In this research a time series of Landsat imagery was processed to retrieve surface reflectance, surface temperature, surface emissivity and a vegetation index (NDVI) from 1984 to 2011 in support of the Northern, Southcentral and Southeast Test Cases and integrated SES studies.
To cover the study area multiple Landsat paths and rows from 1984 to 2011 (57-19, 58-19, 59-19, 68-17, 68-18, 69-17, 69-18, 69-19, 70-17, 70-18, 74-11, 75-10, 75-11, 76-10, 76-11 and 77-10) were selected. After an exploratory search of the USGS GLOVIS gateway (http://glovis.usgs.gov/) that yielded more than 500 potential images from Landsat missions 4, 5 and 7 for all test cases with different degree of cloud cover, a total of 284 Landsat images were selected. The selection was intended to maximize high quality image radiometry following two criteria: a) including images with less of 20% cloud cover; and b) excluding images with low Sun height that cause strong presence of self-cast shadows due to terrain relief.
Index shapefile is available for download. Contact Lisa Wirth for access to raster data files.
