What is a Band in Remote Sensing?

Bands in Remote Sensing

Tutorial Contents

In Remote Sensing the bands is a set of data file values for a specific portion of the Electromagnetic spectrum of effected light or emitted heat. There are several bands including; red, green, blue, near-infrared, thermal infrared, and so far.

The bands of data are occasionally referred to as layers. Once a band is imported into a GIS, it becomes a layer of information which can be processed in various ways. Additional layers can be created and added to the image file.

Band Combinations

Band combinations are used to highlight the presence of certain land features. The most common band combination in Remote Sensing is False Color, that is Red, Green, Blue (RGB- 4,3,2), its call FCC (False Color Composite). Another common combination is Color Infrared which highlights the presence of vegetation.

Spectal Band Combination Types:

Combination Name	Band 1	Band 2	Band 3
Natural Color	Red	Green	Blue
Urban False Color	SWIR22	SWIR16	Red
Vegetation Analysis	SWIR16	NIR	Red
Healthy Vegetation	NIR	SWIR16	Blue
Land/Water	NIR	SWIR16	Red
Agriculture	NIR	Red	Green
Atmospheric Penetration	SWIR22	SWIR16	NIR
Natural With Atmospheric Removal	SWIR22	NIR	Green

[NIR– Near-infrared, SWIR– Short Wave Infrared]

Land Cover Type	Spectral Band Combination
Water	Band 1, 4 & 7 / Band 1, 2 & 3
Urban	Band 1,4 & 7
Farmland	Band 1, 2 & 3
Forest	Band 1, 4 & 7
Salt Scald	Band 1, 2 & 3
Remnant Vegetation	Band 1, 4 & 7
Irrigated Vegetation	Band 1, 4 & 7

Landsat Band Combinations

Landsat 1-5 Bands (MSS)

1-3 Bands	4-5 Bands	Wavelength [micrometers]	Resolution [meters]
Band 4	Band 1	0.5-0.6	60
Band 5	Band 2	0.6-0.7	60
Band 6	Band 3	0.7-0.8	60
Band 7	Band 4	0.8-1.1	60

Landsat 4 and 5 Bands (TM)

Bands	Wavelength [micrometers]	Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Blue	0.45 – 0.52	30
Band 2 – Green	0.52 – 0.60	30
Band 3 – Red	0.63 – 0.69	30
Band 4 – Near Infrared (NIR)	0.76 – 0.90	30
Band 5 – SWIR	1.55 – 1.75	30
Band 6 – Thermal Infrared	10.40 – 12.50	120
Band 7 – SWIR	2.08 – 2.35	30

Landsat 7 Bands (ETM+)

Bands	Wavelength [micrometers]	Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Blue	0.45 – 0.52	30
Band 2 – Green	0.52 – 0.60	30
Band 3 – Red	0.63 – 0.69	30
Band 4 – Near Infrared (NIR)	0.77 – 0.90	30
Band 5 – SWIR	1.57 – 1.75	30
Band 6 – Thermal Infrared	10.40 – 12.50	60
Band 7 – SWIR	2.09 – 2.35	30
Band 8 – Panchromatic	0.52 – 0.90	15

Landsat 8 Bands

Bands	Wavelength [micrometers]	Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Coastal aerosol	0.43 – 0.45	30
Band 2 – Blue	0.45 – 0.51	30
Band 3 – Green	0.53 – 0.59	30
Band 4 – Red	0.64 – 0.67	30
Band 5 – Near Infrared (NIR)	0.85 – 0.88	30
Band 6 – SWIR 1	1.57 – 1.65	30
Band 7 – SWIR 2	2.11 – 2.29	30
Band 8 – Panchromatic	0.50 – 0.68	15
Band 9 – Cirrus	1.36 – 1.38	30
Band 10 – Thermal Infrared (TIR) 1	10.60 – 11.19	100
Band 11 – Thermal Infrared (TIR) 2	11.50 – 12.51	100

[Note : TM– Thematic Mapper, MSS– Multispectral Scanner, ETM– Enhanced Thematic Mapper, SWIR– Short wave Infrared]

Band Name	Band Range (μm)	Landsat 5	Landsat 7	Landsat 8	Sentinel 2
Coastal	0.40 – 0.45			1	1
Blue	0.45 – 0.5	1	1	2	2
Green	0.5 – 0.6	2	2	3	3
Red	0.6 – 0.7	3	3	4	4
Pan	0.5 – 0.7		8	8
NIR	0.77 – 1.00	4	4	5	8
Cirrus	1.35 – 1.40			9	10
SWIR16	1.55 – 1.75	5	5	6	11
SWIR22	2.1 – 2.3	7	7	7	12
LWIR	10.5 – 12.5	6	6	10, 11

[μm– micrometers]

Sentinel-2 Band Combinations

Bands	Wavelength [micrometers]	Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Coastal aerosol	0.443	60
Band 2 – Blue	0.490	10
Band 3 – Green	0.560	10
Band 4 – Red	0.665	10
Band 5 – Vegetation Red Edge	0.705	20
Band 6 – Vegetation Red Edge	0.740	20
Band 7 – Vegetation Red Edge	0.783	20
Band 8 – NIR	0.842	10
Band 8A – Vegetation Red Edge	0.865	20
Band 9 – Water vapour	0.945	60
Band 10 – SWIR – Cirrus	1.375	60
Band 11 – SWIR	1.610	20
Band 12 – SWIR	2.190	20

ASTER Band Combinations

Bands	Wavelength [micrometers]	Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Green	0.52 – 0.60	15
Band 2 – Red	0.63 – 0.69	15
Band 3N – Near Infrared (NIR)	0.78 – 0.86	15
Band 4 – SWIR 1	1.60 – 1.70	30
Band 5 – SWIR 2	2.145 – 2.185	30
Band 6 – SWIR 3	2.185 – 2.225	30
Band 7 – SWIR 4	2.235 – 2.285	30
Band 8 – SWIR 5	2.295 – 2.365	30
Band 9 – SWIR 6	2.360 – 2.430	30
Band 10 – TIR 1	8.125 – 8.475	90
Band 11 – TIR 2	8.475 – 8.825	90
Band 12 – TIR 3	8.925 – 9.275	90
Band 13 – TIR 4	10.25 – 10.95	90
Band 14 – TIR 5	10.95 – 11.65	90

LISS-III Band Combinations

Bands	Wavelength [micrometers]	Resolution [meters]
1, Blue	–
2, Green	0.52 to 0.59	23
3, Red	0.62 to 0.68	23
4, NIR	0.77 to 0.86	23
5, SWIR	1.55 to 1.70	70

Bands in Remote Sensing