The 50-year Landsat collection 2 archive

Authors: CRAWFORD, C - Us Geological Survey (USGS); ROY, D - Michigan State University; ARAB, S - Us Geological Survey (USGS); BARNES, C - Us Geological Survey (USGS); VERMOTE, E - Goddard Space Flight Center; HULLEY, G - Jet Propulsion Laboratory; GERACE, A - Rochester Institute Of Technology; CHOATE, M - Us Geological Survey (USGS); ENGEBRETSON, C - Us Geological Survey (USGS); SCHMIDT, GAIL - Us Geological Survey (USGS); ANDERSON, C - Us Geological Survey (USGS); Anderson, Martha; BOUCHARD, M - Us Geological Survey (USGS); SKAKUN, S - University Of Maryland; YAN, L - Michigan State University; ZHANG, H - South Dakota State University; ZHU, Z - University Of Connecticut; ZAHN, S - Us Geological Survey (USGS)

Submitted to: Science of Remote Sensing
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/13/2023
Publication Date: 9/18/2023
Citation: Crawford, C., Roy, D., Arab, S., Barnes, C., Vermote, E., Hulley, G., Gerace, A., Choate, M., Engebretson, C., Schmidt, G., Anderson, C., Anderson, M.C., Bouchard, M., Skakun, S., Yan, L., Zhang, H., Zhu, Z., Zahn, S. 2023. The 50-year Landsat collection 2 archive. Science of Remote Sensing. 8. Article e100103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srs.2023.100103.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srs.2023.100103

Interpretive Summary: For 50 years, the Landsat suite of satellites have been collecting Earth remote sensing imagery in multiple wavebands, documenting changes in the Earth surface conditions occurring at scales of human management (30-100 m). The United States Geological Survey (USGS) converts the raw imagery collected by Landsat into higher level products, including the geolocation and radiometric corrections needed to make the imagery useable for science and applications. These products are delivered as “Collections” – consistently processed(or reprocessed) over the full 50-year archive to enable robust investigations of change. This manuscript describes the products and processing stream involved in generating Landsat Collection 2, describing improvements to Collection 1 and new products distributed with this collection, including surface reflectance and surface temperature. This paper provides a valuable resource for users of Landsat imagery, and also looks forward to new products and improvements that will be part of Collection 3.

Technical Abstract: The Landsat global consolidated data archive now exceeds 50 years. In recognition of the need for consistently processed data, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) initiated collection-based Landsat processing with the entire archive processed as Collection 1 in 2016. In preparation for the data from the, now successfully launched, Landsat 9 satellite, the USGS reprocessed the archive as Collection 2 in 2020. This paper describes the contents and advancements provided by Landsat Collection 2, highlights the differences between Collection 1 and Collection 2, and concludes with a discussion on envisioned Landsat Collection 3 improvements in preparation for the Landsat Next mission planned for launch in the early 2030s. Notably, the Landsat Collection 2 products have improved geolocation and, for the first time in the Landsat mission history, the USGS now provides a standard global inventory of Level 2 surface reflectance and surface temperature products. The USGS used a commercial cloud compute architecture via Amazon Web Services (AWS) to efficiently process over 9 million images totaling more than 9 petabytes in a timely and cost-effective manner and to enable direct user access of Landsat data in the cloud.