Early in mission Landsat 9 geometric performance

Abstract

Landsat 9 (L9) was launched on September 27, 2021, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) released Level-1 data, geometrically orthorectified and radiometrically calibrated imagery in digital numbers that can be scaled to Top-of-Atmosphere reflectance, and Level-2 data, geometrically orthorectified and radiometrically calibrated surface reflectance imagery, to the public on February 10, 2022. From September 27, 2021 to early January of 2022, the satellite and its two instruments, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), were in their commissioning phase, updating key radiometric and geometric calibration parameters for both the spacecraft and the instruments. The data acquired during the commissioning phase of the spacecraft and instruments were reprocessed with the newly determined post-launch calibration parameters prior to the releasing of the data to the public. After the public release of the data, the calibration parameters of the sensors and the spacecraft continue to be monitored to ensure the data released to the public is of the same high quality as previous Landsat data products. This paper discusses three key geometric performance aspects of the L9 spacecraft and its instruments during its early mission time frame (September 27, 2021 to June 27, 2022) including geodetic accuracy, geometric accuracy, and within band registration accuracy of the L9 products generated.