Abstract The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) thermal emissive band (TEB) M12 images centered at 3.7 μm were analyzed and unexpected striping was found. The striping was seen from ascending orbit (daytime) over uniform oceans and has a magnitude of ±0.5 K aligned with the VIIRS 16 detectors in a track direction of 12 km. From the ocean surface, reflected solar radiation can significantly increase the M12 radiance under certain geometric conditions in which bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) becomes important. Using the Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM), developed at the U.S. Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA), M12 band image striping over a uniform ocean was found that was caused by the difference of sensor azimuthal angles among detectors and the contamination of solar radiation. By analyzing the VIIRS M10 and M11 bands, which are two reflective bands, similar striping images over the uniform oceans were found. The M10 and M11 radiance/reflectance can be used to determine the BRDF effect on the thermal emissive band M12, and eventually be used to remove the solar radiation contamination from the M12 band. This study demonstrated that the M12 image striping is a real instrument artifact. Whether to remove the striping or to utilize the striping information fully depends on the application.