dataset · Global
GLAD Landsat ARD
The Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) created by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery Lab (GLAD) at the University of Maryland serves as a spatially and temporally consistent input for land cover mapping and change detection at global to local scales. The GLAD ARD represents a 16-day time series of globally consistent, tiled Landsat normalized surface reflectance from 1997 to the present operationally updated every 16 days. Only data from 2020 to present available on the AWS, older data is ava
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Licence: The GLAD ARD imposes no restrictions on subsequent redistribution or use, provided proper citation is given following the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
Evidence quality: 51.8
Listed in aws-odr public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- Landsat normalized surface reflectance, 16-day composites · Tiled, globally consistent Landsat ARD
- Coverage docs-verified
- Global · 1997 to present (AWS holds 2020 to present only; older data via UMD API)
- Resolution docs-verified
- 16-day temporal composites; spatial resolution not stated in docs
- Update frequency docs-verified
- New 16-day composites added monthly
- Formats llm-inferred
- Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF (COG), inferred from 'cog' tag; not confirmed in body · S3 object access via AWS CLI
- Access docs-verified
- Free/open; anonymous S3 access with no AWS account required (aws s3 ls --no-sign-request); CC BY licence, citation required
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Multi-date land cover change context for ecological or habitat baseline studies · Long-run vegetation and land cover change review for catchment or land-use planning · Surface reflectance time series inputs for land cover classification in environmental assessment
- Audience llm-inferred
- GIS analysts · ecologists · environmental consultants · planners · remote sensing analysts
Limitations
- Constraints llm-inferred
- AWS copy holds only 2020 to present; pre-2020 data requires the UMD API · Description says updated every 16 days, but Update Frequency states new composites are added monthly · Spatial resolution and tile format not stated in docs · UK-specific coverage and validation not stated; global product · Third-party academic project (UMD GLAD); maintenance risk
Evidence
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.