Website

NOAA-21 VIIRS Ocean Color First Light, 06 December 2022 NOAA-21 VIIRS True Color First Light, 06 December 2022 NOAA-21 ATMS First Light, 22 November 2022 NOAA-21 SFR First Light, 22 November 2022 NOAA-21 MIRS TPW First Light, 22 November 2022

NOAA-21 VIIRS Ocean Color First Light Image
Menghua Wang

06-Dec-22 - The STAR Ocean Color team has updated its OCView website to include imagery from NOAA-21. These data (which are non-operational) include imagery of chlorophyll concertration, true color imagery, and other parameters.

NOAA-21 VIIRS True Color First Light Image
VIIRS SDR Team

06-Dec-22" - The STAR VIIRS SDR team has produced first light imagery from the VIIRS visible bands. The image shows treu color imagery from December 5. VIIRS is the second instrument to be activated, with the VIIRS thermal bands, CRIS, and OMPS to follow in upcoming weeks.

NOAA-21 ATMS First Light Image
ATMS SDR Team

22-Nov-22 - STAR JPSS has produced first light imagery from the recently launched NOAA-21 satellite. The image selected shows the Channel 18 (183 Ghz) Brightness Temperature for the ascending node on November 21-22. ATMS, which is the first NOAA-21 instrument to be activated will be followed by CrIS, VIIRS, and OMPS in the coming month

NOAA-21 Snowfall Rate First Light Image
Huan Meng

22-Nov-22 - STAR JPSS has produced first light imagery from the recently launched NOAA-21 satellite. The image selected shows the ATMS-derived Snowfall Rate product for the ascending node on November 21-22. ATMS, which is the first NOAA-21 instrument to be activated will be followed by CrIS, VIIRS, and OMPS in the coming month.

NOAA-21 MIRS TPW First Light Image
Chris Grassotti

22-Nov-22 - STAR JPSS has produced first light imagery from the recently launched NOAA-21 satellite. The image selected shows the ATMS-derived MIRS Total Precipitable Water for the ascending node on November 21-22. ATMS, which is the first NOAA-21 instrument to be activated will be followed by CrIS, VIIRS, and OMPS in the coming month.

Latest JSTAR Updates

NOAA-21 First Light Images - 18 February 2023 -




VIIRS Global Annual Surface Type (AST) - September 2022 - The new VIIRS Annual Surface Type 2021 product (AST-2021, spatial resolution: 1km) based on 2021 whole year surface reflectance data is ready for users to download at STAR FTP sites.

NetCDF version / Zip files:

Each Zip file contains a *.bin, a *.hdr and a *readme.pdf file. For more information please contact Xiwu Zhan.

STAR JPSS Monthly Reports

For more information, please write to Ingrid Guch / Lihang Zhou



Upcoming Events




EDR LTM Site Retirement

The EDR LTM site was retired on 31 March 2022, with the exception of CMORPH support which will continue until that product can be rehosted. The EDR LTM site delivered nearly 10 years of S-NPP and NOAA-20 product images to thousands of users since 2014. It is being replaced by the JSTAR Mapper. The Mapper team has completed the effort of transitioning polar satellite product generation to the newer platform.

Questions about this transition should be directed to Lori Brown. After 3/31, users may request access to the EDR LTM image archive offline.