USGS EROS Archive - Landsat - Landsat Level-3 Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWE) Science Product Active

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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) offers Landsat Level- 3 Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWE) data for Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Landsat 4-5 Thematic Mapper (TM).  Landsat DSWE contains six acquisition-based raster data products pertaining to the existence and condition of surface water. All intermediate bands used to produce DSWE are also provided.

Landsat DSWE science products are generated from U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) Surface Reflectance data, and use the cloud, cloud shadow, and snow information provided in the “PIXELQA” band, which is described in detail in the U.S. Landsat ARD Data Format Control Book. DSWE products are processed to 30-meter spatial resolution in Albers Equal Area (AEA) projection using the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) datum, and gridded to a common tiling scheme. These data are processed to the highest scientific standards and can be used directly in monitoring and assessing landscape change.

The following date ranges apply to the availability of the Landsat DSWE science product:

• Landsat 8 OLI: April 2013 to Present
• Landsat 7 ETM+: July 1999 to present
• Landsat 5 TM: March 1984 to May 2012
• Landsat 4 TM: December 1982 to December 1993

Most Landsat Collection 1 Level-1 scenes can be processed to generate a DSWE product. Please refer to Surface Reflectance caveats and Surface Reflectance Quality Assessment (QA) bands for pixel-level condition and validity flags and when using the DSWE product.

Additional Information

• Landsat Missions Web site
• Landsat Dynamic Surface Water Extent Product Guide
• Landsat Dynamic Surface Water Extent Algorithm Description Document​​​​​​​

Access Data

Use EarthExplorer to search and download the Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWE) Product. The data are located under the Landsat category, Landsat Collection 1 Level-3 subcategory, and listed as Dynamic Surface Water Extent.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

​​​​​​​Landsat Level-3 Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWE) Science Product Digital Object Identification (DOI): /10.5066/F7445KQK