Landsat satellite data have been produced, archived, and distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since 1972. Users rely on these data for historical study of land surface change but shoulder the burden of post-production processing to create applications-ready data sets.

Landsat satellite data have been produced, archived, and distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since 1972. Users rely on these data for historical study of land surface change but shoulder the burden of post-production processing to create applications-ready data sets.

Landsat Level-2 Surface Reflectance Collection 2 products contain atmospherically corrected spectral reflectance data derived from Level-1 products and are available for the Landsat 4–9 missions, spanning the period from 1982 to present. These data offer consistent and continuous measurements of Earth's surface reflectance to support long-term environmental studies. Comprehensive quality assessment measures, including quality flags and Level-2 processing details, enable users to filter and analyze data based on their reliability.

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.

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 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 NASA Landsat Data Collection (NLDC) is a compilation of Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS) scenes and Landsat thematic mapper (TM) scenes. This compilation of scenes represents data collections from four distinct projects including: (1) the Global Change Landsat Data Collection (GCLDC);(2) the Humid Tropical Forest Project (HTFP) collection of source scenes and products; (3) a collection of data from the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Research [formerly the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES)] that is historically referred to as the CEES collection; and (4) ongoing Landsat data purchases by NASA-funded investigators, starting with the 1996 fiscal year. The NLDC scenes have been screened for cloud cover and band quality resulting in a high grade,high quality data compilation. The GCLDC collection contains Landsat TM scenes that were purchased by NASA from Space Imaging, formerly the Earth Observation Satellite Company,under a special agreement to promote the use of shared data in global change research. The HTFP, the largest component of NASA's Landsat Pathfinder Program, contains Landsat MSS and TM scenes collected over the past 20 years. The goal of the HTFP is to globally map deforestation in the humid tropical forests. The CEES collection is the result of an effort to coordinate data needs among several Federal agencies (e.g.,Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior agencies, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Defense). These Landsat TM scenes were collected for a variety of research projects. Ongoing NASA purchases of Landsat TM data support NASA scientists and their affiliated researchers in programs and projects including the NASA Research and Analysis Program; the Global Land Cover Test Sites Project; the HTFP, the International Biosphere-Geosphere Programme, the NASA Applications Program; and the Landsat-7 Science Team.

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 Monthly (GWELDMO) Version 3 data product provides Landsat data at 30 meter (m) resolution for terrestrial non-Antarctica locations over monthly 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 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 GWELDMO 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* GWELDMO 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 Thematic Mapper sensor system was used to collect the original data between February 1987 and October 1989 from which this data set was produced. Landsat TM extract data contains the average instrument corrected spectral radiances for each of the seven spectral bands. In addition, the associated view and solar angles are available for each of 39 FIFE ground measurement sites. The Site Reflectances Extracted from Landsat TM Imagery Data Set also contains reflectance values and exoatmospheric reflectance values for these seven spectral bands. These reflectances were derived using the sensor calibrated radiances which were corrected for exoatmospheric effects using atmospheric aerosol optical thickness and gaseous absorption profile measurements, when available. The atmospheric correction algorithm of Fraser et al. (1989) was used to calculate reflectance in the visible and infrared channels. The thermal data were corrected using parameters derived from the Lowtran-7 atmospheric path radiance model (Kneizys et al. 1988).

The surface reflectance CDR is generated from specialized software called Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive Processing System (LEDAPS). LEDAPS was originally developed through a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs)grant by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the University of Maryland (Masek et al., 2006). The software applies Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) atmospheric correction routines to Level-1 Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) or Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)data. Water,vapor, ozone, geopotential height, aerosol optical thickness,and digital elevation are input with Landsat data to the Second Simulation of a Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6S) radiative transfer models to generate top of atmosphere (TOA)reflectance, surface reflectance, brightness temperature, and masks for clouds, cloud shadows, adjacent clouds, land, and water. The result is delivered as the Landsat surface reflectance CDR.