The Landsat Program is one of the longest running programmes for image acquisition from space, first launched in 1972 the program is managed between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA. Eight satellites have so far been launched, the most recent being Landsat 8, on February 11th, 2013. Landsat satellite imagery offers a unique resource for global change research and applications in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, and national security.

Raw Landsat 4/5 data covering the UK were acquired from Infoterra by the Landmap project. Landmap subsequently orthorectified and mosaiced the images. Two types of image data from the satellite are available for the UK from 1988 to 1992: MultiSpectral Scanner (MSS) and Thematic Mapper (TM). Landsat 4 and 5 carry both the MSS and the TM sensors; however, routine collection of MSS data was terminated in late 1992. The MSS and TM sensors primarily detect reflected radiation from the Earth's surface in the visible and near-infrared (IR) wavelengths, but the TM sensor with its seven spectral bands provides more radiometric information than the MSS sensor. The wavelength range for the TM sensor is from the visible, through the Mid-IR, into the Thermal-IR portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, in the following bands:

• Band 1 (Blue): 0.45 to 0.52µm
• Band 2 (Green): 0.52 to 0.60µm
• Band 3 (Red): 0.63 to 0.69µm
• Band 4 (Near infrared): 0.76 to 0.90µm
• Band 5 (Mid infrared): 1.55 to 1.75µm
• Band 6 (Thermal infrared): 10.4 to 12.5µm
• Band 7 (Mid infrared): 2.08 to 2.35µm

Sixteen detectors for the visible and Mid-IR wavelength bands in the TM sensor provide 16 scan lines on each active scan. Four detectors for the Thermal-IR band provide four scan lines on each active scan. The TM sensor has a spatial resolution of 30 meters for bands 1 - 5, and band 7, and a spatial resolution of 120 meters for band 6.

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) funded Landmap service which ran from 2001 to July 2014 collected and hosted a large amount of earth observation data for the majority of the UK. After removal of JISC funding in 2013, the Landmap service is no longer operational, with the data now held at the NEODC.

The Landsat 4/5 data are available to UK academics and students. To apply for access, please

1. Register as a NEODC user. If you already are a NEODC registered user, skip this step. If you have forgotten your NEODC user ID and/or password, please contact the NEODC helpdesk at neodc@rl.ac.uk.
2. Apply for access to the Landmap data. Application involves the agreement with the Landmap terms of use.

Software

Erdas ER viewer, available free of charge, can be used to open raster image formats such as TIFF, GeoTiff, IMG, ECW, ERS, ALG, DAT and many more, and is capable of handling large file sizes.

Documentation

• NASA Landsat fact sheet
• USGS Landsat fact sheet

Links to further information

• The Landmap project Landsat 4/5 website - this site may be offline after 1st August 2014 due to a withdrawal of JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) funding, see below for an archived version of the site
• An archived version of the Landmap project Landsat 4/5 website, hosted by the Internet Archive project
• NASA Landsat website
• USGS Landsat website
• The Infoterra website

If you have queries about these pages or about obtaining the Landsat 4/5 data from the NEODC then you should contact the NEODC Support team. Your query should be answered within one working day. When follow-up work is required, the NEODC support team will carry out the work as quickly and efficiently as possible.