USGS EROS Archive - Landsat Archives - Landsat 1-5 Multispectral Scanner (MSS) Level-1 Data Products Active

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NOTE: Landsat Collection 1 data and products are no longer available to download from the USGS as of December 30, 2022. The information on this webpage is for reference only. 

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

The Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) sensor was onboard Landsat 1 through Landsat 5 and acquired images of the Earth nearly continuously from July 1972 to October 1992. In June 2012, the MSS sensor was powered back on to see if imagery could be acquired, and the sensor collected data until January 2013. See the Landsat MSS Processing web page for more for details.

Landsats 1, 2 and 3 had an 18-day revisit cycle on the Worldwide Reference System-1.  Landsats 4 and 5 maintained a 16-day revisit cycle, and followed the Worldwide Reference System-2.

Standard Processing Parameters

All Landsat 1-5 MSS products are processed through the Level 1 Product Generation System (LPGS) with the following parameters applied for Product Type and L1T Terrain Correction*.

While most Landsat scenes are processed with the Standard Terrain Correction (Level 1T), some scenes do not have the ground-control or elevation data necessary to perform these corrections. In these cases, the best level of correction is applied. (See Landsat Processing Details for details on correction levels.)

Specific Level 1T scenes are available for most of the globe under the Global Land Surveys (GLS) collections of 1975, 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2010. These datasets can be found on EarthExplorer.

Landsat 1-5 MSS Collection 1

Landsat Tiers are the inventory structure for Landsat Collection 1 Level-1 data products and are based on data quality and level of processing. All scenes in the Landsat archive are assigned to a Collection category. The purpose of Collection categories is to support rapid and easy identification of suitable scenes for time-series pixel level analysis.

During Collection 1 reprocessing, all Landsat 1-5 MSS scenes in the USGS archive are assigned to a specific “Tier”. These data have well-characterized radiometric quality and are cross-calibrated ​among the different Landsat sensors.​​​

Collection 1 Categories

• Tier 1 (T1) – Contains the highest quality Level-1 Precision Terrain (L1TP) data considered suitable for time-series analysis. The georegistration is consistent and within prescribed tolerances [<12m root mean square error (RMSE)].
• Tier 2 (T2) – Contains L1TP scenes not meeting Tier 1 criteria and all Systematic Terrain (L1GT) and Systematic (L1GS) scenes. Users interested in Tier 2 scenes can evaluate the L1TP RMSE and other properties to determine suitability for use in their applications and studies.

The Landsat Collections page contains additional information about changes applied to Landsat Level-1 data products for Collection 1.

Additional Information

• USGS Landsat - Earth Observations Satellite Fact Sheet 
• Landsat Homepage 
• Landsat Spectral Characteristics Viewer
• Landsat FAQs
• Technical Information (Including calibration and definitive ephermeris files) 
• Project Documentation 
• Landsat Collections

Access Data

Landsat Collection 1 no longer available.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Landsat 1-5 MSS Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number: /10.5066/F7H994GQ