Landsat Radiometry
Detector responsivity, surface properties, and atmospheric conditions affect the digital number (DN) values of Landsat data. Radiometric calibration employs algorithms and processes that improve Landsat data.
Return to Landsat Calibration and Validation Overview
Landsat Radiometric Uncertainty
Uncertainty informs users about the confidence in a measurement. No measurement can provide an exact representation of a target radiance/reflectance, but an uncertainty estimate, along with a measurement, provides a range which should contain the true value. The Landsat Mission strives to provide measurements with the lowest uncertainty.
The Landsat Radiometric Uncertainty webpage displays estimates for the uncertainty of active Landsat sensors.
Landsat Quarterly Calibration and Validation Reports
The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat Cal/Val Team continually monitors the geometric and radiometric performance of active Landsat missions and makes calibration adjustments, as needed, to maintain data quality at the highest level. The results of the analysis are summarized in quarterly USGS Open File Reports.