Landsat 8 Band Cloud Detection Example
When using Landsat or other satellite data, it is important to first assess an area of interest for clouds. In general, clouds can best be detected with smaller wavelength bands (though certain longer wavelength bands, such as Landsat 8 band 9 [1,370 nm] and Sentinel-2 band 10 [1,375 nm]) can be used to detect cirrus clouds. For Landsat 8 band 1 should be used as is shown in the example below.
Graphic below automatically transition every 4 seconds or click arrows or dots to navigate. Details of Landsat 8 bandwidths are included below.
Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) images consist of nine spectral bands with a spatial resolution of 30 meters for Bands 1 to 7 and 9. New band 1 (ultra-blue) is useful for coastal and aerosol studies. New band 9 is useful for cirrus cloud detection. The resolution for Band 8 (panchromatic) is 15 meters. Thermal bands 10 and 11 are useful in providing more accurate surface temperatures and are collected at 100 meters. Approximate scene size is 170 km north-south by 183 km east-west (106 mi by 114 mi).
|
Landsat 8 |
Bands |
Wavelength |
Resolution |
|
Band 1 - Coastal aerosol |
0.43 - 0.45 |
30 |
|
|
Band 2 - Blue |
0.45 - 0.51 |
30 |
|
|
Band 3 - Green |
0.53 - 0.59 |
30 |
|
|
Band 4 - Red |
0.64 - 0.67 |
30 |
|
|
Band 5 - Near Infrared (NIR) |
0.85 - 0.88 |
30 |
|
|
Band 6 - SWIR 1 |
1.57 - 1.65 |
30 |
|
|
Band 7 - SWIR 2 |
2.11 - 2.29 |
30 |
|
|
Band 8 - Panchromatic |
0.50 - 0.68 |
15 |
|
|
Band 9 - Cirrus |
1.36 - 1.38 |
30 |
|
|
Band 10 - Thermal Infrared (TIRS) 1 |
10.60 - 11.19 |
100 |
|
|
Band 11 - Thermal Infrared (TIRS) 2 |
11.50 - 12.51 |
100 |
* TIRS bands are acquired at 100 meter resolution, but are resampled to 30 meter in delivered data product.
Reference
USGS. 2013. Frequently Asked Questions About the Landsat Missions. Last modified: 6/19/14. Cited at: http://landsat.usgs.gov/band_designations_landsat_satellites.php