Summary

Description

Abstract:The Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) are instruments onboard the Landsat 8 satellite, which was launched in February of 2013. The satellite collects images of the Earth with a 16-day repeat cycle, referenced to the Worldwide Reference System-2 (WRS-2), and has an 8-day offset to Landsat 7. The satellite achieved operational WRS-2 orbit on April 11, 2013. Landsat OLI image data consists of nine spectral bands (band designations) with a spatial resolution of 30 meters for Bands 1 through 7 and Band 9. The resolution of Band 8 (panchromatic) is 15 meters. Landsat TIRS image data consists of two thermal bands with a spatial resolution of 100 meters (resampled to 30) for Bands 10 and 11. The TIRS data are packaged with the OLI for data distribution the majority of the time; however there are a small number of only-OLI or only-TIRS scenes that may be available. The approximate scene size will be 170 km north-south by 183 km east-west (106 mi by 114 mi).