2018 ESIP Winter Meeting

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has improved Landsat data quality and usability through the creation of Analysis Ready Data (ARD) for the conterminous United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Landsat ARD enables the Landsat archive to be more accessible, easier to analyze, and reduces the amount of time users spend on data processing. ARD are derived from Landsat Collection 1 Level-1 scenes, which are then processed and arranged in geospatially calibrated tiles and dense temporal stacks for immediate use in monitoring and assessing landscape change. Each ARD tile consists of top of atmosphere reflectance, brightness temperature, surface reflectance, and pixel quality assessment information. Additionally, Landsat ARD are the foundational data for generating applications-ready science data products of the land surface (e.g., surface temperature and burned area) that can be used to assess landscape resiliency and vulnerability to change associated with natural processes, land management policies, and land use practices.

The purpose of this session will be to describe the Landsat ARD product and outline the future roadmap for a new suite of Landsat science data products.