Satellite Band Combinations
The Landsat ETM+ subset image on the left covers an area of approximately 30 by 30 kilometres and is over the county of Kent, UK. A similar area on the right is of Ra's al Khaymah, United Arab Emirates. Click on the thumbnails to view larger (not full resolution) examples of typical band combinations used.
Bands 3, 2, 1 in red, green, blue.
This is a natural colour composition and tends to be used primarily for display posters or familiarising and orientating the non-expert user of satellite data. Also the band combination to use for shallow water applications such as bathymetry mapping and sediment load.
Bands 4, 3, 2 in red, green, blue.
A familiar looking band combination if you are using SPOT XS or IRS multispectral data, as they only have these three band wavelengths. Although this band combination can be used for many applications, typically other combinations are used if other bands are available.
Bands 4, 5, 3 in red, green, blue.
This band combination is used mostly for vegetation and land cover analysis, providing the greatest distinction between vegetation types. This band combination is one of the most useful over similar land cover types to Kent.
Bands 7, 4, 2 in red, green, blue.
This combination is used for geological applications as it provides the greatest distinction between rock types. Band 1 may be used instead of band 2 in the blue band if the image quality is good enough. This combination works well in arid areas, but poorly over areas like Kent.
Bands 7, 5, 3 in red, green, blue.
A rarely used band combination but useful in providing a pseudo-natural colour image in some circumstances.