Earth & space data platforms · United States Geological Survey
USGS EarthExplorer
USGS's free search and download portal for the Landsat archive and other US government aerial and satellite imagery.
EarthExplorer is the USGS's public search interface for downloading satellite and aerial imagery it archives, most notably the full Landsat record back to 1972, at 30m resolution for most bands (15m panchromatic) with roughly 16-day revisit per satellite, plus other datasets including declassified historical imagery, digital elevation models and aerial photography. Users draw a search area, filter by date range and cloud cover, and download individual scenes or order bulk datasets; a related API exists for programmatic access (M2M). Access is free and requires only a USGS registration. Because Landsat's record extends back over five decades, EarthExplorer is a primary source for long-term land-cover change analysis that shorter-lived commercial missions cannot match.
At a glance
| Vendor | United States Geological Survey |
|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free |
| Free tier | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud |
| Open source | No |
| Best for | Researchers needing free, long-term historical satellite imagery for land-cover change analysis. |
Pricing
Free with USGS registration; funded as US government data.
Pricing has not been verified yet — see the vendor's site.
Features
- Full Landsat archive since 1972
- 30m (15m panchromatic) resolution imagery
- Cloud-cover and date-range search filters
- Declassified historical imagery
- Digital elevation models
- Bulk scene ordering
- Machine-to-Machine (M2M) API
Integrations
Profile last reviewed September 21, 2026