Landsat 9 Collection 2 Level-2 Imagery Downloads
Landsat 9 Conversion to Surface Reflectance & Surface Temperature Steps for Imagery Dated from January 1, 2022 (applies to both Landsat 9 & 8)
* AS OF JANUARY, 2022, USGS STARTED PROCESSING LANDSAT 9 & LANDSAT 8 DIFFERENTLY THAN PRIOR YEARS - AS A RESULT, CONVERTING IMAGERY TO SURFACE REFLECTANCE IS DIFFERENT AND MUCH SIMPLER FOR 2022 IMAGERY THAN FOR PRIOR YEARS. LANDSAT 9 & 8 IMAGERY FROM 2022 PROCESSED TO "COLLECTION 2 LEVEL-2" JUST NEEDS A SIMPLE SCALING EQUATION APPLIED IN ORDER TO BE CONVERTED TO SURFACE REFLECTANCE AND SURFACE TEMPERATURE (FOR THERMAL BAND 10). THE SCALLING EQUATIONS TO CONVERT LANDSAT 9 & 8 "COLLECTION 2 LEVEL-2" IMAGERY TO SURFACE REFLECTANCE AND SURFACE TEMPERATURE ARE LISTED BELOW. *
The following are single Band Downloads of Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 Imagery (for Southern California, USA). For this type of imagery, just apply the simple scaling equation shown below to each raster to convert it to surface reflectance (much simpler than for imagery from previous years). (B1 is Band 1, B2 is Band 2, etc.; Band 10 is the thermal band to use with the temperature scaling equation):
The USGS has changed the processing and organization of new Landsat 9 & 8 imagery acquisitions starting January 1, 2022 (see the message below which appears in EarthExplorer when attempting to download imagery). IT IS MUCH SIMPLER TO CONVERT LANDSAT 9 OR 8 IMAGERY ACQUIRED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2022, TO SURFACE REFLECTANCE THAN IT WAS PRIOR. Landsat 8 acquisitions prior to 2022 can be downloaded and converted to surface reflectance with previous methods.
(Text and link from above message: Landsat Collection 1-based forward processing will remain in effect through December 31, 2021. Starting January 1, 2022, all new Landsat acquisitions will be processed into the Collection 2 inventory structure only. For more information, visit the Landsat Collections website.)
Imagery is now organized into Collections 1 and 2 as well as Levels 1 and 2. Collection 2 Level-2 imagery (shown in EarthExplorer graphic at bottom of page) has been processed to a surface reflectance-related value that can be scaled (as shown below) to calculate surface reflectance. Surface reflectance values are based on the USGS algorithm (PDF that opens in new tab) which is not solely based on dark object subtraction.
SCALING EQUATIONS TO CONVERT LANDSAT 9 OR 8 COLLECTION 2 LEVEL-2 IMAGERY TO SURFACE REFLECTANCE OR BAND 10 TO SURFACE TEMPERATURE
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SCALING EQUATION TO CONVERT LANDSAT 9 OR 8 COLLECTION 2 LEVEL-2 IMAGERY TO SURFACE REFLECTANCE:
(Landsat 8 or 9 Collection 2 Level-2 Raster x 0.0000275) - 0.2
Simply put, in order to convert Landsat 8 or 9 imagery to surface reflectance for imagery dates from January 1, 2022, and later, just download Landsat 8 or 9 Collection 2 Level-2 imagery (shown in graphic below) then multiply the entire raster by 0.0000275 then subtract 0.2 from that calculation.
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SCALING EQUATION TO CONVERT LANDSAT 9 OR 8 COLLECTION 2 LEVEL-2 THERMAL BAND (BAND 10 DOWNLOAD ABOVE) IMAGERY TO SURFACE TEMPERATURE (KELVIN UNITS):
(Landsat 8 or 9 Collection 2 Level-2 Thermal Raster x 0.00341802) + 149.0
Simply put, in order to convert Landsat 8 or 9 thermal band imagery to surface temperature (Kelvin units) for imagery dates from January 1, 2022, and later, just download Landsat 8 or 9 Collection 2 Level-2 imagery (shown in graphic below) then multiply the entire thermal raster by 0.00341802 then add 149.0 from that calculation.
