The VIIRS instrument observes and collects global satellite observations that span the visible and infrared wavelengths across land, ocean, and atmosphere. A whiskbroom radiometer by design, it has 22 channels ranging from 0.41 μm to 12.01 μm. Five of these channels are high-resolution image bands or I-bands, and sixteen serve as moderate-resolution bands or M-bands. VIIRS also hosts a unique panchromatic Day/Night band (DNB), which is ultra-sensitive in low-light conditions that allows us to observe nighttime lights with better spatial and temporal resolutions compared to previously provided nighttime lights data by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

VIIRS is one of five instruments onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite platform that was launched on October 28, 2011. SNPP (formerly called the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project) serves as a bridge between the Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites and the next-generation of NASA-NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) series of satellites. These JPSS satellites are renamed to NOAA-series (NOAA-20, NOAA-21, etc.) when they reach polar orbit. Four JPSS missions are planned to last through 2031, and each of them hosts a VIIRS instrument as part of their payload. NOAA-20 (JPSS-1) was launched on November 18, 2017. NOAA-21 (JPSS-2) launched on November 10, 2021.

The VIIRS sensor was designed to extend and improve upon the series of measurements initiated by its predecessors, the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWIFS). VIIRS-derived data products are used to measure cloud and aerosol properties, ocean color, ocean and land surface temperature, ice movement and temperature, fires, and Earth's albedo. Climatologists use VIIRS data to improve our understanding of global climate change.