Global Land Survey 1975 images were acquired from 1972 to 1987 by Landsat 1-5 MSS. Landsat 4-5 data were used to fill gaps in the Landsat 1-3 data. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) collaborated on the creation of the global land datasets using Landsat data from 1972 through 2008. Each of these global datasets was created from the primary Landsat sensor in use at the time: the Multispectral Scanner (MSS) in the 1970s, the Thematic Mapper (TM) in 1990, the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) in 2000, and a combination of TM and ETM+, as well as EO-1 ALI data, in 2005.

Global Land Survey 2010 images were acquired from 2008 to 2011 by Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) collaborated on the creation of the global land datasets using Landsat data from 1972 through 2008. Each of these global datasets was created from the primary Landsat sensor in use at the time: the Multispectral Scanner (MSS) in the 1970s, the Thematic Mapper (TM) in 1990, the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) in 2000, and a combination of TM and ETM+, as well as EO-1 ALI data, in 2005.

Global Land Survey 2005 images were acquired from 2003 - 2008 by Landsat 7 ETM+, Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and EO-1 ALI. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) collaborated on the creation of the global land datasets using Landsat data from 1972 through 2008. Each of these global datasets was created from the primary Landsat sensor in use at the time: the Multispectral Scanner (MSS) in the 1970s, the Thematic Mapper (TM) in 1990, the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) in 2000, and a combination of TM and ETM+, as well as EO-1 ALI data, in 2005.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) collaborated on the creation of the global land datasets using Landsat data from 1972 through 2008. NASA and the USGS have again partnered to develop the Global Land Survey 2010 (GLS2010), a new global land data set with core acquisition dates of 2008-2011. This dataset consists of both Landsat TM and ETM+ images that meet quality and cloud cover standards established by the earlier GLS collections. Data acquired in 2011 were used to fill areas of low image quality or excessive cloud cover.

Global Land Survey 2005 images were acquired from 2003 to 2008 by Landsat 7 ETM+, EO1 ALI, and Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) collaborated on the creation of the global land datasets using Landsat data from 1972 through 2008. Each of these global datasets was created from the primary Landsat sensor in use at the time: the Multispectral Scanner (MSS) in the 1970s, the Thematic Mapper (TM) in 1990, the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) in 2000, and a combination of TM and ETM+, as well as EO-1 ALI data, in 2005.

In the past, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA collaborated on the creation of four global land data sets from Landsat images: one from the 1970s, and one each from circa 1990, 2000, and 2005. Each of these global data sets was created from the primary Landsat sensor in use at the time: the Multispectral Scanner (MSS) in the 1970s, the Thematic Mapper (TM) in 1990, Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) in 2000, and a combination of TM and ETM+ in 2005.

The NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) (https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/competitive-programs/measures) Global Web-Enabled Landsat Data Annual (GWELDYR) Version 3 data product provides Landsat data at 30 meter (m) resolution for terrestrial non-Antarctica locations over annual reporting periods for the 2010 epoch. GWELD data products are generated from all available Landsat 4 and 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat archive. The GWELD suite of products provide consistent data to derive land cover as well as geophysical and biophysical information for regional assessment of land surface dynamics.The GWELD products include Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) for the reflective wavelength bands and to top of atmosphere (TOA) brightness temperature for the thermal bands. The products are defined in the Sinusoidal coordinate system to promote continuity of NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land tile gridProvided in the GWELDYR product are layers for surface reflectance bands 1 through 5 and 7, TOA brightness temperature for thermal bands, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), day of year, ancillary angle, and data quality information. A low-resolution red, green, blue (RGB) browse image of bands 5, 4, 3 is also available for each granule.Known Issues* GWELDYR known issues can be found in Section 4 of the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). Please note that the version 3.0 GWELD products for 2009, 2010 and 2011 are defined in HDF4 which cannot be read correctly by GDAL/ArcGIS. This is not an issue for the version 3.1 GWELD products.

The NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Global Web-Enabled Landsat Data Annual (GWELDYR) Version 3 data product provides Landsat data at 30 meter (m) resolution for terrestrial non-Antarctica locations over annual reporting periods for the 2010 epoch. GWELD data products are generated from all available Landsat 4 and 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat archive. The GWELD suite of products provide consistent data to derive land cover as well as geophysical and biophysical information for regional assessment of land surface dynamics. The GWELD products include Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) for the reflective wavelength bands and to top of atmosphere (TOA) brightness temperature for the thermal bands. The products are defined in the Sinusoidal coordinate system to promote continuity of NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land tile grid Provided in the GWELDYR product are layers for surface reflectance bands 1 through 5 and 7, TOA brightness temperature for thermal bands, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), day of year, ancillary angle, and data quality information. A low-resolution red, green, blue (RGB) browse image of bands 5, 4, 3 is also available for each granule.

The Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) are onboard the Landsat 8 satellite, have acquired images of the Earth since February 2013. The sensors collect images of the Earth with a 16-day repeat cycle, referenced to the Worldwide Reference System-2. The approximate scene size is 170 km north-south by 183 km east-west (106 mi by 114 mi). Landsat 8 image data files consist of 11 spectral bands with a spatial resolution of 30 meters for bands 1-7 and bands 9-11; 15-meters for the panchromatic band 8. Delivered Landsat 8 Level-1 data typically include both OLI and TIRS data files; however, there may be OLI-only and/or TIRS-only scenes in the USGS archive. A Quality Assurance (QA.tif) band is also included. This file provides bit information regarding conditions that may affect the accuracy and usability of a given pixel – clouds, water or snow, for example.

The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center archive holds data collected by the Landsat suite of satellites, beginning with Landsat 1 in 1972. All Landsat data held in the USGS EROS archive are available for download at no charge. In 2021, all Landsat data were processed into Landsat Collection 2. Collection 2 data are the newest and currently the preferred Landsat products. Landsat Collection 1 data and products were removed from public access on December 30, 2022.