Sensor · Spaceborne

TIRS (Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor)

Missions → Landsat 8 (Extended operations)

Thermal Infrared Sensor on Landsat 8, built at NASA Goddard, measuring land surface temperature in two thermal infrared bands from 10.6-12.51 um at 100 m native resolution, resampled to 30 m in Landsat products.

Sensor

TIRS is the Thermal Infrared Sensor on Landsat 8, built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to measure land surface temperature in two thermal infrared bands ^[1]^[2]. Its Band 10 range is 10.6 to 11.19 um and Band 11 range is 11.50 to 12.51 um, covering 10.6 to 12.51 um across the two thermal bands ^[3]. TIRS data are acquired at 100 m native thermal resolution and resampled to 30 m in Landsat products ^[1]^[3]. The instrument is used in Landsat Collection 2 Surface Temperature products for land-surface-temperature and emissivity work ^[4]. Landsat 8 calibration notices record the TIRS stray-light correction and advise against Band 11 split-window use for quantitative retrievals, so quantitative surface-temperature workflows should account for that Band 11 limitation ^[5]. Landsat 9 TIRS-2 is a distinct later instrument and should not be conflated with Landsat 8 TIRS ^[2].

Operator pricing

Pricing not publicly listed by operator

Supply chain position

carried by Landsat 8

Methods this sensor implements

Demonstrated

Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrievalvia Landsat 8
Landsat Collection 2 Surface Temperature is derived from Landsat thermal infrared observations; Landsat 8 TIRS supplies Bands 10 and 11 at 100 m native resolution.
Thermal infrared imagingvia Landsat 8
[usgs-bands] Two thermal infrared bands, 10.6-11.19 and 11.50-12.51 um, 100 m native; thermal-only sensor.

Capable, undemonstrated

None on record.

Topics this relates to

Building thermal performance Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)well suited

Irrigation monitoring Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)well suited

Sea surface temperature Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)well suited

Urban heat island Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)well suited

Vector-borne disease risk Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)well suited

Crop stress and yield Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)adequate

Drought Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)adequate

Harmful algal blooms Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)adequate

Permafrost and ground ice Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)adequate

Wildfire Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)adequate

Coastal water quality Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)marginal

Marine primary production Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)marginal

Mineral exploration Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)marginal

Pasture and grazing Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)marginal

Solar energy siting and monitoring Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)marginal

Urban change Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)marginal

Wind energy siting Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrieval(demonstrated)marginal

Cloud properties Thermal infrared imaging(demonstrated)well suited

Sources

[1]Landsat 8, NASA Scienceagency doc2026-06-14
[2]Landsat 8, USGS Landsat Missionsagency doc2026-06-14
[3]Landsat band designations, USGS FAQagency doc2026-06-14
[4]Landsat Collection 2 Surface Temperature, USGSagency doc2026-06-14
[5]Landsat 8 OLI and TIRS Calibration Notices, USGSagency doc2026-06-14

Cite https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/landsat-tirs Markdown twin → Field definitions → Suggest a correction →

How to cite this page

Plain text

TIRS (Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor). EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/landsat-tirs (CC BY 4.0)

BibTeX

@misc{eoatlas:products:sensor:landsat-tirs,
  title = {TIRS (Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor)},
  author = {{EO-Atlas}},
  publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
  url = {https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/landsat-tirs}
}