Publications
This page lists the most recent peer-reviewed USGS scientific papers, reports, fact sheets, and other publications about Landsat.
Landsat Factsheets
Landsat Factsheets
Landsat Factsheets present a high-level overview of various concepts.
Landsat Benefits
Landsat Benefits
State-specific factsheets pinpoint Landsat’s continuing contribution to the health and well-being of the nation’s land resources.
Landsat Documents
Landsat Documents
Many documents supporting the USGS Landsat Project are available, covering satellite missions overviews, to specific data and product information.
Filter Total Items: 91
Landsat 8–9 geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization Landsat 8–9 geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization
The U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val (Calibration and Validation) Center of Excellence is a global leader in improving the accuracy, precision, and quality of remote-sensing data. Calibration is the process of quantitatively defining a system’s response to known and controlled signal inputs. Validation is the process of assessing, by independent...
Authors
Cody Anderson, Michael J. Choate, Esad Micijevic, Jerad L. Shaw
Monitoring changes in Landsat thermal features in urban and non-urban interfaces from 1986 to 2023 in two international urban centers: Implications for climate and global issues Monitoring changes in Landsat thermal features in urban and non-urban interfaces from 1986 to 2023 in two international urban centers: Implications for climate and global issues
Rapid urbanization is reshaping thermal environments worldwide, with the strongest impacts occurring at the interface between urban and non-urban areas. Impervious surfaces, as key indicators of urban expansion, are critical for monitoring urban growth and assessing surface urban heat island (SUHI) effects. Land use and land cover change (LULCC) provides an essential link between urban...
Authors
Hua Shi, Christopher P. Barber, Kristi L. Sayler, Kelcy Smith, Reza Hussain
Origins, evolutions, and future directions of Landsat science products for advancing global inland water and coastal ocean observations Origins, evolutions, and future directions of Landsat science products for advancing global inland water and coastal ocean observations
In April 2020, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center introduced a Level 2 provisional Aquatic Reflectance (AR) product for the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), marking the initial phase in developing a standardized global product for Landsat-derived surface water measurements. The goal of USGS EROS aquatic product research and...
Authors
Benjamin Page, Christopher J. Crawford, Saeed Arab, Gail Schmidt, Christopher Barnes, Danika F. Wellington
ECCOE Landsat Quarterly Calibration and Validation Report—Quarter 2, 2025 ECCOE Landsat Quarterly Calibration and Validation Report—Quarter 2, 2025
Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote- sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat...
Authors
Md Obaidul Haque, Nahid Hasan, Ashish Shrestha, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Mark Lubke, Daniel Steinwand, Paul Bresnahan, Jerad L. Shaw, Kathryn Ruslander, Esad Micijevic, Michael J. Choate, Cody Anderson, Jeff Clauson, Kurt Thome, Amit Angal, Raviv Levy, Jeff Miller, Leibo Ding, Cibele Teixeira Pinto
ECCOE Landsat quarterly calibration and validation report—Quarter 1, 2025 ECCOE Landsat quarterly calibration and validation report—Quarter 1, 2025
Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat...
Authors
Md Obaidul Haque, Nahid Hasan, Ashish Shrestha, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Mark Lubke, Daniel Steinwand, Paul Bresnahan, Jerad L. Shaw, Kathryn Ruslander, Esad Micijevic, Michael J. Choate, Cody Anderson, Jeff Clauson, Kurt Thome, Ed Kaita, Amit Angal, Raviv Levy, Jeff Miller, Leibo Ding, Cibele Teixeira Pinto
ECCOE Landsat quarterly Calibration and Validation report—Quarter 4, 2024 ECCOE Landsat quarterly Calibration and Validation report—Quarter 4, 2024
Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The Earth Resources...
Authors
Md Obaidul Haque, Nahid Hasan, Ashish Shrestha, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Mark Lubke, Daniel Steinwand, Paul Bresnahan, Jerad L. Shaw, Kathryn Ruslander, Esad Micijevic, Michael J. Choate, Cody Anderson, Jeff Clauson, Kurt Thome, Ed Kaita, Raviv Levy, Jeff Miller, Leibo Ding, Cibele Teixeira Pinto
Brief communication: Not as dirty as they look, flawed airborne and satellite snow spectra Brief communication: Not as dirty as they look, flawed airborne and satellite snow spectra
Key to the success of spaceborne missions is understanding snowmelt in our warming climate, as this has implications for nearly 2 billion people. An obstacle is that surface reflectance products over snow show an erroneous hook with decreases in the visible wavelengths, causing per-band and broadband reflectance errors of up to 33 % and 11 %, respectively. This hook is sometimes mistaken...
Authors
Edward Bair, Dar Roberts, David R. Thompson, Philip Brodrick, Brent Wilder, Niklas Bohn, Christopher J. Crawford, Nimrod Carmon, Carrie Vuyovich, Jeff Dozier
Landsat surface product validation instrumentation: The BigMAC exercise Landsat surface product validation instrumentation: The BigMAC exercise
Users of Earth remotely sensed optical imagery are increasingly demanding a surface reflectance or surface temperature product instead of the top-of-atmosphere products that have been produced historically. Validating the accuracy of surface products remains a difficult task since it involves assessment across a range of atmospheric profiles, as well as many different land surface types...
Authors
Dennis Helder, Mahesh Shrestha, Joshua J. Mann, Emily Maddox, Jeffrey Irwin, Larry Leigh, Aaron Gerace, Rehman Eon, Lucy Falcon, David Conran, Nina G. Raqueno, Timothy Bauch, Christopher Durell, Brandon Russell
ECCOE Landsat quarterly calibration and validation report—Quarter 3, 2024 ECCOE Landsat quarterly calibration and validation report—Quarter 3, 2024
Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat...
Authors
Md Obaidul Haque, Nahid Hasan, Ashish Shrestha, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Mark Lubke, Jerad L. Shaw, Kathryn Ruslander, Esad Micijevic, Michael J. Choate, Cody Anderson, Jeff Clauson, Kurt Thome, Ed Kaita, Raviv Levy, Jeff Miller, Leibo Ding
ECCOE Landsat quarterly Calibration and Validation report—Quarter 2, 2024 ECCOE Landsat quarterly Calibration and Validation report—Quarter 2, 2024
Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat...
Authors
Md Obaidul Haque, Nahid Hasan, Ashish Shrestha, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Mark Lubke, Jerad L. Shaw, Kathryn Ruslander, Esad Micijevic, Michael J. Choate, Cody Anderson, Jeff Clauson, Kurt Thome, Ed Kaita, Raviv Levy, Jeff Miller, Leibo Ding
Detecting trajectories of regime shifts and loss of resilience in coastal wetlands using remote sensing Detecting trajectories of regime shifts and loss of resilience in coastal wetlands using remote sensing
Many freshwater forested wetlands along the southeastern United States coastline are rapidly transitioning from forest to marsh or open water, due to climate change-related disturbances. Recent studies have found early warning signals (EWS) of regime shifts in other ecosystems, but it is unclear if these can be detected for coastal wetlands. In this study, we examined the ability to...
Authors
Melinda Martinez, Marcelo L Ardon, Joshua Gray
Landsat geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization Landsat geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat Cal/Val team
Authors
Jerad Shaw, Cody Anderson, Mike Choate, Esad Micijevic