Convert Landsat mulispectral data to an ArcInfo supported format

Summary

USGS EROS data center provides Landsat MSS Images in band sequential format. It is possible to convert this data to an ArcInfo supported format using the IMAGEGRID command and some simple preprocessing of the data files. Instructions provided describe the steps to take for this conversion.

Procedure

1. Rename the individual band files using Windows Explorer.
   
   <sceneID>.I1 to layer1.bil
   <sceneID>.I2 to layer2.bil
   <sceneID>.I3 to layer3.bil
   <sceneID>.I# to layer#.bil
2. Create a new header file that ArcInfo can read. Copy and rename the header file (.hdr) provided with the data. Using a simple text editor replace the existing text in the original ASCII file with the header information provided below. In the provided example the keywords are capitalized. The values are contained within the header file provided with the data.
   
   LAYOUT bil
   NROWS ####
   NCOLS ####
   NBANDS #
   NBITS #
   ULXMAP #######
   ULYMAP #######
3. Use the IMAGEGRID command to convert each of the layers or bands into separate grids.
   
   Arc: imagegrid layer1.bil grid1
4. Create a grid stack using the MAKESTACK command and the created grids.
   
   Grid: MAKESTACK stack1 LIST grid1 grid2 grid3 grid#
5. Convert the grid stack to a multiband image using the GRIDIMAGE command.
   
   Arc: GRIDIMAGE stack1 # image1 <image format>