USGS EarthExplorer
Free & Open alternative data provider · 1 listed dataset
USGS EarthExplorer is an online search, discovery, ordering, and download interface operated by the United States Geological Survey. It provides access to inventories of satellite imagery, aerial photography, elevation models, land-cover products, digitized maps, and other remotely sensed records held by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center.[1][2][3]
EarthExplorer is a catalog and delivery tool rather than a satellite or sensor. Individual collections retain their own geographic coverage, acquisition dates, processing levels, metadata, and use conditions.[2] One prominent collection is Landsat, a joint NASA-USGS program that NASA describes as the longest continuous space-based record of Earth's land.[4]
What It Does
A user defines an area of interest by map selection, place search, coordinates, an uploaded geospatial file, a circle or polygon, or a Landsat Worldwide Reference System path and row.[1] Date, month, and cloud-cover filters can narrow a query where the selected dataset supports them.[1] The user then chooses datasets, applies collection-specific criteria, and reviews matching scenes.[1]
Results may include geographic footprints, browse images, metadata, and download or order controls.[1] EarthExplorer can export result lists in formats including CSV, KMZ, delimited text, shapefile, and Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata.[1] USGS also provides a file-list upload workflow and a browser-based bulk-download application for larger retrieval tasks.[3]
Archive Holdings
The EROS archive spans multiple acquisition systems and product families. Its official overview lists historical and modern aerial photography, Landsat products, declassified satellite imagery, radar imagery, digital elevation datasets, land-cover products, vegetation-monitoring layers, commercial data purchases, and records from other space agencies.[2] Some entries are raw or lower-level observations; others are processed science products or derived classifications.[2]
USGS states that the archive reaches back to aerial photographs from 1937, early orbital imagery from the 1960s, and the first Landsat mission in 1972.[2] NASA independently confirms that Landsat has collected a continuous land-imaging record since 1972 and that NASA and USGS jointly manage the program.[4] That corroboration applies to Landsat, not to every dataset discoverable through EarthExplorer.
Search And Delivery
EarthExplorer's four-stage interface separates search criteria, dataset selection, optional additional criteria, and results.[1] This structure is necessary because available filters and downloadable products differ across collections. Search-result totals may be approximate when no narrowing criteria are applied, while criteria-based searches are used to expose all matching records through pagination.[1]
Downloads and orders require a USGS Earth Resources Registration account.[1][3] The related bulk-download tool operates in a web browser, and the file-list service accepts scene lists and metadata exports for subsequent retrieval.[3] The archive overview directs users to product-specific pages for detailed descriptions and citation requirements.[2]
Access And Terms
The catalog can be searched publicly, but login is required to download or order scenes and to upload a search file.[1][3] USGS describes selected archive images as downloadable or orderable at no charge.[2] This does not mean every item has identical terms: EarthExplorer displays an end-user license acknowledgement when a requested dataset is licensed, and users must consult the relevant product metadata and agreement.[1]
The set of available collections can change. USGS records that NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center products were removed from EarthExplorer and its machine interface in August 2024, with users redirected to NASA distribution channels.[2] A durable workflow should therefore preserve dataset identifiers and verify current access routes rather than assume that catalog membership is permanent.
Users And Applications
EarthExplorer is used by researchers, public agencies, geospatial professionals, companies, and members of the public who need primary or derived Earth-observation records.[2][3] NASA identifies agriculture, disaster management, ecosystems, forestry, human health, urban development, water resources, and wildfire monitoring among uses of Landsat data.[4] Other EarthExplorer collections support terrain analysis, historical aerial-image research, land-cover mapping, and sensor-specific investigations.[2]
The portal supplies source imagery and geospatial products; it does not itself generate investment signals or guarantee that a selected scene is suitable for a particular analysis. Cloud cover, spatial resolution, acquisition geometry, calibration, processing level, and licensing remain dataset-specific considerations.[1][2]
More datasets from USGS EarthExplorer
USGS EarthExplorer lists 1 datasets on this encyclopedia. The most representative listings:
More about Free & Open Data
Free & Open Data is one of the signal families covered by The Alternative Data Encyclopedia, with 36 providers and 322 datasets listed in the register. For how the signal is generated, its caveats and the compliance considerations, and the full provider list, see the category article.
Further reading
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- Open vs commercial alternative dataWhat free and open datasets can and cannot do: where public data rivals paid panels, where it cannot compete, and how open sources fit a professional research workflow.
- Alternative data for hedge fundsA practical guide to alternative data for hedge funds: team design, budget sequencing, infrastructure, vendor portfolio construction and the metrics that show whether the program creates investment value.
- Free alternative data sourcesThe practical list of free alternative-data sources for investors: public filings, official statistics, satellite and earth observation, on-chain data, web archives and open registries, what each covers, what it costs in engineering effort, and where free data falls short.