According to Eric Stevens of The Geographic Information Network of Alaska, the Day-Night Band (DNB) of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is, "probably the single most important piece of the VIIRS instrument to the National Weather Service in Alaska." Why? Because as Stevens puts it, "Basically, you see visible-spectrum light at night! The instrument is so sensitive you can see ... it's better than night-vision goggles! DNB is not showing infrared temperatures, this is visible light and especially is you have any sliver of moon, you can see the weather underneath."
This is great in Alaska because the state has a lot of night in the winter. In the Arctic, it's literally dark out all the time for a month or more in the deep winter. The DNB is the only way to see visible-spectrum light in that season.