Landsat 8/9 Download — Free 30 m Imagery, Collection 2 Level-2
Quick answer: draw an area on the map, search Landsat 8 and 9 Collection 2 Level-2 scenes by date and cloud cover, preview the imagery in natural colour or infrared, then download the 30 m GeoTIFF.
1. Select an area
Pan and zoom freely to find your area, then start drawing.
No area selected yet.
2. Narrow the search
What this tool does
It searches the Landsat 8 and 9 archive for your area and time window, renders each candidate scene on the map so you can judge cloud and detail, and hands you a working download link for the 30 m GeoTIFF.
How to use it
Drag a rectangle, choose a date range and a cloud ceiling, then search. Scenes are outlined on the map and listed least cloudy first — click one to overlay its imagery on the basemap.
Preview before you download
The overlay is tiled server-side, so browsing scenes is fast. Switch between natural colour, colour infrared, agriculture, urban, near infrared, thermal, and the quality band to decide which scene and band you actually want.
Resolution and bands
Reflective bands — visible, near infrared, and short-wave infrared — are 30 m. The thermal band is 100 m. Surface reflectance is already atmospherically corrected in Level-2, so values are comparable across dates.
Expect large files
A single 30 m band GeoTIFF is roughly 90 MB, and the quality band about 1 MB. That is smaller than a Sentinel-2 scene, but still worth checking on the map before downloading several bands.
Data source and licence
Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 from the US Geological Survey and NASA, served through the Microsoft Planetary Computer. Public domain, free for any use including commercial, with no registration.
Landsat 8/9 compared with Sentinel-2
| Property | Landsat 8/9 | Sentinel-2 |
|---|---|---|
| Reflective resolution | 30 m | 10 m |
| Revisit | 8 days (8 and 9 combined) | ~5 days |
| Archive starts | 1972 (Landsat 1) | 2015 |
| Scene size | ~185 × 180 km | ~110 × 110 km |
| Band file size | ~90 MB per band | ~280–400 MB |
Choose Landsat for a longer historical record and lighter downloads, and Sentinel-2 for finer spatial detail. For multi-decade change analysis, Landsat is the only free option with a continuous record.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I download Landsat 8 or 9 imagery for an area?
- Drag a rectangle over your area of interest, set a date range and a cloud-cover limit, then press Search scenes. Landsat 8 and 9 scenes come back least cloudy first. Select one to render it on the map, then download the 30 m GeoTIFF for the band you need.
- Is Landsat data free, and can I use it commercially?
- Yes. Landsat imagery is produced by the US Geological Survey and NASA and is in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use, including commercial use, and no attribution is legally required, though crediting USGS is customary.
- What is the difference between Landsat 8 and Landsat 9?
- They carry nearly identical instruments, so their data is interoperable. Landsat 9 launched in 2021 and now shares the imaging load with Landsat 8, which roughly halves the revisit time. This tool returns both, and each scene is labelled with its platform.
- How often does Landsat pass over the same place?
- Each satellite repeats its orbit every 16 days. With Landsat 8 and 9 both operating, the combined revisit is about 8 days, which is why a search window of a month or two usually returns several usable scenes.
- What does 30 m resolution mean here?
- One pixel covers 30 by 30 metres on the ground, so a single pixel is about the size of a small building plot. The reflective bands — visible, near infrared, and short-wave infrared — are all 30 m. The thermal band is coarser at 100 m, and the quality band matches the 30 m grid.
- Which bands should I download?
- For a normal-looking image, red, green, and blue. For vegetation work, the near infrared band. For moisture, burn scars, or geology, the short-wave infrared bands. Each download is a single band GeoTIFF, so pick what your analysis needs rather than downloading everything.
- Why is Landsat lower resolution than Sentinel-2?
- Sentinel-2 samples at 10 m, so it resolves finer detail. Landsat's advantage is a much longer archive: the programme reaches back to 1972, and Landsat 8/9 continue a record that makes multi-decade change analysis possible where Sentinel-2 only starts in 2015.
- What is Collection 2 Level-2?
- Collection 2 is the current reprocessing of the whole Landsat archive, with improved geometric and radiometric accuracy. Level-2 means the data has been atmospherically corrected to surface reflectance, so pixel values are comparable between scenes and dates without you doing the correction yourself.
Where to go next
- Sentinel-2 download — 10 m imagery with a shorter archive.
- Studio viewer — open a downloaded GeoTIFF or vector layer to inspect it.
- Imagery data directory — compare Landsat, Sentinel, and other free sources.
- OSM layer download — vector roads and buildings for the same area.
- Country boundaries — clip imagery to administrative areas.
- Elevation finder — terrain context for the area you are imaging.