Sentinel-2 tiles (MGRS): how UTM zones and tile IDs like T33UUU work

The Sentinel-2 tiling grid is MGRS

Sentinel-2 distributes imagery in fixed tiles that follow the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS). At Level 1C and Level 2A processing, products are built from elementary tiles called granules that each cover about ten thousand square kilometres in UTM coordinates on WGS 84.

The grid is fixed in time. A given MGRS tile such as T33UUU always refers to the same footprint, which is why it is a convenient key to use in databases, scripts, and conversations with other teams.

Anatomy of a Sentinel-2 tile ID (T33UUU)

An MGRS tile ID is compact but carries everything you need to locate the tile:

1. UTM zone number (1-60) which divides the globe into 6 degree wide vertical strips.
2. Latitude band letter (C-X skipping I and O) which splits the globe into 8 degree tall belts from south to north.
3. Two letter 100 km grid square which identifies the specific 100 × 100 km cell inside that zone and band.

ESA product names typically include a leading T before the 5 character code, for example T33UUU. Many tools and catalogues drop the prefix and show 33UUUinstead.

Latitude bands run from C to X (excluding I and O). Above about 84° north and below about 80° south there are special rules for UTM zones, but most Sentinel-2 tiles used in practice sit inside the standard bands.

Tile size, overlap, and resolutions

Each Sentinel-2 tile covers roughly 100 × 100 km on the ground. Products include a narrow border overlap so neighbouring tiles can be mosaicked cleanly without visible seams.

In raster terms, a 10 m layer is about 10980 × 10980 pixels. The 20 m and 60 m layers for the same tile are supplied at proportionally smaller dimensions, aligned to the same footprint.

Where you see the tile ID

• In Sentinel-2 product filenames, look for the Txxxxx segment which holds the tile ID.
• In the ClearSKY map, switch to Sentinel-2 tiles, click a tile, and read the ID from the sidebar. You can then export selected tiles to CSV or share a link.
• In catalogues and web services that expose MGRS or UTM tile fields alongside acquisition dates and cloud cover.

Using Sentinel-2 tiles in the ClearSKY viewer

In the ClearSKY Tile Viewer, Sentinel-2 tiles act as a reference grid rather than a delivery product. You use them to search, orient yourself, and communicate coverage with others.

1. Switch the dataset to Sentinel-2 tiles and zoom to your area of interest.
2. Click tiles or search by MGRS code if you already have IDs from another system.
3. Overlay ClearSKY tiles and minitiles to decide what you actually order. The Sentinel-2 grid stays as a familiar background.

For details on how ClearSKY packs its own delivery units, see the ClearSKY tiles and minitiles guide.

Sentinel-2 tiling compared with Landsat

Landsat scenes are indexed by the WRS 2 path and row system. Sentinel-2 uses the MGRS grid instead. If you move workflows from Landsat to Sentinel-2 you need to think in tile IDs such as T33UUU instead of path and row numbers. Many catalogues show both to make crosswalking easier.

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