Landsat Missions

Frequently Asked Questions about the Landsat Missions

Question:
What band combination is used for Landsat browse images?

Answer:

Landsat 1-3 MSS browse images are displayed as false-color RGB composites using bands 7, 5, and 4, with a 2% linear stretch applied. Landsat 4-5 MSS browse images use bands 4, 2, and 1, with the same stretch applied.

Browse images for Landsat 4-5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+ (June 1999 to May 2003) are displayed as false color RGB composites using bands 5, 4, and 3, with a 2% linear stretch applied. Pixels are sub- sampled from the original 28.5-meter (TM) or 30-meter (ETM+) meter data resolution to 240 meters, and are color-stretched based on individual scene content.

Landsat 7 ETM+ SLC-off browse images (July 2003 to present) are also displayed as false-color RGB composites using bands 5, 4, and 3; however, the images are resampled to 180 meter resolution from the original data resolution of 30 meters.

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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://landsat.usgs.gov
Page Contact Information: landsat@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified: November 24, 2009
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