Harmonized Sentinel-2 MSI: MultiSpectral Instrument, Level-1C (TOA)

Dataset Availability: 2015-06-27T00:00:00Z–2025-09-06T01:16:33.076000Z
Dataset Provider: European Union/ESA/Copernicus

Revisit Interval: 5 Days
Tags: copernicus esa eu msi radiance satellite-imagery sentinel

Description

Sentinel-2 is a wide-swath, high-resolution, multi-spectral imaging mission supporting Copernicus Land Monitoring studies, including the monitoring of vegetation, soil and water cover, as well as observation of inland waterways and coastal areas.

The Sentinel-2 data contain 13 UINT16 spectral bands representing TOA reflectance scaled by 10000. See the Sentinel-2 User Handbook for details. QA60 is a bitmask band that contained rasterized cloud mask polygons until Feb 2022, when these polygons stopped being produced. Starting in February 2024, legacy-consistent QA60 bands are constructed from the MSK_CLASSI cloud classification bands. For more details, see the full explanation of how cloud masks are computed. .

Each Sentinel-2 product (zip archive) may contain multiple granules. Each granule becomes a separate Earth Engine asset. EE asset ids for Sentinel-2 assets have the following format: COPERNICUS/S2/20151128T002653_20151128T102149_T56MNN. Here the first numeric part represents the sensing date and time, the second numeric part represents the product generation date and time, and the final 6-character string is a unique granule identifier indicating its UTM grid reference (see MGRS ).

The Level-2 data produced by ESA can be found in the collection COPERNICUS/S2_SR .

For datasets to assist with cloud and/or cloud shadow detection, see COPERNICUS/S2_CLOUD_PROBABILITY and GOOGLE/CLOUD_SCORE_PLUS/V1/S2_HARMONIZED .

For more details on Sentinel-2 radiometric resolution, see this page .

Bands

Bands

Name

Scale

Pixel Size

Wavelength

Description

B1

0.0001

60 meters

443.9nm (S2A) / 442.3nm (S2B)

Aerosols

B2

0.0001

10 meters

496.6nm (S2A) / 492.1nm (S2B)

Blue

B3

0.0001

10 meters

560nm (S2A) / 559nm (S2B)

Green

B4

0.0001

10 meters

664.5nm (S2A) / 665nm (S2B)

Red

B5

0.0001

20 meters

703.9nm (S2A) / 703.8nm (S2B)

Red Edge 1

B6

0.0001

20 meters

740.2nm (S2A) / 739.1nm (S2B)

Red Edge 2

B7

0.0001

20 meters

782.5nm (S2A) / 779.7nm (S2B)

Red Edge 3

B8

0.0001

10 meters

835.1nm (S2A) / 833nm (S2B)

NIR

B8A

0.0001

20 meters

864.8nm (S2A) / 864nm (S2B)

Red Edge 4

B9

0.0001

60 meters

945nm (S2A) / 943.2nm (S2B)

Water vapor

B10

0.0001

60 meters

1373.5nm (S2A) / 1376.9nm (S2B)

Cirrus

B11

0.0001

20 meters

1613.7nm (S2A) / 1610.4nm (S2B)

SWIR 1

B12

0.0001

20 meters

2202.4nm (S2A) / 2185.7nm (S2B)

SWIR 2

QA10

10 meters

None

Always empty

QA20

20 meters

None

Always empty

QA60

60 meters

None

Cloud mask. Masked out between February 2022 and February 2024.

Bitmask for QA60

Bits 0-9: Unused
Bit 10: Opaque clouds
- 0: No opaque clouds
- 1: Opaque clouds present
Bit 11: Cirrus clouds
- 0: No cirrus clouds
- 1: Cirrus clouds present

MSK_CLASSI_OPAQUE

60 meters

None

Opaque clouds classification band (0=no clouds, 1=clouds). Masked out before February 2024.

MSK_CLASSI_CIRRUS

60 meters

None

Cirrus clouds classification band (0=no clouds, 1=clouds). Masked out before February 2024.

MSK_CLASSI_SNOW_ICE

60 meters

None

Snow/ice classification band (0=no snow/ice, 1=snow/ice). Masked out before February 2024.

Image Properties

Image Properties

Name	Type	Description
CLOUDY_PIXEL_PERCENTAGE	DOUBLE	Granule-specific cloudy pixel percentage taken from the original metadata
CLOUD_COVERAGE_ASSESSMENT	DOUBLE	Cloudy pixel percentage for the whole archive that contains this granule. Taken from the original metadata
DATASTRIP_ID	STRING	Unique identifier of the datastrip Product Data Item (PDI)
DATATAKE_IDENTIFIER	STRING	Uniquely identifies a given Datatake. The ID contains the Sentinel-2 satellite, start date and time, absolute orbit number, and processing baseline.
DATATAKE_TYPE	STRING	MSI operation mode
DEGRADED_MSI_DATA_PERCENTAGE	DOUBLE	Percentage of degraded MSI and ancillary data
FORMAT_CORRECTNESS	STRING	Synthesis of the On-Line Quality Control (OLQC) checks performed at granule (Product_Syntax) and datastrip (Product Syntax and DS_Consistency) levels
GENERAL_QUALITY	STRING	Synthesis of the OLQC checks performed at the datastrip level (Relative_Orbit_Number)
GENERATION_TIME	DOUBLE	Product generation time
GEOMETRIC_QUALITY	STRING	Synthesis of the OLQC checks performed at the datastrip level (Attitude_Quality_Indicator)
GRANULE_ID	STRING	Unique identifier of the granule PDI (PDI_ID)
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B1	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B1 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B2	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B2 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B3	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B3 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B4	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B4 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B5	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B5 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B6	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B6 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B7	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B7 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B8	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B8 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B8A	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B8a and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B9	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B9 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B10	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B10 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B11	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B11 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_AZIMUTH_ANGLE_B12	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence azimuth angle average for band B12 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B1	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B1 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B2	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B2 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B3	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B3 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B4	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B4 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B5	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B5 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B6	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B6 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B7	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B7 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B8	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B8 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B8A	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B8a and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B9	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B9 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B10	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B10 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B11	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B11 and for all detectors
MEAN_INCIDENCE_ZENITH_ANGLE_B12	DOUBLE	Mean value containing viewing incidence zenith angle average for band B12 and for all detectors
MEAN_SOLAR_AZIMUTH_ANGLE	DOUBLE	Mean value containing sun azimuth angle average for all bands and detectors
MEAN_SOLAR_ZENITH_ANGLE	DOUBLE	Mean value containing sun zenith angle average for all bands and detectors
MGRS_TILE	STRING	US-Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) tile
PROCESSING_BASELINE	STRING	Configuration baseline used at the time of the product generation in terms of processor software version and major Ground Image Processing Parameters (GIPP) version
PRODUCT_ID	STRING	The full id of the original Sentinel-2 product
RADIOMETRIC_QUALITY	STRING	Based on the OLQC reports contained in the Datastrips/QI_DATA with RADIOMETRIC_QUALITY checklist name
REFLECTANCE_CONVERSION_CORRECTION	DOUBLE	Earth-Sun distance correction factor
SENSING_ORBIT_DIRECTION	STRING	Imaging orbit direction
SENSING_ORBIT_NUMBER	DOUBLE	Imaging orbit number
SENSOR_QUALITY	STRING	Synthesis of the OLQC checks performed at granule (Missing_Lines, Corrupted_ISP, and Sensing_Time) and datastrip (Degraded_SAD and Datation_Model) levels
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B1	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B1
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B2	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B2
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B3	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B3
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B4	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B4
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B5	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B5
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B6	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B6
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B7	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B7
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B8	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B8
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B8A	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B8a
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B9	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B9
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B10	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B10
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B11	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B11
SOLAR_IRRADIANCE_B12	DOUBLE	Mean solar exoatmospheric irradiance for band B12
SPACECRAFT_NAME	STRING	Sentinel-2 spacecraft name: Sentinel-2A, Sentinel-2B

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

The use of Sentinel data is governed by the Copernicus Sentinel Data Terms and Conditions.

Explore with Earth Engine

Code Editor (JavaScript)

 /** 
 * Function to mask clouds using the Sentinel-2 QA band 
 * @param {ee.Image} image Sentinel-2 image 
 * @return {ee.Image} cloud masked Sentinel-2 image 
 */ 
 function 
  
 maskS2clouds 
 ( 
 image 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 var 
  
 qa 
  
 = 
  
 image 
 . 
 select 
 ( 
 'QA60' 
 ); 
  
 // Bits 10 and 11 are clouds and cirrus, respectively. 
  
 var 
  
 cloudBitMask 
  
 = 
  
 1 
 << 
 10 
 ; 
  
 var 
  
 cirrusBitMask 
  
 = 
  
 1 
 << 
 11 
 ; 
  
 // Both flags should be set to zero, indicating clear conditions. 
  
 var 
  
 mask 
  
 = 
  
 qa 
 . 
 bitwiseAnd 
 ( 
 cloudBitMask 
 ). 
 eq 
 ( 
 0 
 ) 
  
 . 
 and 
 ( 
 qa 
 . 
 bitwiseAnd 
 ( 
 cirrusBitMask 
 ). 
 eq 
 ( 
 0 
 )); 
  
 return 
  
 image 
 . 
 updateMask 
 ( 
 mask 
 ). 
 divide 
 ( 
 10000 
 ); 
 } 
 // Map the function over a month of data and take the median. 
 // Load Sentinel-2 TOA reflectance data (adjusted for processing changes 
 // that occurred after 2022-01-25). 
 var 
  
 dataset 
  
 = 
  
 ee 
 . 
 ImageCollection 
 ( 
 'COPERNICUS/S2_HARMONIZED' 
 ) 
  
 . 
 filterDate 
 ( 
 '2022-01-01' 
 , 
  
 '2022-01-31' 
 ) 
  
 // Pre-filter to get less cloudy granules. 
  
 . 
 filter 
 ( 
 ee 
 . 
 Filter 
 . 
 lt 
 ( 
 'CLOUDY_PIXEL_PERCENTAGE' 
 , 
  
 20 
 )) 
  
 . 
 map 
 ( 
 maskS2clouds 
 ); 
 var 
  
 rgbVis 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 min 
 : 
  
 0.0 
 , 
  
 max 
 : 
  
 0.3 
 , 
  
 bands 
 : 
  
 [ 
 'B4' 
 , 
  
 'B3' 
 , 
  
 'B2' 
 ], 
 }; 
 Map 
 . 
 setCenter 
 ( 
 - 
 9.1695 
 , 
  
 38.6917 
 , 
  
 12 
 ); 
 Map 
 . 
 addLayer 
 ( 
 dataset 
 . 
 median 
 (), 
  
 rgbVis 
 , 
  
 'RGB' 
 );

Python setup

See the Python Environment page for information on the Python API and using geemap for interactive development.

 import 
  
 ee 
 import 
  
 geemap.core 
  
 as 
  
 geemap

Colab (Python)

 def 
  
 mask_s2_clouds 
 ( 
 image 
 ): 
  
 """Masks clouds in a Sentinel-2 image using the QA band. 
 Args: 
 image (ee.Image): A Sentinel-2 image. 
 Returns: 
 ee.Image: A cloud-masked Sentinel-2 image. 
 """ 
 qa 
 = 
 image 
 . 
 select 
 ( 
 'QA60' 
 ) 
 # Bits 10 and 11 are clouds and cirrus, respectively. 
 cloud_bit_mask 
 = 
 1 
<< 10 
 cirrus_bit_mask 
 = 
 1 
<< 11 
 # Both flags should be set to zero, indicating clear conditions. 
 mask 
 = 
 ( 
 qa 
 . 
 bitwiseAnd 
 ( 
 cloud_bit_mask 
 ) 
 . 
 eq 
 ( 
 0 
 ) 
 . 
 And 
 ( 
 qa 
 . 
 bitwiseAnd 
 ( 
 cirrus_bit_mask 
 ) 
 . 
 eq 
 ( 
 0 
 )) 
 ) 
 return 
 image 
 . 
 updateMask 
 ( 
 mask 
 ) 
 . 
 divide 
 ( 
 10000 
 ) 
 dataset 
 = 
 ( 
 ee 
 . 
 ImageCollection 
 ( 
 'COPERNICUS/S2_HARMONIZED' 
 ) 
 . 
 filterDate 
 ( 
 '2022-01-01' 
 , 
 '2022-01-31' 
 ) 
 # Pre-filter to get less cloudy granules. 
 . 
 filter 
 ( 
 ee 
 . 
 Filter 
 . 
 lt 
 ( 
 'CLOUDY_PIXEL_PERCENTAGE' 
 , 
 20 
 )) 
 . 
 map 
 ( 
 mask_s2_clouds 
 ) 
 ) 
 rgb_vis 
 = 
 { 
 'min' 
 : 
 0.0 
 , 
 'max' 
 : 
 0.3 
 , 
 'bands' 
 : 
 [ 
 'B4' 
 , 
 'B3' 
 , 
 'B2' 
 ], 
 } 
 m 
 = 
 geemap 
 . 
 Map 
 () 
 m 
 . 
 set_center 
 ( 
 - 
 9.1695 
 , 
 38.6917 
 , 
 12 
 ) 
 m 
 . 
 add_layer 
 ( 
 dataset 
 . 
 median 
 (), 
 rgb_vis 
 , 
 'RGB' 
 ) 
 m

Open in Code Editor

Harmonized Sentinel-2 MSI: MultiSpectral Instrument, Level-1C (TOA)

After 2022-01-25, Sentinel-2 scenes with PROCESSING_BASELINE '04.00' or above have their DN (value) range shifted by 1000. The HARMONIZED collection shifts data in newer scenes to be in the same range as in older scenes. Sentinel-2 is a wide-swath, high-resolution, multi-spectral imaging mission supporting Copernicus Land Monitoring studies, including the …

COPERNICUS/S2_HARMONIZED, copernicus,esa,eu,msi,radiance,satellite-imagery,sentinel

2015-06-27T00:00:00Z/2025-09-06T01:16:33.076000Z

-56 -180 83 180

Google Earth Engine

https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets

Harmonized Sentinel-2 MSI: MultiSpectral Instrument, Level-1C (TOA) Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Description

Bands

Image Properties

Terms of Use

Explore with Earth Engine

Code Editor (JavaScript)

Colab (Python)

Harmonized Sentinel-2 MSI: MultiSpectral Instrument, Level-1C (TOA)