Landsat 8 and Landsat 9

Long name Landsat data set
Short name L8-9
Sensor type Optical
Platform Landsat 8 and Landsat 9
Key file name (use to open data set) *_MTL.txt or *_MTL.xml for Collection 2
Supported file extensions .txt, .tif, .xml for Collection 2
Sections

Data product name and description
Distribution disk files
Returned data for supported format
References

Data product name and description

Note: The information provided herein is based on the data distributor's documentation cited under References.
Sensor

Spectral bands:
Spectral range (nm)

Spatial resolution (m)*
(spectral resolution)

Notes
PAN (OLI) 500 - 680 (Panchromatic) 15 185 km swath width
MS (OLI)

435 - 451 (Coastal Aerosol)
452 - 512 (Blue)
533 - 590 (Green)
636 - 673 (Red)
851 - 879 (NIR)
1566 - 1651 (SWIR)
2107 - 2294 (SWIR)
1363 - 1384 (Cirrus)

30 185 km swath width
TIRS

10600 - 11190 (Thermal)
11500 - 12510 (Thermal)

30 185 km swath width

* Resolution is always nadir position unless noted otherwise.

Landsat 8-9 image data is available in two processing levels:
  • Level 1GT
  • Level 1T/1TP
Processing level Horizontal accuracy (m) Description/notes
L1GT N/A Corrected systematically for ground and terrain.
L1T/1TP N/A Corrected for ground and terrain.

L1TP data is provided in relative top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance.

Distribution disk files

A Landsat 8-9 data set is organized in a specific folder structure on disk. GDB uses this folder structure and the file names to identify the data product type.

Warning: Data sets for this sensor are organized in a specific folder structure on disk. GDB uses this structure and the file names to identify the data product type. Do not alter the folder structure or any file names prior to data ingestion to ensure the image data and auxiliary information are imported correctly.

In CATALYST Professional programs, such as Focus, you can open a Landsat 8-9 data set in the File Selector window by selecting the *_MTL.txt file or the *_MTL.xml file for Collection 2.

When opening a Landsat 8-9 data set, the files read by GDB are as described in the following table.

File name Format Required Contents/details
*_MTL.txt or *_MTL.xml for Collection 2 Text Yes Key file name. Use this file to open the data set.
*.TIF GeoTIFF Yes TIFF image file. Contains imagery information.
*_ANG.txt ASCII No Angle-coefficent file that provides model coefficients of the sensor-viewing angle. With this file, you can create angle bands and compute solar and sensor-viewing angles per pixel.

Returned data for supported format

Landsat 8-9 data can be opened directly in its raw vendor format or imported into a PCIDSK (*.pix) file using the key file name. For optimal processing, use the PCIDSK format. The data structure, after it is opened by GDB, is as described in the following table.

Data product Data returned Details
Landsat 8-9 15m PAN

1 x [16U] raster channel

2 x [TEX] text segments

Panchromatic band.

Metadata (*_MTL.txt) file
Angle Coefficient (*_ANG.txt) file

Landsat 8 30m MS

9 x [16U] raster channels

2 x [TEX] text segments

Coastal Aerosol, Blue, Green, Red, NIR, SWIR (2), Cirrus, Quality bands.
Note: Quality band is only available for Collection 1

Metadata (*_MTL.txt) file
Angle Coefficient (*_ANG.txt) file

Landsat 8 30m TIRS

2 x [16U] raster channels

2 x [TEX] text segments

Two thermal bands.

Metadata (*_MTL.txt) file
Angle Coefficient (*_ANG.txt) file

Landsat 8 30m Quality

5 x [8U] raster channels

2 x [BIT] bitmap segments

2 x [TEX] text segments

Quality band.

Metadata (*_MTL.txt) file
Angle Coefficient (*_ANG.txt) file

Landsat 8-9 Collection 2 Level 1 30m MS and Thermal

16 (Combined) (14 OLI) x [16U] raster channels

4 x [8U] raster channels

17 x [BIT] bitmap segments

2 x [TEX] text segments

Coastal Aerosol, Blue, Green, Red, NIR, SWIR (2), Cirrus, Thermal (2) (Combined only), Quality, Saturation and Occlusion, Angle (4) bands.

4 Confidence bands.

Fill, Dilated Cloud, Cirrus, Cloud, Cloud Shadow, Snow, Clear, Water, Data Saturation (8), Terrain occlusion bands.

Metadata (*_MTL.xml) file
Angle Coefficient (*_ANG.txt) file

Landsat 8-9 Collection 2 Level 1 30m Thermal

4 x [16U] raster channels

4 x [8U] raster channels

9 x [BIT] bitmap segments

2 x [TEX] text segments

Thermal (2), Quality, Occlusion bands.

4 Confidence bands.

Fill, Dilated Cloud, Cirrus, Cloud, Cloud Shadow, Snow, Clear, Water, Terrain occlusion bands.

Metadata (*_MTL.xml) file
Angle Coefficient (*_ANG.txt) file

References

For more information, visit: landsat.usgs.gov

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