Landsat 1–5

Multispectral Scanner (MSS)

Landsat, a joint program of the USGS and NASA, has been observing the Earth continuously from 1972 through the present day. Today the Landsat satellites image the entire Earth's surface at a 30-meter resolution about once every two weeks, including multispectral and thermal data. The USGS produces data in 3 categories for each satellite (Tier 1, Tier 2 and RT). Read more about the different tiers.

Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS): Landsat 1–5 each carried the MSS sensor, which collected four or five spectral bands of surface reflectance in the visible and near-infrared spectrum at 80m resolution. Read more about the MSS system at NASA Landsat Science.

Landsat 1 MSS Collection 2 DN values, representing scaled, calibrated at-sensor radiance.

Dataset Availability: July 1972–January 1978

Landsat 2 MSS Collection 2 DN values, representing scaled, calibrated at-sensor radiance.

Dataset Availability: January 1975–February 1982

Landsat 3 MSS Collection 2 DN values, representing scaled, calibrated at-sensor radiance.

Dataset Availability: March 1978–March 1983

Landsat 4 MSS Collection 2 DN values, representing scaled, calibrated at-sensor radiance.

Dataset Availability: August 1982–December 1993

Landsat 5 MSS Collection 2 DN values, representing scaled, calibrated at-sensor radiance.

Dataset Availability: January 1984–May 2012