USGS to replace some Landsat RSS notifications with SNS topics

The USGS said Amazon Simple Notification Service topics would replace legacy Really Simple Syndication feeds for some Landsat notifications. The announcement was published Thursday 29 October 2026. The change affects users who rely on RSS notifications for Landsat files, data and science products.

The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center uses Amazon SNS topics to notify users when new Landsat Collection 2 data and science products are added to the archive’s cloud-based inventory. In December 2026, SNS topics will become available for Landsat Calibration Parameter files, Bias Parameter files and Response Linearization Look Up Table files.

Upon the release of the SNS topics, legacy RSS feeds and notifications for the Calibration Parameter and Bias Parameter files will be discontinued. RSS feeds for the Look Up Tables and Landsat Collection 2 data and science products will remain available for some time. The USGS said those feeds will also be discontinued in the near future.

Amazon SNS topics are already available for Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 Level-1 and Level-2 products. Topics are also available for Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 Level-3 science products and for Landsat U.S. Analysis Ready Data products.

To use the SNS topics, Landsat users will need to set up an Amazon Web Services account and a supported SNS subscription method. Users can then select a preferred endpoint to receive notifications through the SNS console. The USGS said this setup is needed for automated updates to continue working successfully.

Users who intend to store or process Landsat notifications automatically may configure an S3 bucket. The USGS said the bucket is not required to receive notifications but is useful for automated pipelines. It said SNS provides a more reliable, scalable and flexible method for distributing updates and aligns with the cloud infrastructure that has stored the Landsat Collection 2 archive since 2020.