Normalized Difference Moisture Index
Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) is used to determine vegetation water content. It is calculated as a ratio between the NIR and SWIR values in traditional fashion.
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Landsat Surface Reflectance-derived Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) are produced from Landsat 4–5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Landsat 8-9* Operational Land Imager (OLI)/Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) Collection 1 and Collection 2 scenes that have been processed to Landsat Level-2 Surface Reflectance products. *Landsat 9 = Collection 2 only
NDMI is used to determine vegetation water content. It is calculated as a ratio between the NIR and SWIR values in traditional fashion.
(NIR - SWIR) / (NIR + SWIR)
In Landsat 4-7, NDMI = (Band 4 – Band 5) / (Band 4 + Band 5).
In Landsat 8-9, NDMI = (Band 5 – Band 6) / (Band 5 + Band 6).
NDMI is delivered as a single band product specified as shown in the table below.
Landsat Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) Specifications
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Long Name | Normalized Difference Moisture Index |
| Short Name | LC8NDMI, LE7NDMI, LT5NDMI, or LT4NDMI |
| File Name | *_sr_ndmi.tif |
| Data Type | Signed 16-bit Integer |
| Units | Spectral Index (Band Ratio) |
| Valid Range | -10,000 — 10,000 |
| Fill Value | Collection 2: -19999 Collection 1: -9999 |
| Saturate Value | 20,000 |
| Scale Factor | *0.0001 |
Data Access
Landsat Surface Reflectance-derived NDMI are produced on-demand, using the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) On Demand Interface.
Visit the Landsat Surface Reflectance-derived Spectral Indices page for information on product constraints, citation, and reference information.