Payload Correction Data (PCD) provides critical information when correcting for geometric distortions inherent to the imaging system and temperature values used to estimate per-scan gains and biases necessary for the radiometric calibration of the instrument's thermal band data.
Over 260,000 Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes acquired between January 1986 and December 1999, originally downlinked to international ground stations, lack the necessary PCD.
Learn more: Landsat no-PCD
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After a Landsat scene is collected, when will it become available for search and download?
Landsat scenes directly downlinked to the USGS EROS Landsat Ground Station become available through EarthExplorer within 6 hours after acquisition, and then become visible in GloVis and the LandsatLook Viewer within 24 hours. Scenes downlinked to other USGS Ground Stations can be available within 1 to 2 weeks. Scenes downlinked to International Ground Stations may become available in the USGS...
How does data from Sentinel-2A’s MultiSpectral Instrument compare to Landsat data?
The Sentinel-2A MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) data has spectral bands very similar to Landsat 8 and 9 (excluding the thermal bands of Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)). All Sentinel-2 data are freely available from the Copernicus Open Access Hub; therefore, users are encouraged to download the data via https://scihub.copernicus.eu/. To learn more about Sentinel data access information please visit...
What is Landsat definitive ephemeris?
Definitive Ephemeris is used for geometrically correcting Landsat 7 data and providing improved accuracy over predicted ephemeris. Learn more (and download DE files): Landsat Definitive Ephemeris
What is the Landsat Collections Angle Coefficient file and how is it used?
The Landsat Collection 1 Angle Coefficient file provides sensor viewing angle model coefficients that can be used to create angle bands, and allows users to compute the solar and sensor viewing angles on a per-pixel basis. Learn more: Solar Illumination and Sensor Viewing Angle Coefficient Files
What are Landsat Bias Parameter Files?
Landsat Bias Parameter Files (BPFs) supply radiometric correction parameters that are applied during Level-1 processing of Landsat data.Learn more (and search for BPF files): Landsat Bias Parameter
How do I rescale Landsat Level-1 digital numbers to reflectance, radiance, and brightness temperature?
Landsat Level-1 data can be rescaled to the top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance and/or radiance using radiometric rescaling coefficients provided in the metadata file (MTL.txt) that is delivered with the Landsat Level-1 product. The MTL file also contains the thermal constants needed to convert thermal band data to TOA brightness temperature (BT). Formulas for these conversions are at Using the...
Landsat benefiting society for fifty years
U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data
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After a Landsat scene is collected, when will it become available for search and download?
Landsat scenes directly downlinked to the USGS EROS Landsat Ground Station become available through EarthExplorer within 6 hours after acquisition, and then become visible in GloVis and the LandsatLook Viewer within 24 hours. Scenes downlinked to other USGS Ground Stations can be available within 1 to 2 weeks. Scenes downlinked to International Ground Stations may become available in the USGS...
How does data from Sentinel-2A’s MultiSpectral Instrument compare to Landsat data?
The Sentinel-2A MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) data has spectral bands very similar to Landsat 8 and 9 (excluding the thermal bands of Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)). All Sentinel-2 data are freely available from the Copernicus Open Access Hub; therefore, users are encouraged to download the data via https://scihub.copernicus.eu/. To learn more about Sentinel data access information please visit...
What is Landsat definitive ephemeris?
Definitive Ephemeris is used for geometrically correcting Landsat 7 data and providing improved accuracy over predicted ephemeris. Learn more (and download DE files): Landsat Definitive Ephemeris
What is the Landsat Collections Angle Coefficient file and how is it used?
The Landsat Collection 1 Angle Coefficient file provides sensor viewing angle model coefficients that can be used to create angle bands, and allows users to compute the solar and sensor viewing angles on a per-pixel basis. Learn more: Solar Illumination and Sensor Viewing Angle Coefficient Files
What are Landsat Bias Parameter Files?
Landsat Bias Parameter Files (BPFs) supply radiometric correction parameters that are applied during Level-1 processing of Landsat data.Learn more (and search for BPF files): Landsat Bias Parameter
How do I rescale Landsat Level-1 digital numbers to reflectance, radiance, and brightness temperature?
Landsat Level-1 data can be rescaled to the top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance and/or radiance using radiometric rescaling coefficients provided in the metadata file (MTL.txt) that is delivered with the Landsat Level-1 product. The MTL file also contains the thermal constants needed to convert thermal band data to TOA brightness temperature (BT). Formulas for these conversions are at Using the...
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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 supporting disaster response. Landsat 9 continues the missAuthorsLaura E. P. Rocchio, Peggy Connot, Steve Young, Kate Ramsayer, Linda Owen, Michelle Bouchard, Christopher BarnesU.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 Level-1 precision and terrain-corrected scAuthorsLandsat 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 acquired. Landsat Collection 1 required the reprocessing oAuthors