Worldwide Reference System-3 (WRS-3)

A new Worldwide Reference System, WRS-3, was developed for Landsat 10 due to the change in orbital parameters. The WRS-3 will provide a method to acquire, index, and catalog Landsat 10 scenes.

Under WRS-3, global acquisitions will be completed in 265 orbital paths, compared to the 233 paths of WRS-2 used by Landsat 4 through Landsat 9. Adjacent ground tracks will be spaced approximately 151 kilometers (94 miles) apart at the equator, supporting a scene width of 164 kilometers (102 miles). Landsat 10’s scene length will be approximately 168 kilometers (104 miles), including overlap with adjacent scenes. Image credit: NASA

Visit the Landsat Mission webpage to learn more.