Landsat-5 TM reflective-band absolute radiometric calibration

TLDR

Landsat‑5 Thematic Mapper has supplied the longest continuous moderate‑resolution remote sensing dataset since its 1984 launch. A new calibration method adopted in 2003 employs a lifetime radiometric model for reflective bands derived from the internal calibrator (free of degradation) and cross‑calibrated with Landsat‑7 E‑TM Plus. The absolute radiometric accuracy for reflective bands is approximately 7–10 %.

Abstract

The Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor provides the longest running continuous dataset of moderate spatial resolution remote sensing imagery, dating back to its launch in March 1984. Historically, the radiometric calibration procedure for this imagery used the instrument's response to the Internal Calibrator (IC) on a scene-by-scene basis to determine the gain and offset of each detector. Due to observed degradations in the IC, a new procedure was implemented for U.S.-processed data in May 2003. This new calibration procedure is based on a lifetime radiometric calibration model for the instrument's reflective bands (1-5 and 7) and is derived, in part, from the IC response without the related degradation effects and is tied to the cross calibration with the Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus. Reflective-band absolute radiometric accuracy of the instrument tends to be on the order of 7% to 10%, based on a variety of calibration methods.