The 50-year Landsat collection 2 archive

Christopher J. Crawford; David P. Roy; Saeed Arab; Christopher Barnes; Eric Vermote; Glynn Hulley; Aaron Gerace; Michael J. Choate; Christopher Engebretson; Esad Micijevic; Gail L. Schmidt; Cody Anderson; Martha Anderson; Michelle Bouchard; Bruce D. Cook; Ray Dittmeier; Danny Howard; Calli Jenkerson; Minsu Kim; Tania Kleyians; Tom Maiersperger; Chase Mueller; Christopher Neigh; Linda Owen; Benjamin Page; Nima Pahelvan; Rajagopalan Rengarajan; Jean-Claude Roger; Kristi L. Sayler; Pat L Scaramuzza; Sergii Skakun; Lin Yan; Hankui K. Zhang; Zhe Zhu; Stephen G. Zahn

doi:10.1016/j.srs.2023.100103

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The 50-year Landsat collection 2 archive

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Abstract

The Landsat global consolidated data archive now exceeds 50 years. In recognition of the need for consistently processed data across the Landsat satellite series, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initiated collection-based processing of the entire archive that was processed as Collection 1 in 2016. In preparation for the data from the now successfully launched Landsat 9, the USGS reprocessed the Landsat archive as Collection 2 in 2020. This paper describes the rationale for, and the contents and advancements provided by Collection 2, and highlights the differences between the Collection 1 and Collection 2 products. Notably, the Collection 2 products have improved geolocation and, for the first time, the USGS provides a global inventory of Level 2 surface reflectance and surface temperature products. Also for the first time, the USGS used a commercial cloud computing architecture to efficiently process the archive and enable direct cloud access of the Landsat products. The paper concludes with discussion of likely improvements expected in Collection 3 in preparation for the Landsat Next mission that is planned for launch in the early 2030s.

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Christopher J. Crawford, David P. Roy, Saeed Arab, Christopher Barnes, Eric Vermote, Glynn Hulley, Aaron Gerace, Michael J. Choate, Christopher Engebretson, Esad Micijevic, Gail L. Schmidt, Cody Anderson, Martha Anderson, Michelle Bouchard, Bruce D. Cook, Ray Dittmeier, Danny Howard, Calli Jenkerson, Minsu Kim, Tania Kleyians, Tom Maiersperger, Chase Mueller, Christopher Neigh, Linda Owen, Benjamin Page, Nima Pahelvan, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Jean-Claude Roger, Kristi L. Sayler, Pat L Scaramuzza, Sergii Skakun, Lin Yan, Hankui K. Zhang, Zhe Zhu, Stephen G. Zahn. 2023. The 50-year Landsat collection 2 archive. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srs.2023.100103

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