The NESDIS/STAR research cruises on NOAA Ships are part of an annual calibration and validation mission for the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). VIIRS is operational on NOAA-20, Suomi NPP, and NOAA-21 (formerly known JPSS-2).The crew typically consists of NESDIS/STAR scientists and researchers from Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), University of South Florida, City University of New York, Columbia University and Oregon State University. VIIRS measures global ocean color data utilized by NOAA and other scientists to study oceanic ecosystems and processes for applications such as fisheries and monitoring harmful algal blooms. Aeronet data can be found at: https://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/new_web/cruises_v3/Lasker_25_0.html