Satellite Exploration of Thailand > General

Landsat MSS Image Color Combinations

MSS TM ETM+ Blue Band 1 0.45 - 0.52 Band 1 0.450 - 0.515 Green Band 1 0.5 - 0.6 Band 2 0.52 - 0.60 Band 2 0.525 - 0.605 Red Band 2 0.6 - 0.7 Band 3 0.63 - 0.69 Band 3 0.630 - 0.690 Red - near-IR Band 3 0.7 - 0.8 Band 4 0.76 - 0.90 Band 4 0.750 - 0.900 Near-IR Band 4 0.8 - 1.0 Mid-IR Band 5 1.55 - 1.75 Band 5 1.55 - 1.75 Thermal-IR Band 6 10.4 - 12.5 Band 6 10.4 - 12.5 Mid-IR Band 7 2.08 - 2.35 Band 7 2.08 - 2.35 PAN Band 8 0.52 - 0.90 (Wavelength Unit: micro meter)

The Landsat MSS sensor has different band spectra from the TM sensor or ETM+ sensor, and common formulas like the True Color (321), False Color (432) or SWIR (742) of the latters don't apply.

This page aims to demonstrate visual characteristics of various color combinations of MSS images. There are altogether ₄P₃=24 combinations.

Notice that Band 3 and Band 4 produce similar visual effects.


Sample Data
Location: Mae Sot (Path 140, Row 48 / WRS-1)
Date: January 26, 1973
Source: TRFIC Image Browser (GeoZoom).

Band Images
Band 1 . 0.5-0.6 . green	Band 2 . 0.6-0.7 . red
Band 3 . 0.7-0.8 . red - near-IR	Band 4 . 0.8-1.0 .near-IR

Road Contrast - Good
312	412
321	421
324	423
123	124
213	214
Road Contrast - Fair
413	314
132	142
231	241
234	243
Road Contrast - Poor
431	341
432	342
134	143