Line Start Anomaly

By Landsat Missions

In early 1980, the Multispectral Scanner (MSS) on Landsat 3 experienced an anomaly where the sensor had trouble properly synchronizing scan lines at the beginning of each new line, resulting in data gaps or inconsistencies at the start of each image.

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This anomaly caused data loss at the beginning of each scan line across the image. This problem affected about 1/3 of many Landsat 3 MSS images throughout its operational lifetime. The missing data can be seen in the image below.

Landsat 3 image showing a line start anomaly, that removes about 1/3 of the image

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Researchers and users working with Landsat 3 data need to be aware of this anomaly and account for potential data gaps at the start of each scan line when analyzing the imagery.