Landsat 8 Satellite Imagery with 11 Spectral Bands

Landsat 8 imagery is collected by the Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor onboard the satellite, providing Earth observation data since February 2013. The dataset consists of 11 spectral bands with spatial resolutions of 15 and 30 meters, covering scenes approximately 170 km by 183 km on a 16-day repeat cycle. It is produced and archived by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the USGS.

Use Cases

• Land use and land cover classification using the 11 spectral bands.
• Change detection over time leveraging the 16-day repeat cycle and temporal coverage since 2013.
• Pixel-level quality assessment for cloud, water, or snow masking using the included QA band.
• Pan-sharpening or high-resolution analysis by combining the 15-meter panchromatic band with other spectral data.
• Thermal analysis and surface temperature studies using the Thermal Infrared Sensor bands.

Strengths

• Provides consistent global coverage with a systematic 16-day repeat cycle.
• Includes a dedicated Quality Assurance band for pixel-level condition flags like clouds and snow.
• Offers multi-spectral data with 11 bands at 30-meter resolution and a 15-meter panchromatic band.
• Maintained by authoritative organizations (NASA, USGS) and available on multiple platforms.

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts: one source lists a last updated date of 2026-02 26, which is a future date and likely an error.
• Key technical details like total row count, file size, and specific license are not provided across the sources.
• Scenes may occasionally be OLI-only or TIRS-only, not providing complete sensor data.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Acquired by the Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor onboard the Landsat 8 satellite.

Time Range

February 2013 to present

Freshness

2026-02-26 19:30:01.882102 (Note: This is a future date and may indicate a metadata error.)

Geography

Global coverage, referenced to the Worldwide Reference System-2.