Landsat Collections Land Cloud Cover
Landsat Collections Level-1 data contain two cloud cover scores: Scene Cloud Cover and Land Cloud Cover. This page talks about both of these cloud cover scores.
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Landsat Collections Level-1 products include both the Scene Cloud Cover and Land Cloud Cover scores in the metadata (.MTL.txt) file that is delivered with the product. This information is also listed in the visible metadata on EarthExplorer.
- Scene Cloud Cover is determined by the C Function of Mask (CFMask) algorithm. This algorithm provides a full-image “Scene Cloud Cover” estimation of the percentage of cloud cover calculated over an entire Landsat scene. It is noted as CLOUD_COVER in the MTL file.
- Land Cloud Cover is determined by calculating the percentage of clouds over only the land pixels in a scene. A mask used to discriminate land from water is derived from the NOAA World Vector Shoreline Dataset. It is noted as CLOUD_COVER_LAND in the MTL file.
For both scores, the values indicate the percentage of cloud cover. For descending (daytime) scenes, the range is 0.00-100.00. Cloud Cover scores for nighttime (ascending) scenes are listed as -1.
The image below is an example for how the CLOUD COVER and the LAND CLOUD COVER scores are indicated in Landsat Collection Level-1 products.
The metadata for this Landsat 8 scene, acquired of Path 4 Row 53 on April 9, 2019, indicates an overall Scene CLOUD COVER score of 17.07 percent, and a LAND CLOUD COVER score of 18.06.
