Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) is derived from re-projecting top-of-atmosphere reflectance from Landsat 8/9 and Sentinel-2 A/B onto a common grid, resulting in two surface reflectance products (L30=Landsat and S30=Sentinel-2, 30m products). Science-quality products for HLS v2.0, which include atmospheric compensation, look angle adjustment, and bandpass normalization, were released globally in August 2021.
The L30 archive extends back to April 2013. The HLSS30 archive was completed on June 6, 2023, and extends back to December 2015. The products are generated as cloud optimized GeoTIFFs (COGs), with supporting tutorials offered by NASA's Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC). HLS also supports solutions from other Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) cycles, including two Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis (OPERA) products (2018), HLS-VegIndex (2020), Low-Latency HLS (2022) and Vertical Land Motion (VLM) (2022). Dynamic band combinations and calculations were recently released as a beta release in NASA Worldview allowing for customized visualizations of HLS data back to March 2022. See an example in NASA Worldview.
Sentinel-2C is scheduled to launch in spring 2024. The data are planned for inclusion into HLSS30 shortly after the system enters operational status (estimated late 2024).
| Platforms | Temporal Frequency | Horizontal Resolution | Geographic Domain | Latency | Spectral Band | Thematic Areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sentinel-2 A, Sentinel-2 B, Sentinel-2 C, Landsat 8, Landsat 9 | 2-3 days | 30 m | Global | 2-3 days | Visible (VIS), Near Infrared (NIR), Short-wave Infrared (SWIR) | Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems, Disaster Response, Earth Surface and Interior, Land Cover and Land Use Change, Water and Energy Cycle |
The HLS project enables global observations of the land every 2-3 days, which is pivotal for improved monitoring of land surface changes, disaster response, and agricultural management. Below are "Data in Action" stories for HLS that demonstrate its benefit to end users.
Need help using solution? SNWG's Stakeholder Engagement Program (SEP) curates relevant training resources focused on how to access and use SNWG solutions. For each solution, resources are aggregated into the following categories: Fundamentals of Remote Sensing, Missions and Instruments, Data Products and Descriptions, Data Access and Code Examples, and Use Case and Application Examples. Information on workshops and open meetings are also included. The resources below are for the HLS product. You can directly access HLS data here: HLSS30v2.0, HLSL30v2.0.
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals of Remote Sensing | Fundamentals of Remote Sensing | NASA's Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) training that provides a background on remote sensing |
| From Pixels to Products: An Overview of Satellite Remote Sensing | Presentation by Dr. Sundar Christopher at NASA's Interagency Implementation and Advanced Concepts Team (IMPACT) providing an overview of satellite remote sensing | |
| What is Remote Sensing? | NASA's Earthdata tutorial on remotely sensed data including orbits, platforms/instruments, and spatial resolutions |
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Missions and Instruments | Landsat Science | Overview of the Landsat mission series that is used in the development of HLS |
| Sentinel-2 Missions | Overview of the Sentinel-2 mission that is used in the development of HLS | |
| Landsat with Sentinel: Global Coverage | Resource describes the benefits of a combined Landsat Sentinel product with helpful visualizations |
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Data Products and Descriptions | HLS SNWG Product Fact Sheet | SNWG fact sheet for the HLS product including information such as temporal resolution and spatial coverage |
| Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) | Overview of HLS with links to additional resources | |
| HLSL30 v002 | Data set landing page for the HLS Operational Land Imager Surface Reflectance and Top of Atmosphere (TOA) Brightness Daily Global 30m (HLSL30) product | |
| HLSS30 v002 | Data set landing page for the HLS Sentinel-2 Multi-spectral Instrument Surface Reflectance Daily Global 30m (HLSS30) product | |
| Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document | Description of the algorithm used to develop the Harmonized Landsat/Sentinel-2 Reflectance dataset | |
| HLS User Guide | User guide for the Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) product | |
| Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 | Overview of HLS including information about the products and algorithms |
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Data Access and Code Examples | Getting Started with Cloud-Native HLS Data in Python | Python tutorial for working with HLS data products |
| STAC API | Details about the SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) which can be used to query and subset HLS products | |
| Data Prep Scripts | Python and/or R scripts available for downloading data and performing basic data processing functions |
| Topic | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Use Case and Application Examples | Harmonized Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 Data | Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) application example using HLS |
| Common Landsat Band RGB Composites | True and false color combinations using HLS | |
| Creating and Using NDVI from Satellite Imagery | NASA ARSET tutorial for creating vegetation indices from satellite imagery | |
| Understanding Phenology with Remote Sensing | NASA ARSET tutorial for using remote sensing to understand phenology: the study of life cycle events. Crop and vegetation phenology is a potential application for HLS | |
| Techniques for Wildfire Detection and Monitoring | NASA ARSET tutorial for wildfire detection and monitoring using remotely sensed data. Burn scar mapping is a potential application for HLS | |
| Land Cover Classification with Satellite Imagery | NASA ARSET tutorial for conducting land cover classification using satellite imagery | |
| Spectral Indices for Land and Aquatic Applications | NASA ARSET tutorial for calculating spectral indices from Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager (OLI)-2, Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI), and Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) data |
| Title and Registration Link | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Beginning of a New Era of Multidisciplinary NASA Satellite Data Products Enabled by the Satellite Needs Working Group | The Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) is a US Government inter-agency organizational body that was established in 2016 to identify the Earth observational gaps and data needs across the US Federal Civilian Agencies. The SNWG effort is a 2-year process in which NASA identifies and ultimately implements a wide range of innovative solutions that benefit the entire Earth Science community. There are currently 19 different SNWG activities underway, with many of the products now operational. In this session, we will invite representatives from the implementation teams behind several of the highly successful SNWG products to describe the new capabilities and where to access the data. This includes the Harmonized Landsat/Sentinel-2 (HLS), which is a cloud optimized dataset that standardizes common data bands from the two satellite constellations thereby effectively doubling the data available to the community. Another SNWG activity is the generation of a global surface water extent product that combines the data frequency of the optical satellites and the cloud-penetrating capabilities of satellite radar for a uniformed and frequent surface water product. Other activities include new radiation and clouds products, global air quality, land surface disturbance, North America deformation, vegetation indices suite with HLS, and planetary boundary layer products. | December 13, 2023 |
| Advancing Science Capabilities with Data Harmonization: NASA's Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 Product | This webinar provides an overview of the Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) data, services, and tools. It also provides information on how to access and visualize the data. | May 19, 2022 |
| Maximizing Earth Science Observations with Data Harmonization: Harmonized Landsat/Sentinel-2 | During this webinar, the HLS data production and science teams presented the product's technical details, availability and status, and its benefit to the Earth science community. | March 1, 2022 |