Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Spectral Bandpasses for all Landsat Sensors

Detailed Description

This image shows the spectral bandpasses for the sensors on all Landsat satellites. 

  • Landsat 1-5 Multispectral Scanner System (MSS): the sensor onboard each satellite acquired data in four spectral bands in the visible and near infrared spectrums
  • Landsat 4 and Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM): the sensor onboard each satellite acquired data in seven spectral bands, and included shortwave infrared and thermal data
  • Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+): acquired data in a total of eight spectral bands, including a 15-meter panchromatic band
  • Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS): the sensors onboard each satellite acquire data in a total of eleven bands, including:
    • Band 1 – “Coastal / Aerosol Band”: helps scientists measure ocean color in coastal regions and is also useful for aerosol detection
    • Band 9 – “Cirrus Band”: For measuring light in the part of the electromagnetic spectrum where the clouds are most visible for enhanced cloud and shadow detection
    • Bands 10 and 11 thermal bands for measuring thermal infrared radiation
  • Landsat Next increases the acquisition of data in the number of bands drastically, with a total of 26 spectral bands acquired by each satellite in the triplet constellation. 

*Landsat MSS = the numbers shown are for Landsat 4 and Landsat 5; Landsat 1-3 band numbers are 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Sources/Usage

Public Domain.