Night-Time Detection of Subpixel Emitters with VIIRS Mid-Wave Infrared Bands M12–M13

Abstract

In this paper, we present a new approach to subpixel infrared (IR) emitter detection in VIIRS mid-wave (MWIR) infrared bands M12–M13 at night, based on the presence of a tightly clustered background diagonal present in full granule scattergrams of M12 versus M13 radiances. This diagonal is found universally in night-time VIIRS data collected worldwide. The diagonal feature is absent during the day due to solar reflectance. The existence of the diagonal is attributed to close spacing in the bandpass centers of the VIIRS’ two MWIR bands. Apparently, the M12 and M13 emissivities are highly correlated to background objects, such clouds, ocean and land surfaces. The VIIRS Nightfire (VNF) algorithm detects pixels containing IR emitters based on their departure from the background diagonal. This paper outlines the method and compares VNF results with those from MODIS and VIIRS hotspot detection.

Keywords

• detector
• subpixel heat source
• mid-wave infrared
• VIIRS Nightfire
• gas flares
• forest fires