Generic MSS Data

Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Entity_and_Attribute_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program

Publication_Date: 20010423

Title: Generic MSS Data

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: remote-sensing image

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Barstow, CA 92311

Publisher: Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program

Description:

Abstract:

The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) EROS Data Center (EDC), has managed the Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS) data archive for more than two decades. MSS data provide a historical record of the Earth's land surface from the early 1970's to the early 1990's. Designated initially as the Earth Resources Technology Satellite-A (ERTS-A), it used a Nimbus-type platform that was modified to carry sensor systems and data relay equipment. When operational orbit was achieved, it was designated ERTS-1. The satellite continued to function beyond its designed life expectancy of one year and finally ceased to operate on January 6, 1978, more than five years after its launch date. The second in this series of Earth resources satellites (designated ERTS-B) was launched January 22, 1975. It was renamed Landsat 2 by NASA, which also renamed ERTS-1 to Landsat 1. Three additional Landsats were launched in 1978, 1982, and 1984 (Landsats 3, 4, and 5 respectively). Each successive satellite system had mproved sensor and communications capabilities.

Purpose:

To provide comprehensive MSS imagery for use in a variety of applications.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: Various

Currentness_Reference: Publication Date

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -119.03487

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -112.22842

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 37.83482

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 32.49765

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Theme_Keyword: Landsat

Theme_Keyword: Remote sensing

Theme_Keyword: satellite

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints: None

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program

Contact_Person: Clarence Everly

Contact_Position: Program Manager

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address:

222 E. Main Street Suite 215

City: Barstow

State_or_Province: CA

Postal_Code: 92311

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (760)255-8886

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (760)256-6863

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: everlyc@mojavedata.gov

Hours_of_Service: 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. PST

Contact_Instructions:

Please request information by submitting a request via email, fax or phone contact; you may also visit www.mojavedata.gov, where you can make a map of the Mojave to print or download in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, access planimetric data and remotely sensed imagery, or download geospatial data in ArcInfo export format.

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

The identification of features is provided by the distinct electromagnetic energy it emits, reflects, or otherwise transmits. This is called the spectral signature. Other signatures are tone (lightnes or darkness), texture (surface roughness or smoothness), pattern, shadow, shape and size are as important. Thus, through the use of multispectral scanners, such elements as water features, soils, and vegetation can be identified and distinguished from each other.

Logical_Consistency_Report:

The Landsat platforms operate from a sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit imaging the same 185 km (115 miles) ground swath every 16 days (formerly 18 days on Landsats 1 through 3). Multispectral scanner (MSS) data were received directly from Landsats 4 and 5 by a network of 16 worldwide ground stations. Also, data were transmitted via a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) to its ground terminal at White Sands, New Mexico, and then relayed via a domestic communications satellite (DOMSAT) to the data processing facility. The MSS digital data were radiometrically corrected and relayed by DOMSAT to the EROS Data Center for storage, reproduction into digital and film formats, and distribution to users. The TDRS System (TDRSS) satellites in geosynchronous orbits. This configuration allowed the acquisition of MSS data for nearly all of the Earth's surface, except for an area between 50 degrees north and 67 degrees east by 50 degrees south and 82 degrees east. That area may be covered in part by data recorders at the Thailand and India ground stations.

Completeness_Report:

All of the Landsats have been in sun-synchronous orbits with equatorial crossing times ranging from 8:30 a.m. for Landsat 1, 9 a.m. for Landsat 2, to 9:45 a.m. for Landsat 5.

Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:

Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report:

The multispectral scanner (MSS) sensors were line scanning devices observing the Earth perpendicular to the orbital track. The cross-track scanning was accomplished by an oscillating mirror; six lines were scanned simultaneously in each of the four spectral bands for each mirror sweep. The forward motion of the satellite provided the along-track scan line progression. All five Landsats have carried the MSS sensor which responds to Earth-reflected sunlight in four spectral bands. Landsat 3 carried an MSS sensor with an additional band, designated band 8, that responded to thermal (heat) infrared radiation. The radiometric range of bands for the MSS sensor is shown below: (Handbook, 1979 and 1984, USGS). Wavelength Landsats 1-3 Landsats 4-5 (micrometers)

Band 4 Band 1 0.5 - 0.6 Band 5 Band 2 0.6 - 0.7 Band 6 Band 3 0.7 - 0.8 Band 7 Band 4 0.8 - 1.1 Band 8 10.4 - 12.6

Vertical_Positional_Accuracy:

Vertical_Positional_Accuracy_Report:

Landsats 1 through 3 operated in a near-polar orbit at an altitude of 920 km with an 18-day repeat coverage cycle. These satellites circled the Earth every 103 minutes, completing 14 orbits a day. Eighteen days and 251 overlapping orbits were required to provide nearly complete coverage of the Earth's surface with 185 km wide image swaths. The amount of swath overlap or sidelap varies from 14 percent at the equator to a maximum of approximately 85 percent at 81 north or south latitude. These satellites carried two sensors: a return beam vidicon (RBV) and a MSS. The RBV sensor was essentially a television camera and did not achieve the popularity of the MSS sensor. The MSS sensor scanned the Earth's surface from west to east as the satellite moved in its descending (north-to-south) orbit over the sunlit side of the Earth. Six detectors for each spectral band provided six scan lines on each active scan. The combination of scanning geometry, satellite orbit, and Earth rotation produced the global coverage necessary for studying land surface change. The resolution of the MSS sensor was approximately 80 m with radiometric coverage in four spectral bands from the visible green to the near-infrared (IR) wavelengths. Only the MSS sensor on Landsat 3 had a fifth band in the thermal-IR. Landsats 4 and 5 carry both the MSS and the thematic mapper (TM) sensors; however, routine collection of MSS data was terminated in late 1992. They orbit at an altitude of 705 km and provide a 16-day, 233-orbit cycle with a swath overlap that varies from 7 percent at the Equator to nearly 84 percent at 81 north or south latitude. These satellites were also designed and operated to collect data over a 185 km swath. The MSS sensors aboard Landsats 4 and 5 are identical to the ones that were carried on Landsats 1 and 2. The MSS and TM sensors primarily detect reflected radiation from the Earth surface in the visible and IR wavelengths, but the TM sensor provides more radiometric information than the MSS sensor. The wavelength range for the TM sensor is from the visible (blue), through the mid-IR, into the thermal-IR portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Sixteen detectors for the visible and mid-IR wavelength bands in the TM sensor provide 16 scan lines on each active scan. Four detectors for the thermal-IR band provide four scan lines on each active scan. The TM sensor has a spatial resolution of 30 meters for the visible, near-IR, and mid-IR wavelengths and a spatial resolution of 120 meters for the thermal-IR band.

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Indirect_Spatial_Reference:

Landsats 4 and 5 MSS scenes have an instantaneous field of view (IFOV) of 68 meters in the cross-track direction by 82 meters in the along-track direction (223.0 by 272.3 feet, respectively). To understand this concept, consider a ground scene composed of a single 82- by 82-meter area. The scan monitor sensor ensures that the cross-track optical scan is 185 km at nominal altitude regardless of mirror scan nonlinearity or other perturbations of mirror velocity. Cross-track image scan velocity is nominally 6.82 meters per microsecond. After 9.958 microseconds, the 82- by 82-meter image has moved 67.9 meters. The sample taken at this instant represents 15 meters of previous information and 68 meters of new information. Therefore, the effective IFOV of the MSS detector in the cross-track direction must be considered to be 68 meters which corresponds to a nominal ground area of 68 meters by 82 meters at the satellite nadir point. Using the effective IFOV in area calculation eliminates the overlap in area between adjacent pixels.

Landsats 1 through 3 provided Earth coverage similar to Landsats 4 and 5. However, the higher altitude of Landsats 1 through 3 resulted in a different swathing pattern with the IFOV being 56 meters in the cross-track direction by 79 meters in the along-track direction (183.7 feet by 259.2 feet respectively).

The resolution for the MSS sensor is shown below:

Landsats 1-3 Landsats 4-5 (meters)

Band 4 Band 1 79/82* Band 5 Band 2 79/82 Band 6 Band 3 79/82 Band 7 Band 4 79/82 Band 8** 237

* The nominal altitude was 920 km for Landsats 1, 2, and 3. Nominal altitude for Landsats 4 and 5 is 705 km. The resolutions are approximately 79 and 82 meters respectively as a result.

** Landsat 3 only.

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Raster

Raster_Object_Information:

Raster_Object_Type: Pixel

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Planar:

Grid_Coordinate_System:

Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

UTM_Zone_Number: 11

Planar_Coordinate_Information:

Planar_Distance_Units: Meters

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: NAD83 (WGS84)

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Since 1972 these satellites have provided repetitive, synoptic, global coverage of high-resolution multispectral imagery. The characteristics of the MSS and TM bands were selected to maximize their capabilities for detecting and monitoring different types of Earth's resources. For example, MSS band 1 can be used to detect green reflectance from healthy vegetation, and band 2 of MSS is designed for detecting chlorophyll absorption in vegetation. MSS bands 3 and 4 are ideal for recording near-IR reflectance peaks in healthy green vegetation and for detecting water-land interfaces. MSS Bands 4, 2, and 1 can be combined to make false-color composite images where band 4 controls the amount of red, band 2 the amount of green, and band 1 the amount of blue. This band combination makes vegetation appear as shades of red, brighter reds indicating more vigorously growing vegetation. Soils with no or sparse vegetation will range from white (sands) to greens or browns depending on moisture and organic matter content. Water bodies will appear blue. Deep, clear water will be dark blue to black in color, while sediment-laden or shallow waters will appear lighter in color. Urban areas will appear blue-gray in color. Clouds and snow will be bright white and they are usually distinguishable from each other by the shadows associated with the clouds.

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

U.S. Department of the Interior, 1992, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey.

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program

Contact_Person: Clarence Everly

Contact_Position: Program Manager

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mail and physical

Address:

222 E. Main Street Suite 215

City: Barstow

State_or_Province: CA

Postal_Code: 92311

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (760)255-8886

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (760)256-6863

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: everlyc@mojavedata.gov

Hours_of_Service: 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. PST

Contact_Instructions:

Please request information by submitting a request via email, fax or phone contact; you may also visit www.mojavedata.gov, where you can make a map of the Mojave to print or download in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, access planimetric data and remotely sensed imagery, or download geospatial data in ArcInfo export format.

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20010423

Metadata_Review_Date: 20010423

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program

Contact_Person: Clarence Everly

Contact_Position: Program Manager

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address:

222 East Main Street Suite 215

City: Barstow

State_or_Province: CA

Postal_Code: 92311

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (760)255-8886

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (760)256-6863

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: everlyc@mojavedata.gov

Hours_of_Service: 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. PST

Contact_Instructions:

Please request information by submitting a request via email, fax or phone contact; you may also visit www.mojavedata.gov, where you can make a map of the Mojave to print or download in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, access planimetric data and remotely sensed imagery, or download geospatial data in ArcInfo export format.

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: Local time

Metadata_Access_Constraints: None

Metadata_Use_Constraints: None

Metadata_Security_Information:

Metadata_Security_Handling_Description: Unknown

Metadata_Security_Classification: Unclassified

Metadata_Security_Classification_System: None