Acquisition

Landsat scenes downlinked directly to the USGS EROS archive are available for download or processing within about 12-24 hours after downlink.

Landsat 8 Acquisitions (2013 to present)

Landsat 8 collects approximately 400 scenes per day, in accordance with the Long Term Acquisition Plan (LTAP-8). The LTAP directs the acquisition of Landsat 8 scenes, using parameters such as seasonality, land definition, historical cloud cover, gain settings, and sun angle.

NOTE: The "Landsat 8 acquisitions planned today" report is currently incomplete, and only represents a portion of the Landsat 8 acquisition schedule. Complete schedules will be posted during the summer of 2013. Images over the conterminous United States are acquired at every opportunity.

NOTE: Some acquisitions were not made due to testing of either or both the Operational Land Imager (OLI) or Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) instruments. This list shows the affected paths and dates.

Landsat 8 acquisitions planned today: Landsat 8 (graphic) Landsat 8 (text)
Landsat 8 acquisition calendar
Landsat 8 acquisitions archive

Landsat 7 Acquisitions (1999 to present)

Landsat 7 collects approximately 350 scenes per day, in accordance with the Long Term Acquisition Plan (LTAP). The LTAP directs the acquisition of Landsat 7 scenes, using parameters such as seasonality, land definition, historical cloud cover, gain settings, and sun angle. Scenes downlinked to other ground receiving stations may become available in the USGS archive, but the International Ground Station that collects the data is the primary distributor.

Landsat 7 acquisitions planned today: Landsat 7 (graphic) Landsat 7 (text)
Landsat 7 acquisition calendar
Landsat 7 acquisitions archive

Important information about Landsat 7 acquisitions:
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May 15, 2012: Delta-I Maneuver
- No Landsat 7 scenes will be collected on May 15 to mid-day May 16, 2012.
April 17, 2012: Unscheduled Maneuver
- Landsat 7 maneuvered out of the path of a piece of debris that was on a collision course with the spacecraft. This move immediately affected the area of data imaged. The geographic coverage will drift to the west until the easternmost portion of the scene will be missing as compared to previous acquisitions. The largest offset will be seen around April 25, 2011.
  
  The westward movement will continue until the USGS Flight Operations Team can maneuver and reposition the satellite to its proper orbit. This process is expected to take approximately 2 months, and the USGS will continue to acquire data during this time. Details about returning to nominal orbit will be announced when they become available.
October 5, 2011: Delta I Maneuver
- No Landsat 7 scenes collected during this time are available for download or processing.
March 5, 2011: Antenna Error
- No Landsat 7 scenes are available for the following path/rows:
  Path 1 Rows 52 to 62
  Path 218 Row 69, Rows 111 to 116
September 28-29, 2010: Delta I Maneuver
- No Landsat 7 scenes collected during this time are available for download or processing.
May, 2003: SLC malfunction
- The Scan Line Corrector (SLC) malfunctioned on May 31, 2003, suspending Landsat 7 acquisitions until July 14, 2003. Additionally, no Landsat 7 data was acquired from September 3, 2003 to September 17, 2003.

Landsat 5 Acquisitions (1984 to 2012)

Landsat 5 acquisitions have ceased, effective December 2012. Decommissiong details can be found on http://landsat.usgs.gov/L5_Decommission.php.

Landsat 5 acquisitions archive

Important information about Landsat 5 acquisitions:
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December 21, 2012 - Mission Accomplished for Landsat 5
- The U.S. Geological Survey announced that Landsat 5 will be decommissioned over the coming months, bringing to a close the longest-operating Earth observing satellite mission in history. More details can be found at http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3485#.UPWSM3XA8Xs.
June 4, 2012 – Landsat 5 Update
- Landsat 5's MSS instrument recently powered back on in a test mode, as described on http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3231#.UCUKNfXPzps
February 16, 2012 – USGS extends suspension of operations for Landsat 5
- Landsat 5 acquisitions continue to be suspended, as described on http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3109#.T5br-rI0yHg.
November 18, 2011 - Landsat 5 acquisitions suspended
- Over the past 10 days, problems with the amplifier have led to drastically reduced image download capabilities, a sign of impending failure. USGS engineers have suspended imaging activities for an initial period of 90 days in order to explore every possible option for restoring satellite-to-ground image transmissions.
March 14-15, 2011: Instrument Anomaly
- No Landsat 5 scenes collected during this time are available for download or processing.
February 22-25, 2011: Outgassing Maneuver
- No Landsat 5 scenes collected during this time are available for download or processing.
November 1-2, 2010: Delta-I Maneuver
- No Landsat 5 scenes collected during this time are available for download or processing.
October 26-28, 2010: Delta-I Maneuver
- No Landsat 5 scenes collected during this time are available for download or processing.
June 4, 2010: Path 43 Collects
- No Landsat 5 collects of Path 43 during this time are available for download or processing.
May 7, 2010: New Landsat 5 Scheduler
- A new Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) acquisition scheduler was released on May 6, 2010. Similar to that employed by Landsat 7 operations, the new scheduler incorporates daily global cloud forecasts along with seasonal cloud climatology to increase the relative likelihood of acquiring usable imagery. This system has the goal of extending the Landsat 5 Mission while targeting scene opportunities most likely to yield high quality imagery for the global archive.
April 6, 2010: Modification to Landsat 5 Acquisition Plan
- During Landsat 5’s first 25 years, the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor acquired data over assigned ground stations regardless of cloud cover or season. This resulted in the collection of significant numbers of TM scenes unsuitable for analysis. In order to maximize the life of the components on the spacecraft, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Flight Operations Team has begun creating a new scheduling tool, designed to avoid acquiring data over areas considered to be too cloudy or off-season. Other variables will also be analyzed, including the time period since the scene was last acquired, the location of calibration sites, the degree of land area overlap between scenes, and more.
  
  Although this is a substantial change to Landsat 5 operations, the USGS believes the effect of the change will be to maximize quality data acquisitions, reduce the number of unusable scenes in the archive, and extend the life of the mission. The new acquisition plan will maintain the long-standing policy of prioritizing collection of the continental U.S., while continuing to provide direct downloads to our International Cooperators.
December 18, 2009 – January 10, 2010: Landsat 5 Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) Anomaly
- On Friday, December 18, 2009, the transmitter on Landsat 5 experienced technical difficulties. No Landsat 5 data was collected from December 18, 2009 until January 10, 2010.
August 14, 2009: Landsat 5 data not Nominal
- No Landsat 5 collects on August 14, 2009 are available for download or processing.

Landsat Acquisitions Limited Due to Sun Angle
These maps show the areas of Earth that are imaged throughout the year, and also the areas of land that are not collected due to the sun angle.

USGS Landsat Global Archive

USGS Landsat Archive Collections per year, spacecraft and sensor
View maps where data were collected and from which satellite and sensor from 1972 to 2011.