The Landsat satellites are capable of collecting data at any point along their orbital paths, producing comprehensive global coverage. Data can be downloaded to either domestic or foreign ground receiving stations. A variety of factors drive whether or not the satellites actually acquire data, including cloud cover and need. For example, some areas on the Earth (e.g. deserts) may not change in appearance as frequently as other areas (e.g. urban areas), and therefore do not need satellite coverage as often.

Landsats 1 through 5 carried the Multispectral Scanner (MSS) sensor, which recorded four bands of data at 80 meter resolution. Landsats 4 and 5 also carried the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor, recording six bands of data at 30 meter resolution and a thermal band at 120 meter resolution. Landsat 7 carries the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor. The ETM+ sensor collects data in eight bands, with bands 1 through 5 and band 7 collecting data at 30 meter resolution, band 6 collecting data at 60 meter resolution, and band 8 (a panchromatic band) collecting data at 15 meter resolution.

The maps shown here summarize Landsat scenes held by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS). EROS's MSS archive runs from 1972 to 1992, when the U.S. stopped downloading MSS data in favor of TM data. These maps also show part of EROS's TM holdings, from 1982 to 1997. The maps exclude images held by other countries, images with more than 30 percent cloud cover, and poor quality images. You can view individual years, animations, and summary images.

(See the next help article to learn about what Landsats detect and how we display the data.)