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Bands in Remote Sensing

What is a Band in Remote Sensing?

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.

Bands/Layer in Remote Sensing

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 NameBand 1Band 2Band 3
Natural ColorRedGreenBlue
Urban False ColorSWIR22SWIR16Red
Vegetation AnalysisSWIR16NIRRed
Healthy VegetationNIRSWIR16Blue
Land/WaterNIRSWIR16Red
AgricultureNIRRedGreen
Atmospheric PenetrationSWIR22SWIR16NIR
Natural With Atmospheric RemovalSWIR22NIRGreen
[NIR– Near-infrared, SWIR– Short Wave Infrared]
Land Cover TypeSpectral Band Combination
WaterBand 1, 4 & 7 / Band 1, 2 & 3
UrbanBand 1,4 & 7
FarmlandBand 1, 2 & 3
ForestBand 1, 4 & 7
Salt ScaldBand 1, 2 & 3
Remnant VegetationBand 1, 4 & 7
Irrigated VegetationBand 1, 4 & 7

Landsat Band Combinations

Landsat 1-5 Bands (MSS)
1-3 Bands4-5 BandsWavelength
[micrometers]
Resolution
[meters]
Band 4Band 10.5-0.660
Band 5Band 20.6-0.760
Band 6Band 30.7-0.860
Band 7Band 40.8-1.160
Landsat 4 and 5 Bands (TM)
BandsWavelength [micrometers]Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Blue0.45 – 0.5230
Band 2 – Green0.52 – 0.6030
Band 3 – Red0.63 – 0.6930
Band 4 – Near Infrared (NIR)0.76 – 0.9030
Band 5 – SWIR1.55 – 1.7530
Band 6 – Thermal Infrared10.40 – 12.50120
Band 7 – SWIR2.08 – 2.3530
Landsat 7 Bands (ETM+)
BandsWavelength [micrometers]Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Blue0.45 – 0.5230
Band 2 – Green0.52 – 0.6030
Band 3 – Red0.63 – 0.6930
Band 4 – Near Infrared (NIR)0.77 – 0.9030
Band 5 – SWIR1.57 – 1.7530
Band 6 – Thermal Infrared10.40 – 12.5060
Band 7 – SWIR2.09 – 2.3530
Band 8 – Panchromatic0.52 – 0.9015
Landsat 8 Bands
BandsWavelength [micrometers]Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Coastal aerosol0.43 – 0.4530
Band 2 – Blue0.45 – 0.5130
Band 3 – Green0.53 – 0.5930
Band 4 – Red0.64 – 0.6730
Band 5 – Near Infrared (NIR)0.85 – 0.8830
Band 6 – SWIR 11.57 – 1.6530
Band 7 – SWIR 22.11 – 2.2930
Band 8 – Panchromatic0.50 – 0.6815
Band 9 – Cirrus1.36 – 1.3830
Band 10 – Thermal Infrared (TIR) 110.60 – 11.19100
Band 11 – Thermal Infrared (TIR) 211.50 – 12.51100

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

Band NameBand Range (μm)Landsat 5Landsat 7Landsat 8Sentinel 2
Coastal0.40 – 0.45  11
Blue0.45 – 0.51122
Green0.5 – 0.62233
Red0.6 – 0.73344
Pan0.5 – 0.7 88 
NIR0.77 – 1.004458
Cirrus1.35 – 1.40  910
SWIR161.55 – 1.7555611
SWIR222.1 – 2.377712
LWIR10.5 – 12.56610, 11 
[μm– micrometers]

Sentinel-2 Band Combinations

BandsWavelength [micrometers]Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Coastal aerosol0.44360
Band 2 – Blue0.49010
Band 3 – Green0.56010
Band 4 – Red0.66510
Band 5 – Vegetation Red Edge0.70520
Band 6 – Vegetation Red Edge0.74020
Band 7 – Vegetation Red Edge0.78320
Band 8 – NIR0.84210
Band 8A – Vegetation Red Edge0.86520
Band 9 – Water vapour0.94560
Band 10 – SWIR – Cirrus1.37560
Band 11 – SWIR1.61020
Band 12 – SWIR2.19020

ASTER Band Combinations

BandsWavelength [micrometers]Resolution [meters]
Band 1 – Green0.52 – 0.6015
Band 2 – Red0.63 – 0.6915
Band 3N – Near Infrared (NIR)0.78 – 0.8615
Band 4 – SWIR 11.60 – 1.7030
Band 5 – SWIR 22.145 – 2.18530
Band 6 – SWIR 32.185 – 2.22530
Band 7 – SWIR 42.235 – 2.28530
Band 8 – SWIR 52.295 – 2.36530
Band 9 – SWIR 62.360 – 2.43030
Band 10 – TIR 18.125 – 8.47590
Band 11 – TIR 28.475 – 8.82590
Band 12 – TIR 38.925 – 9.27590
Band 13 – TIR 410.25 – 10.9590
Band 14 – TIR 510.95 – 11.6590

LISS-III Band Combinations

BandsWavelength [micrometers]Resolution [meters]
1, Blue
2, Green0.52 to 0.5923
3, Red0.62 to 0.6823
4, NIR0.77 to 0.8623
5, SWIR1.55 to 1.7070
LISS-III Bands image

1 thought on “Remote Sensing Bands”

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