Landsat Manual 1 - Revised2019

Landsat Manual
Introduction and Downloading Landsat Images
This manual will give an introduction to Landsat satellites and describe how to download Landsat
images as well as how to import these data into ArcGIS and ENVI.
1. Introduction to Landsat
Landsat project is a joint initiative between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA to collect
space-based medium-resolution land remote sensing data to support government, commercial,
industrial, civilian, military, and educational communities throughout the United States and
worldwide.
1.1 Landsat Timeline
1.2. Landsat sensors
Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) images consist of four spectral bands with 60 meter spatial
resolution. Approximate scene size is 170 km north-south by 185 km east-west. Specific band
designations differ from Landsat 1-3 to Landsat 4-5.
Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images consist of seven spectral bands with a spatial resolution of
30 meters for Bands 1 to 5 and 7. Spatial resolution for Band 6 (thermal infrared) is 120 meters, but
is resampled to 30-meter pixels. Approximate scene size is 170 km north-south by 183 km east-west.
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Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images consist of eight spectral bands with a
spatial resolution of 30 meters for Bands 1 to 7. The resolution for Band 8 (panchromatic) is 15 meters.
All bands can collect one of two gain settings (high or low) for increased radiometric sensitivity and
dynamic range, while Band 6 collects both high and low gain for all scenes. Approximate scene size
is 170 km north-south by 183 km east-west.
Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) images consist
of nine spectral bands with a spatial resolution of 30 meters for Bands 1 to 7 and 9. New band 1
(ultra-blue) is useful for coastal and aerosol studies. New band 9 is useful for cirrus cloud detection.
The resolution for Band 8 (panchromatic) is 15 meters. Thermal bands 10 and 11 are useful in
providing more accurate surface temperatures and are collected at 100 meters. Approximate scene
size is 170 km north-south by 183 km east-west. The nominal spacecraft altitude is 705 km.
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This page provides details on each band: http://landsat.usgs.gov/best_spectral_bands_to_use.php.
2. Downloading Landsat Data
This section will explain the worldwide reference system and the process of obtaining free Landsat
images from EarthExplorer website.
2.1 The Worldwide Reference System (WRS) (Source: http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/?p=3231)
The Worldwide Reference System (WRS) is a global notation system for Landsat data. The WRS
indexes orbits (paths) and scene centers (rows) into a global grid system. Landsat 1, Landsat 2, and
Landsat 3 followed WRS-1. Landsat 8, Landsat 7, Landsat 5 and Landsat 4 follow the WRS-2.
Shapefiles for WRS-1 and WRS-2 (path/row boundaries) are available to download at
http://landsat.usgs.gov/worldwide_reference_system_WRS.php. If you know the path/row numbers
of the region you wish to work with, it is much easier to find images on the Internet.
2.2. Landsat Image Sources

All Landsat images at both sites have standard algorithms and terrain correction, making them easy
to use after downloading. Most Landsat standard data products are processed using the Level 1
Product Generation System (LPGS) with the following parameters applied:
 GeoTIFF output format
 Cubic Convolution (CC) resampling method
 30-meter (TM, ETM+) and 60-meter (MSS) pixel size (reflective bands)
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 Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) map projection
 World Geodetic System (WGS) 84 datum
 MAP (North-up) image orientation
2.3. Naming convention for Landsat scene
All Landsat scene identifiers are based on the following naming convention:
LXSPPPRRRYYYYDDDGSIVV
L = Landsat
X = Sensor
S = Satellite
PPP = WRS path
RRR = WRS row
YYYY = Year
DDD = Julian day of year
GSI = Ground station identifier
VV = Archive version number
Examples:
LC80390222013076EDC00 (Landsat 8 OLI and TIRS)
LO80390222013076EDC00 (Landsat 8 OLI only)
LT80390222013076EDC00 (Landsat 8 TIRS only)
LE70160392004262EDC02 (Landsat 7 ETM+)
LT40170361982320XXX08 (Landsat 4 TM)
LM10170391976031AAA01 (Landsat 1 MSS)
(Source: http://landsat.usgs.gov/naming_conventions_scene_identifiers.php)
2.5. Downloading Landsat images from Earth Explorer
Each user must register before downloading Landsat images. To register please go to the earth
explorer website http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/. Then click on Register and fill in the required
information. You need to have an email to register. The website also contains other types of satellite
data in addition to Landsat images.
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After you registered and have an account, you can login, searching the image and downloading your
data. Below is the Path and Row of Landsat scenes (WRS2; for Landsat 5, 7 and 8) that cover
Cambodia (the map was produced by Mr. Ann Kimheng). Landsat Collection 1 – Level 1 is
recommended for downloading.
 Go to the Search Criteria tap and enter the search criteria (the location and time frame you
are interested, as well as the number of results for the search)
 Then click on the Search button to begin the data search. You may need to modify the dates
and/or the number of results to find appropriate data.
 Click on the Data Sets button and then check the boxes for the data set(s) you want to search.
 Click on the Results button to view your search results.
 From this page you can look at browse images, inspect the meta data and download an
image.
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3. How to Use the Downloaded Data
Landsat data downloaded from the website are distributed as a single file in an archived and zipped
“.TAR.GZ” format. Use a zip program to extract the files contained in the zipped file. The image data
are the TIF files of all the Landsat bands. There are also two text files which contain the metadata of
the image. The TIF file of any band can be open in ArcGIS and ENVI. All the band images are in
grey color. You can combine three bands to make a true color (RGB = Bands321) or false color image.
To do this, you can use Composite Bands tool in ArcGIS or the Available Bands List window in ENVI.
In ENVI, you can open each band’s image individually, then create a layer stack, and finally save the
result as a new file.
Further readings:
http://landsat.usgs.gov/Landsat_Search_and_Download.php
http://landsat.usgs.gov/Landsat_Processing_Details.php
http://landsat.usgs.gov/band_designations_landsat_satellites.php
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/?p=3166
http://landsathandbook.gsfc.nasa.gov/pdfs/Landsat7_Handbook.pdf

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Landsat Manual

Introduction and Downloading Landsat Images

1.1 Landsat Timeline

1.2. Landsat sensors

2. Downloading Landsat Data

2.1 The Worldwide Reference System (WRS) (Source: http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/?p=3231)

2.2. Landsat Image Sources

2.3. Naming convention for Landsat scene

2.5. Downloading Landsat images from Earth Explorer

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