Sensors of Landsat mission satellites have systemically acquired moderate-resolution multispectral images of the Earth for more than 40 years since Landsat 1 was launched in 1972. The images have been extensively applied

such as in global change

agriculture

forestry

geology

resource management

geography

cartography

and coastal research. These successive images are important to characterize and detect changes in land cover and land use worldwide. Many studies consider these data to perform long-term monitoring of the quantitative information of surface on medium-resolution scales to reflect refined climate change in localor even global scale. The premise of these studies is to conduct radiometric calibration of long sequential data over decades and ensure the consistency of sequential data radiation through cross calibration of different satellites. Radiometric calibrations are constantly updated from Landsat 1 to Landsat 8. Moreover

sensor performance and data acquisition abilities are improved

which involve preflight calibration

internal lamp calibrator

full aperture solar calibrator

cross calibration method

and vicarious calibration based on test sites.This review classified the sensors of Landsat mission satellites based on their performance. Their imaging modes were summarized and compared to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each mode. Then

the development of various radiometric calibration methods was reviewed. The merits and demerits of these methods

as well as the impacts on the accuracy of calibration results

were analyzed. During prelaunch

the calibration of various sensors was mainly based on calibrated integrating sphere. The difference in the time between the integrating sphere calibration and that of sensor calibration caused calibration uncertainty to a certain degree. The consistency of calibration time improved calibration accuracy by approximately 10%. The main calibration equipment comprised lamps and solar calibrator systems during in-orbit. With the advancement from Landsat 4 to Landsat 5

the number of lamps on TM increased from 2 to 3

and the solar calibrator system was accordingly refined

which expanded to full aperture on L7 / ETM +. Vicarious calibration between Landsat 4 and Landsat 5

Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 also provided important calibration reference. With the advent of Landsat 8

the holistic assessment system was incorporated into ground station Internet Authentication Service（ IAS）

which firstly finished in Landsat 7

and specific calibration parameters were stored in calibration and bias parameter files. IAS was expanded toward previous data of Landsat 5 TM

Landsat 4 TM

and L1-L5 MSS.To widen the quantitative application of remote sensing data

radiometric calibration methods were varied along with the development of remote sensors. Moreover

the cross calibration and validation of multi-source remote sensing data and the perfection of the entire radiometric calibration process were realized. In specific

preflight

on-orbit

and vicarious calibrations were performed.Any individual calibration step affected the calibration accuracy; therefore

subsequent research should attempt to reduce the error in each process. Moreover

basing from the calibration situation in China

the authors emphasized the construction of standard radiation transfer and research

strengthened on-orbit calibration methods and calibration equipment

accelerated the construction of the ground radiometric calibration field

and attached importance to the normalization of multi-remote sensing data.