The Thermal Infrared Sensor on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission

Abstract

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), a joint NASA and USGS mission, is scheduled for launch in December, 2012. The LDCM instrument payload will consist of the Operational Land Imager (OLI), provided by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation (BATC) under contract to NASA and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). This paper outlines the design of the TIRS instrument and gives an example of its application to monitoring water consumption by measuring evapotranspiration.