What are the best Landsat spectral bands for use in my research?
The Spectral Characteristics Viewer is an interactive tool that can be used to visualize how the bands--or channels--of different satellite sensors measure the intensity of the many wavelengths (colors) of light. This is also known as the relative spectral response (RSR). By overlaying the spectral curves from different features (spectra), one can determine which bands of the selected sensor will work for the application.
Learn more: Landsat 7 / Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 Common Band Combinations
| Band | Wavelength | Useful for mapping |
|---|---|---|
| Band 1 - coastal aerosol | 0.43-0.45 | Coastal and aerosol studies |
| Band 2 - blue | 0.45-0.51 | Bathymetric mapping, distinguishing soil from vegetation and deciduous from coniferous vegetation |
| Band 3 - green | 0.53-0.59 | Emphasizes peak vegetation, which is useful for assessing plant vigor |
| Band 4 - red | 0.64-0.67 | Discriminates vegetation slopes |
| Band 5 - Near Infrared (NIR) | 0.85-0.88 | Emphasizes biomass content and shorelines |
| Band 6 - Short-wave Infrared (SWIR) 1 | 1.57-1.65 | Discriminates moisture content of soil and vegetation; penetrates thin clouds |
| Band 7 - Short-wave Infrared (SWIR) 2 | 2.11-2.29 | Improved moisture content of soil and vegetation; penetrates thin clouds |
| Band 8 - Panchromatic | 0.50-0.68 | 15 meter resolution, sharper image definition |
| Band 9 - Cirrus | 1.36-1.38 | Improved detection of cirrus cloud contamination |
| Band 10 - TIRS 1 | 10.60-11.19 | 100 meter resolution, thermal mapping and estimated soil moisture |
| Band 11 - TIRS 2 | 11.50-12.51 | 100 meter resolution, improved thermal mapping and estimated soil moisture |
| Band | Wavelength | Useful for mapping |
|---|---|---|
| Band 1 - blue | 0.45-0.52 | Bathymetric mapping, distinguishing soil from vegetation and deciduous from coniferous vegetation |
| Band 2 - green | 0.52-0.60 | Emphasizes peak vegetation, which is useful for assessing plant vigor |
| Band 3 - red | 0.63-0.69 | Discriminates vegetation slopes |
| Band 4 - Near Infrared | 0.77-0.90 | Emphasizes biomass content and shorelines |
| Band 5 - Short-wave Infrared | 1.55-1.75 | Discriminates moisture content of soil and vegetation; penetrates thin clouds |
| Band 6 - Thermal Infrared | 10.40-12.50 | Thermal mapping and estimated soil moisture |
| Band 7 - Short-wave Infrared | 2.09-2.35 | Hydrothermally altered rocks associated with mineral deposits |
| Band 8 - Panchromatic (Landsat 7 only) | 0.52-0.90 | 15 meter resolution, sharper image definition |
| Landsat MSS 1, 2, 3 Spectral Bands | Landsat MSS 4, 5 Spectral Bands | Wavelength | Useful for mapping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band 4 - green | Band 1 - green | 0.5-0.6 | Sediment-laden water, delineates areas of shallow water |
| Band 5 - red | Band 2 - red | 0.6-0.7 | Cultural features |
| Band 6 - Near Infrared | Band 3 - Near Infrared | 0.7-0.8 | Vegetation boundary between land and water, and landforms |
| Band 7 - Near Infrared | Band 4 - Near Infrared | 0.8-1.1 | Penetrates atmospheric haze best, emphasizes vegetation, boundary between land and water, and landforms |
Related Content
How do I search for and download Landsat data?
What are Landsat Collection Tiers?
What are Landsat Collections?
What are the band designations for the Landsat satellites?
What are the acquisition schedules for the Landsat satellites?
Can Landsat satellite acquisition requests be made for a specific date and location?
How do I open Landsat satellite data files?
What are some known issues that users might find in Landsat data?
What is the Landsat satellite program and why is it important?
Landsat benefiting society for fifty years
Since 1972, data acquired by the Landsat series of satellites have become integral to land management for both government and the private sector, providing scientists and decision makers with key information about agricultural productivity, ice sheet dynamics, urban growth, forest monitoring, natural resource management, water quality, and...
Rocchio, Laura E. P.; Connot, Peggy; Young, Steve; Ramsayer, Kate; Owen, Linda; Bouchard, Michelle; Barnes, Christopher
U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data
U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) are a revolutionary new U.S. Geological Survey science product that allows the Landsat archive to be more accessible and easier to analyze and reduces the amount of time users spend on data processing for monitoring and assessing landscape change. U.S. Landsat ARD are Level-2 products derived from...
Landsat Collections
In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey reorganized the Landsat archive into a tiered collection structure, which ensures that Landsat Level-1 products provide a consistent archive of known data quality to support time-series analyses and data “stacking” while controlling continuous improvement of the archive and access to all data as they are...
Free, Open Landsat Data Unleashed the Power of Remote Sensing a Decade Ago
In the old days, before 2008, a view of planet Earth from space often came at a cost.
New “Landsat Collections” Help Facilitate Land Change Science
Access to consistent high-quality images to study changes on Earth’s surface is getting easier. The USGS Landsat standard (Level-1) product inventory is now structured by data quality and offers improved calibration. Data designated as Tier 1 provide the highest accuracy and can be reliably used to analyze changes to Earth’s surface over time.
Landsat in Action - Land Cover and Land Cover Change with Tom Loveland
Tom Loveland talks about using Landsat's data for land use and land cover change research.
Find this video and thousands more at https://usgs.gov/gallery.
Stay up-to-date on USGS topics and news on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and more at https://usgs
...
Landsat in Action - The Importance of Landsat with Curtis Woodcock
Boston University Professor Curtis Woodcock talks about the significance Landsat was had in science and what he hopes to see as the mission continues.
Landsat in Action - Tracking Water Changes with John Schott
John Schott with the Rochester Institute of Technology discusses using Landsat Data over the years, and how its Thermal data tracks temperature changes in water bodies.
Landsat Collections
Landsat Collections: Providing a Stable Environmental Record for Time Series Analysis
This video introduces the new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat Collection 1 inventory structure. Collection 1 required the reprocessing of all archived Landsat data to achieve radiometric and geometric consistency of Level-1 products through time and across all Landsat sensors
...
Bandpass Wavelengths for all Landsat Sensors
This image shows the bandpass wavelengths for the sensors on all Landsat satellites.
*Landsat MSS = the numbers shown are for Landsat 4 and Landsat 5; Landsat 1-3 band numbers are 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Landsat In Action - Assessing Global Impact with Alan Belward
Alan Belward from the European Union's Joint Research Center discusses how Landsat helps his team promote sustainable development.
Landsat Collections — What are Tiers?
This is the third video in a series describing the new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat Collection 1 inventory structure. Collection 1 required the reprocessing of all archived Landsat data to achieve radiometric and geometric consistency of Level-1 products through time and across all Landsat sensors. This video explains how Landsat Collection Level-1 data products
...
Landsat Collections - RMSE
Landsat Collections: Providing a Stable Environment Record for Time Series Analysis
This is the second of a three-part video series describing the new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat Collection 1 inventory structure. Collection 1 required the reprocessing of all archived Landsat data to achieve radiometric and geometric consistency of Level-1 products through
...
Multi-temporal Landsat NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index)
Multi-temporal Landsat NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) product overlaid on aerial photographs used in the delineation of yearly individual irrigated agriculture crop parcels near the South Platte River, Colorado. Courtesy of Riverside Technology, inc.
Common Landsat Band RGB Composites
Commonly used band combinations for data from the Landsat 4-5 Thematic Mapper, Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus, and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager sensors. Visit the Landsat Missions website for more information.