Planet Pulse: Recent Episodes
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Tanager-1 is made possible by the Carbon Mapper Coalition, a philanthropically-funded effort to develop and deploy satellites designed to detect and track methane and CO2 super-emitters at a level of granularity needed to support direct mitigation action. Tanager-1 combines Planet’s cutting-edge agile aerospace and smallsat bus technology with the state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer design developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
PUBLISHED ARTICLE FROM CARBON MAPPER
Just three months after the Tanager-1 satellite launched into orbit, we have quickly hit many milestones that show how this state-of-the-art emissions-sensing satellite is performing, including our first mitigation success story!
The Tanager-1 satellite, built and operated by Planet Labs PBC with technology from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), has quickly hit many of its expected milestones — starting with first light earlier this fall and the first emissions detections soon after.
During its commissioning phase, Tanager-1 is undergoing instrument calibration, data validation, and maneuvering into its operational orbit. Validation efforts include comparing methane emissions detected by Tanager-1 with those from coordinated under-flights with methane-sensing aircraft and controlled release testing where ground teams release precisely metered amounts of methane while the satellite images. Meanwhile, Tanager-1 has been busy orbiting the globe and delivering hundreds of preliminary observations from high-emitting sources across oil and gas, coal, waste and agriculture sectors.
Today, Carbon Mapper is excited to release over 300 initial detections of methane and carbon dioxide emissions from Tanager-1 to our data portal. These include waste emission plumes from landfills or dumps sites across North and South America, Northern Africa, the Middle East, Southern Europe and Asia — and fossil fuel emission plumes from major oil and gas basins and coal production across six continents. We anticipate refining these preliminary estimates in the coming months to account for any updates arising from calibration and validation efforts, and to better address variability in emissions.
Meanwhile, here are some of the early observations and capabilities the team is most excited about!
Increasing visibility of super-emitters across global oil and gas basinsDue to its relatively low detection limit, high spatial resolution, and wide area coverage, Tanager-1 is providing a growing understanding of super-emitter activity across entire sections of major oil and gas producing basins at unprecedented levels of granularity.
Carbon Mapper methane detections from Planet Labs’ Tanager-1 satellite show several methane plumes from oil and gas operations in a single observation over Syria on Oct. 4, 2024. The scene includes a mix of both small and large super-emitting sources, which demonstrates their prevalence in heavy oil- and gas-producing areas. The Tanager-1 satellite was built and is operated by Planet Labs PBC as part of the Carbon Mapper Coalition.In a single satellite overpass of an oil and gas basin in Syria, Tanager-1 observed multiple large emission events from production facilities, revealing the prevalence of methane super-emitters in a region where much less is known about methane emissions and their sources when compared to more intensively studied areas, such as the Permian Basin, the highest producing oil field in the U.S.
During a single overpass on Oct. 4, a Tanager scene revealed 12 plumes, which make up 12,600 kilograms of methane per hour. Each hour that methane is emitted at this rate equals roughly the same CO2 emissions as driving 84 gas-powered cars for a year.
Another example is a scene captured over Turkmenistan, highlighting the extent of methane super-emitters in a region that has been observed many times before. Carbon Mapper’s preliminary emissions estimate of the 13 plumes observed is approximately 78 tons of methane per hour. This emissions rate is twice the average total methane emissions from the Los Angeles Basin. This scene showcases Tanager’s hyperspectral capabilities to capture clear images in coastal waters, where fine sediment can pose challenges to less sensitive instruments.
Thanks in part to satellite observations, Turkmenistan has over the past few years deepened its methane reduction efforts, joining the Global Methane Pledge in 2023. Observations like these can help it further refine and prioritize programs and policies aimed at tackling methane in the oil and gas sector. Tanager-1 observed this coastal region of Turkmenistan with a single image on Nov. 11, and Carbon Mapper’s preliminary emissions estimate of the plumes is approximately 78 tons of methane per hour.These detections are a clear demonstration of how Tanager-1’s wide area coverage and high sensitivity can provide more visibility of emission sources globally — especially in regions that have not benefited from frequent observations by more sensitive sensors.
Identifying opportunities to address waste methaneIt is estimated that waste is responsible for nearly 20% of human caused methane emissions globally, and Carbon Mapper studies have found that waste methane sources tend to be more persistent than their counterparts in the oil and gas sector. This sector clearly presents an outsized opportunity for near-term mitigation action. However, currently there is limited actionable information about the global waste sector, and many developing countries have little-to-no information about their waste emissions. Satellites like Tanager-1, are beginning to help fill those gaps and are proving to be important tools to quickly find large emissions events and help prioritize investments and mitigation solutions. This is especially relevant to countries participating in the Lowering Organic Waste Methane (LOW-Methane) initiative — a collaboration between international partners to cut methane emissions from the waste sector.
Observations from four landfills in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil, demonstrate the opportunity to reduce emissions. Carbon Mapper detected and quantified methane using Tanager-1 observations and found that emissions stemming from these four sites are equivalent to 7% of all solid waste methane emissions reported in Brazil’s national greenhouse gas inventory. Addressing these waste sites, and other high-emissions sites around the country, could help Brazil prioritize and make meaningful progress toward its Global Methane Pledge targets.
An example of a mitigation opportunity near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Carbon Mapper methane detections from Planet Labs’ Tanager-1 satellite show a large plume of methane from the Seropédica landfill on Sept. 29, with an estimated preliminary emissions rate of 2,836 kilograms per hour.Growing our understanding of CO2 emissions from hard to measure sitesIn addition to new Tanager data, Carbon Mapper is pleased to release emissions quantification for carbon dioxide (CO2) plumes detected by multiple sensors including NASA’s EMIT and various aircraft. The importance of addressing CO2 is well known, as it traps heat in the atmosphere for hundreds of years and has strong warming implications for the planet. However, we hope to share new insight, by providing CO2 emission quantification for large stationary sources. This will help decision makers quantify and track fossil fuel CO2 emissions at the scale of individual facilities, like power plants and refineries. It also ensures point source CO2 emissions data is available in places where no site level monitoring or public data exists.
Carbon Mapper detections from Planet Labs’ Tanager-1 satellite show CO2 from electricity generation in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, India, on Nov. 1. Carbon Mapper’s preliminary estimated source emission rate is 838,000 kilograms per hour of carbon dioxide. The Tanager-1 satellite was built and is operated by Planet Labs PBC as part of the Carbon Mapper Coalition.Tanager’s unique technical capabilitiesCarbon Mapper’s release of hundreds of methane and CO2 plume detections from Tanager-1 observations around the globe are an exciting early demonstration of the satellite’s unique capabilities — and just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is possible as we expand the coverage and frequency of our observations.
Seeing around the cloudsCloud cover has historically posed a significant barrier to observing surface emissions from space – particularly in the tropics. However, we’ve seen several early examples where Tanager-1’s high spatial resolution enabled Carbon Mapper to detect and quantify methane even in mostly cloudy scenes by spotting plumes through gaps between the clouds. This scene from Monterrey, Mexico, shows a large plume of methane stemming from a landfill that was spotted between a small (500 meter) gap between clouds.
Left – the Tanager scene shows a cloudy sky with a plume detectable between gaps in the clouds. Right – the Carbon Mapper plume shows methane emissions stemming from a landfill. The preliminary methane emissions estimate is approximately 2,546 kilograms of methane per hour.Building trust in the dataAs part of Tanager-1 calibration and validation efforts, we are evaluating our methane detection and quantification methods with a series of underflights with NASA’s Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-3) that are coordinated to occur at same time as Tanager observations over various regions across the US. In the example below, the same two oil and gas methane plumes in the Permian Basin were detected two minutes apart by both satellite and aerial sensors. The coordinated aircraft underflights, together with ongoing controlled release testing (where a ground team releases precisely metered amounts of methane when the satellite is imaging overhead), provides empirical validation of our technology and analysis methods and is intended to build trust in Carbon Mapper’s emissions data.
As part of the validation process, Carbon Mapper compared methane emission plumes in the Permian basin detected by Tanager-1 with near-simultaneous aircraft under-flights carrying NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s AVIRIS-3 instrument.Levering satellite emissions data looking forwardIn the coming months, Carbon Mapper will continue to scale up observations and make methane and CO2 data routinely accessible — including anticipated expanded Tanager-1 coverage and routine data releases after Tanager-1 completes its commissioning period. Carbon Mapper will also collaborate with complementary satellite programs — like the Environmental Defense Fund MethaneSAT — to provide data at different levels of granularity to advance societal understanding of methane sources worldwide, and work alongside other partners to translate this data into action through leading scientific expertise, stakeholder engagement, and decision useful insights for policymakers, harnessing the power of emissions transparency to deliver impact globally.
A groundbreaking and alarming report found that Earth’s land carbon sink absorbed almost no carbon last year. Consider that for a moment: the ecosystems that have buffered our excess emissions for decades may not continue to do so indefinitely. While a slowdown has long been anticipated as climate change disrupts ecosystem function, its early arrival only increases the urgency of cutting emissions while conserving forest landscapes.
Emissions of fossil fuels are relatively straightforward to track, but tabulating the diverse and complicated pathways that store carbon across Earth’s biomes is far more challenging. Extreme events like the 2023 wildfires across Canada’s boreal forests have the potential to accelerate rising temperatures, thereby triggering other events that would further complicate carbon accounting.
It’s now clear that the breakneck speed of ecosystem degradation is outpacing current strategies to model the carbon cycle. Data sources and methodologies that reduce this latency without sacrificing scientific rigor are more critical than ever as emissions continue to rise and our time to act dwindles. What’s needed now is a more robust understanding of how Earth’s carbon sinks and sources are changing at a more granular scale.
As The Guardian puts it, at least “118 countries are relying on the land to meet national climate targets.” But these countries can’t reach meaningful conservation milestones without a suite of tools to help inform their decisions. It will require coordination from every country on Earth using data sourced from on-the-ground measurements to satellites. But no effort is too large when the fate of the planet is at hand.
Part of this effort entails forming new coalitions across public and private institutions. Complementary partnerships like these can help overcome many of the historical challenges that threaten the effectiveness of each individually. This balance helps establish a more impactful approach to solving the planet’s most pressing problems.
With COP29 in full swing, we wanted to highlight one of these dynamic partnerships and share some of the ways our Forest Carbon product, enabled by NASA’s GEDI mission, is supplying governments and land managers with timely data to fill in the carbon picture. This dataset estimates aboveground forest carbon, tree height, and canopy cover across the world and delivers it to users every quarter.
The Earth’s most effective carbon storage solution is also its simplest: trees. But conservation efforts run into the highly convoluted problem of acquiring reliable and frequent data at an affordable cost. Our Forest Carbon product equips users with remote sensing insights from global forests to individual trees. Here are some of the ways they’ve moved from observation to action.
Triaging conservation efforts
Almost 40% of the Amazon Rainforest remains unprotected, according to a Reuters report on a MAAP investigation using Forest Carbon data. These parts are particularly important for curbing climate change as they contain the biggest, densest trees and the most continuous canopy cover. But the longer they remain unprotected, the greater their chance of impact from fire or logging. Reports like these are pivotal for pinpointing where conservation efforts should focus.
Map showing areas of the Amazon with high aboveground carbon and which parts are protected. Courtesy of Reuters
Understanding the policy drivers of carbon gains and losses
For a carbon sink as vital as the Amazon Rainforest, understanding why it’s losing or gaining carbon is just as important as where it is. A recent MAAP report uses Forest Carbon data to first breakdown each area that’s gained or lost aboveground forest carbon between 2013 and 2022 then dives into their causes. For example, gold mining has grown so extensively in Peru that calculations show the southern Peruvian Amazon has lost 11.3 million metric tons of carbon, much of it from illegal deforestation.
Areas of major carbon loss and gain across the Amazon between 2013 and 2022. Source: Amazon Conservation/MAAP, Planet Labs BC
Building credibility in voluntary carbon markets
Voluntary carbon markets have grown in popularity as industries seek to offset their carbon emissions. But in recent years the credibility of these markets have come under greater scrutiny as the effectiveness of sequestration efforts is challenged. Enter carbon ratings agencies like BeZero, a leader in the industry that uses Forest Carbon data to evaluate the quality of different voluntary carbon markets so its customers know their offset purchases really count and won’t get swept away in any greenwashing scheme.
Building a greener future
Not all that’s gone is lost. And while deforestation has remained the overarching trend for decades in the Amazon Rainforest, it’s possible that could turn around soon. The Economist reports on large-scale reforestation efforts underway in Brazil to provide credible carbon market credits. The Amazon offers an unprecedented opportunity: reforestation could provide 15% of the world’s potential carbon-removal market, which McKinsey values between $300 billion and $1.2 trillion. The financial prospect, of course, pales in comparison to ecosystem restoration and carbon securely stored.
Reducing wildfire risk
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has a problem: how can they ensure that its vast utility network poses the lowest likelihood of starting wildfires? One promising answer has been to build risk models based on canopy height, enabled by Planet’s Forest Carbon product. The number one source of utility-ignited wildfires is through contact with vegetation, so calculating the probability of ignitions based on vegetation height and distribution gives PG&E a good sense of where these fires are most likely to originate. Then they use Forest Carbon data again to better understand how the surrounding fuel load dictates how severe a wildfire might become and the risk it will pose to communities.
High quality, high resolution, and regularly updated data on forest structure and forest carbon is already a critical tool for users across various industries and will only grow in importance as challenges to sustainability, carbon markets, and mitigation intensify. The success of the work so far is encouraging. Planet is committed to continue building science-driven solutions to help customers achieve these goals and drive both valuable research and use case validation.
Learn how Planetary Variables can be used to support resource management, environmental assessment, disaster prevention, and more.
Vegetation monitoring involves inspecting and measuring the growth of trees and other plants to understand ecosystem health. Governments and industries need accurate, up-to-date data to assess vegetation health and manage resources effectively.
However, traditional data-gathering methods often fall short. Infrequent surveys, coverage limitations, and slow processing times make it hard for organizations to keep up with vegetation dynamics.
Scientists, GIS analysts, and government agencies increasingly rely on satellite imagery to get a complete picture of conditions on the ground. And as Earth observation (EO) technology advances to include the analysis of multi-spectral bands, this picture can include elements that can not be seen with the naked eye.
Planetary Variables® datasets from Planet provide a whole new way to understand what’s happening on the ground. These products translate raw satellite observations into quantifiable metrics about biophysical properties such as soil moisture, land temperature, crop biomass, and forest carbon stocks.
In this article, we’ll examine the role of Planetary Variables in vegetation monitoring and explore their real-world applications.
The Role of Planetary Variables in Vegetation MonitoringMany environmental changes influence plant growth and ecosystem health. EO capabilities capture detailed data about a broad range of factors. Planetary Variables products unlock information about the physical properties of Earth by fusing data from a range of sources, including optical, radar, passive microwave, and LiDAR sensors.
Planetary Variables deliver continuous, scientifically rigorous data that measure changing conditions on the Earth’s surface. These unique datasets from across the electromagnetic spectrum offer actionable insights into plant development, land use, and ecological changes.
The suite of Planetary Variables products includes:
- Soil Water Content
- Land Surface Temperature
- Crop Biomass
- Field Boundaries
- Forest Carbon
Let’s take a closer look at each of these data feeds and how they enhance satellite vegetation monitoring programs.
Soil Water Content
The Earth’s water systems are indispensable resources for ecosystems in every corner of the world. They are also complex and dynamic, making them difficult to monitor without accurate and current data.
Soil Water Content is a feed of high-resolution, globally available measurements of the volume of freshwater stored in the soil. Organizations use this data to better understand vegetation health as it relates to agriculture, drought tracking, and other climate risks.
Land Surface Temperature
Rising temperatures across the globe are driving changes in climate patterns that significantly impact the environment and communities.
Land Surface Temperature can help agencies track and respond to these pressures. This Planetary Variable measures the Earth’s skin temperature — providing vital intelligence about our atmosphere, food and water systems, urban living conditions,drought conditions, and vegetation stress.
Crop Biomass
Crop biomass continually changes throughout the growing season as plants encounter stressors and approach harvest. Timely and frequent access to biomass data is essential for understanding these trends and making informed decisions regarding crop and vegetation management.
The Crop Biomass dataset offers daily, cloud-free data that delivers estimates of crop biomass across all weather conditions. It provides valuable insights into crop health to optimize crop health and maximize yields across the agriculture industry.
Field Boundaries
Field boundaries provide a foundational framework for a wide range of analyses related to vegetation management, from sustainable agriculture and supply chain monitoring to estimates of regional food production to assess food security.
The Field Boundaries dataset contains polygons representing the boundaries of agricultural fields in any area of interest around the globe. This dataset is generated by automatically tracing the boundaries of agricultural parcels from satellite imagery for a specified area and time of interest, where each field contains a single crop type.
Forest Carbon
Carbon stored in trees is vital for regulating atmospheric CO2 levels and mitigating climate change.
The Forest Carbon dataset offers up-to-date, accurate, and finely resolved measurements of the aboveground carbon stored in forests, as well as measurements of forest canopy cover and canopy height. These metrics help organizations quantify carbon stocks and deforestation — and monitor general forest and vegetation health.
Application of Planetary Variables for Vegetation MonitoringPlanetary Variables offer concrete data points to support vegetation monitoring, bridging the gap between satellite observations and practical applications. Here are several key use cases:
- Resource management: Planet data delivers insights for efficiently managing natural resources, from forests to water.
- Land-use planning: Vegetation health data can inform wise urban development and agricultural planning.
- Environmental assessment: Closely tracking environmental changes and potential risks aids conservation efforts.
- Disaster prevention: Vegetation changes can signal risk of drought, fire, flood, or landslide in their early stages, allowing for interventions.
- Policy development: Advanced vegetation monitoring informs sustainable land management and resource use policies.
Case Studies Using Planetary Variables for Vegetation AnalysisGiven that Earth’s systems are in constant flux, it’s essential for any vegetation monitoring program to have fresh and highly-detailed data. Planet’s broad-spectrum satellite data provides a more comprehensive and up-to-date view of changing environmental conditions and plant growth than conventional vegetation biomass analysis could alone.
Many civil government agencies, non-government organizations, and businesses use Planetary Variables to monitor droughts and wildfires, assess fire and flood risk, track growing seasons, and more.
Protecting Farmers With Sophisticated Drought Index Insurance
French climate consulting company AXA Climate uses Soil Water Content monitoring to offer highly responsive drought insurance policies. AXA’s parametric insurance product estimates crop yields and losses based on Soil Water Content data and can compensate farmers, processors, and other stakeholders within days of the end of a risk period.
“With Planet’s unique satellite data, AXA Climate has been able to provide a high-quality index insurance coverage service for farmers and cooperatives,” said Antoine Denoix, CEO of AXA Climate. “We can now act quickly to help farmers and stakeholders combat the major threat of drought to agriculture around the world.”
Proving NGO Impact Using Surface Temperature and Soil Moisture
In the Horn of Africa, NGO Justdiggit uses nature-based solutions to regreen warming and drying landscapes. They leverage Planet Land Surface Temperature and Soil Water Content data to quantify the impact of their landscape restoration work.
By measuring the soil moisture over time where the regreening took place, as well as nearby sites with no intervention, they capture the long term impact of their efforts. Land Surface Temperature data shows a similar shift in the conditions of the soil. The temperature of the restored sites is consistently lower over time, than the control sites.
As Sander de Haas, Chief Technical Officer at Justdiggit, explains, “We want to reach and activate 350 million farmers across Africa with our platform, so a drone won’t cover it. We need the satellites to really show the impact on the entire African continent.”
Optimizing Crop Monitoring to Maximize Agricultural YieldUsing traditional techniques, clouds and other adverse weather conditions can potentially impact the capture of biomass data. Planet overcomes this challenge by combining optical imagery and microwave technology to provide accurate, high-resolution Crop Biomass data in any weather.
Disagro, an international corporation based in Guatemala, is a leader in agricultural innovation and a Planet customer. “Crop Biomass is a highly valuable and complementary service for us and our clients whose areas of focus are often affected by high cloud cover. Strategic partners like Planet provide us with the technical support needed to increase the usability of satellite imagery and bring Digital Agriculture practices to our regions under management.”
Harnessing the Power of Planetary VariablesGIS analysts, government officials, scientists, and other professionals stand to benefit tremendously from using advanced satellite imagery to build or enhance vegetation monitoring programs.
Better data leads to more informed decision-making and more scientifically rigorous sustainable practices. Our Planetary Variables — Crop Biomass, Forest Carbon, Land Surface Temperature, and Soil Water Content — can enable detailed maps, comprehensive land use monitoring, earlier detection of signs of environmental stress, and more efficient resource management.
Ready to unlock the full potential of advanced techniques in vegetation monitoring? Explore Planetary Variables, an advanced suite of monitoring solutions designed to take your efforts to the next level.
Connect with our sales team today to learn more!
Note: This piece can also be read in Spanish and Portuguese.
In Search of Sustainable Land ManagementIllegal deforestation, unsustainable land use, and climate change pose significant threats to Colombia’s rich and diverse landscapes and the communities who depend on them. Gustavo Marulanda Morales, Director of the Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute (IGAC), addresses these challenges every day.
At our “Planet On The Road” conference in Bogotá in August 2024, Marulanda shared how he and his team apply advanced technology to maintain land integrity by mitigating risks and tackling any potential emerging threats.
Using Satellite Data to Monitor Changes Across the Country
Colombia is home to one of the world’s largest protected tropical rainforests, including parts of the Amazon. However, deforestation remains a significant challenge.
Source: Fernando Trujillo, Fundación OmachaBetween 2017 and 2021, Colombia lost over 760,000 hectares of forest, primarily due to illegal logging and other unsustainable land uses said the World Bank – Global Forest Watch. Enforcement of environmental protection laws is difficult, especially in remote areas where illegal activities are prevalent. To counter this, the Colombian government has set ambitious goals, such as achieving zero net deforestation in the Amazon by 2030 (World Bank). Satellite monitoring provides critical support for these efforts by enabling real-time surveillance of land changes and helping officials enforce environmental laws more effectively.
IGAC, or the Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute), is Colombia’s national geographic authority. It is responsible for producing and managing geographic information, including mapping, land surveying, and cadastral activities. IGAC plays a crucial role in territorial management by providing data on land use, natural resources, and environmental risks.
IGAC utilizes Planet’s satellite data for cadastral mapping in order to monitor changes across the country efficiently. High-resolution, near real-time images speed up surveying processes and indicate changes quickly and precisely, helping Colombian entities clarify land use, identify risks, and enforce environmental regulations.
Source: San Marcos Flood Case – Ciénaga Los Lagos. Planet satellite imagery.Enhancing Land Management with Satellite Data Accessibility
Marulanda’s team isn’t working alone. They have developed their platform, the “Observatorio de la Tierra y el Territorio,” which provides access to up-to-date data with a range of stakeholders.
Source: Observatorio de la Tierra y el Territorio. IGAC. Colombia 2024When everyone has access to the same data, it becomes easier to unify efforts across various levels of government and the private sector. For example, regional authorities can use this data to coordinate more efficient water management.
Integrating AI for Improved Decision-Making
Satellite data isn’t the only technology in IGAC’s toolkit. “We are also developing an artificial intelligence plan that will also allow us to be much more assertive,” Marulanda noted.
AI enables rapid analysis of vast datasets, providing IGAC with precise information on environmental changes. By integrating AI with satellite monitoring and analysis, IGAC can detect changes in land use faster and respond effectively. Decisive actions informed by AI will help protect natural resources and communities.
Building Community Resilience
IGAC employs Planet satellite data to track various high-risk events such as floods, droughts, and landslides. By analyzing this data, they can predict these events more accurately and prepare accordingly. This proactive approach helps communities to minimize damage and recover more swiftly after disasters.
In addition to monitoring natural disasters, IGAC uses satellite data to observe changing weather patterns and shifts in land use that may increase vulnerability to climate impacts. Understanding these changes, allows them to advise local governments and organizations on the best ways to manage resources and protection strategies for at-risk populations. For example, they provide insights on the best locations for infrastructure less likely to be affected by floods or landslides.
This data-driven strategy is vital for improving disaster response. It ensures that emergency services can act faster and more effectively when disasters strike. It also helps communities in planning for long-term climate changes, making them more resilient to future challenges.
Technology for Sustainable Land Management
Colombia’s progress demonstrates the transformative potential of satellite data and AI in land management. Through IGAC’s innovative approach, the country is not only improving its ability to analyze and predict environmental risks but is also fostering data transparency and collaboration across sectors. By enhancing decision-making and building resilience against natural disasters, IGAC is setting a strong precedent for sustainable development. This model shows how leveraging cutting-edge technology can safeguard natural resources, protect communities, and shape a safer, more resilient future for the region and beyond.
Note: This piece can also be read in English and Portuguese.
En búsqueda de una gestión sostenible de la tierra
La deforestación ilegal, el uso indebido de la tierra y el cambio climático representan amenazas significativas para los ricos y diversos paisajes de Colombia, así como para las comunidades que dependen de ellos. Gustavo Marulanda Morales, Director del Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC), enfrenta estos desafíos diariamente.
Durante nuestra conferencia “Planet On The Road” en Bogotá este año, Marulanda compartió cómo él y su equipo aplican tecnología avanzada para preservar la integridad del territorio, mitigando riesgos y abordando amenazas emergentes.
Uso de datos satelitales para monitorear cambios en todo el país
Colombia alberga una de las selvas tropicales protegidas más grandes del mundo, incluyendo parte de la Amazonía. Sin embargo, la deforestación sigue siendo un reto importante.
Fuente: Fernando Trujillo, Fundación OmachaEntre 2017 y 2021, Colombia perdió más de 760,000 hectáreas de bosque, principalmente debido a la tala ilegal y otros usos insostenibles de la tierra, según el Banco Mundial y Global Forest Watch. La aplicación de leyes de protección ambiental es complicada, especialmente en áreas remotas donde prevalecen actividades ilegales. Para contrarrestar esto, el gobierno colombiano ha fijado metas ambiciosas, como lograr cero deforestación neta en la Amazonía para 2030 (Banco Mundial). Y con eso, el monitoreo satelital es un apoyo fundamental en estos esfuerzos, permitiendo una vigilancia en tiempo real de los cambios en la tierra y facilitando la implementación efectiva de las leyes ambientales.
El Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC), é a autoridade geográfica nacional da Colômbia, responsável pela produção e gestão de informações geográficas, cartografia, levantamento de terras e atividades cadastrais. O IGAC desempenha um papel essencial na gestão territorial ao fornecer dados sobre o uso do solo, recursos naturais e riscos ambientais.
O IGAC utiliza dados satelitais da Planet na cartografia cadastral, monitorando mudanças em todo o país de forma eficiente. As imagens de alta resolução quase em tempo real aceleram os processos de levantamento e facilitam a detecção rápida e precisa de mudanças, ajudando as entidades colombianas a esclarecer o uso do solo, identificar riscos e fazer cumprir as normas ambientais.
Fonte: Caso de Inundação em San Marcos – Ciénaga Los Lagos, Planet.Mejorando la gestión de la tierra con el acceso a datos satelitales
El equipo de Marulanda no trabaja solo. Han desarrollado su propia plataforma, el “Observatorio de la Tierra y el Territorio”, que facilita el acceso a datos actualizados para una variedad de instituciones interesadas.
Fuente: Observatorio de la Tierra y el Territorio, IGAC, Colombia 2024El acceso a los mismos datos, facilita la unificación de esfuerzos entre los diferentes niveles de gobierno y el sector privado. Por ejemplo, las autoridades regionales pueden utilizar esta información para coordinar una gestión más eficiente del agua.
Integración de IA para mejorar la toma de decisiones
Los datos satelitales no son la única herramienta tecnológica utilizada por el IGAC. “Estamos desarrollando un plan de Inteligencia Artificial (IA) que nos permitirá ser mucho más asertivos”, comentó Marulanda.
La IA permite analizar rápidamente grandes conjuntos de datos, proporcionando al IGAC información precisa sobre los cambios ambientales. Al integrar la IA con el monitoreo y análisis satelital, el IGAC puede detectar cambios en el uso de la tierra de forma más rápida y responder eficazmente. Las acciones decisivas, informadas por la IA, ayudarán a proteger los recursos naturales y las comunidades.
Fortaleciendo la resiliencia comunitaria
IGAC emplea los datos satelitales de Planet para rastrear diversos eventos de alto riesgo, como inundaciones, sequías y deslizamientos de tierra. Al analizar estos datos, pueden prever estos eventos con mayor precisión y prepararse mejor en consecuencia. Este enfoque proactivo ayuda a las comunidades a minimizar los daños y recuperarse más rápidamente después de los desastres.
Además del monitoreo de desastres naturales, el IGAC utiliza datos satelitales para observar patrones ambientales cambiantes y variaciones en el uso de la tierra que pueden aumentar la vulnerabilidad ante impactos climáticos. Comprender estos cambios les permite asesorar a los gobiernos locales y organizaciones sobre las mejores estrategias para gestionar los recursos y proteger a las poblaciones en riesgo. Por ejemplo, proporcionan información sobre los lugares más adecuados para infraestructuras menos propensas a ser afectadas por inundaciones o deslizamientos.
Esta estrategia basada en datos es vital para mejorar la respuesta ante desastres. Asegura que los servicios de emergencia puedan actuar de manera rápida y eficaz cuando ocurren desastres, y ayuda a las comunidades a planificarse ante cambios climáticos de largo plazo, fortaleciendo su resiliencia con los desafíos futuros.
Tecnología para una gestión sostenible de la tierra y el territorio
El progreso de Colombia demuestra el potencial transformador de los datos satelitales y la IA en la gestión de la tierra. A través del enfoque innovador del IGAC, el país no solo mejora su capacidad de analizar y predecir riesgos ambientales, sino que también fomenta la transparencia y la colaboración de datos entre sectores. Al mejorar la toma de decisiones y construir resiliencia frente a los desastres naturales, el IGAC está estableciendo un precedente sólido para el desarrollo sostenible. Este modelo muestra cómo aprovechar tecnología de punta puede proteger los recursos naturales, salvaguardar a las comunidades y construir un futuro más seguro y resiliente para la región y más allá.
Note: This piece can also be read in English and Spanish.
Em busca de uma gestão sustentável da terra
O desmatamento ilegal, o uso inadequado da terra e as mudanças climáticas representam ameaças significativas para as ricas e diversas paisagens da Colômbia, assim como para as comunidades que dependem delas. Gustavo Marulanda Morales, Diretor do Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC), enfrenta esses desafios diariamente.
Durante nossa conferência “Planet On The Road” em Bogotá este ano, Marulanda compartilhou como ele e sua equipe aplicam tecnologia avançada para preservar a integridade do território, mitigando riscos e enfrentando ameaças emergentes.
Uso de dados satelitais para monitorar mudanças em todo o país
A Colômbia abriga uma das maiores florestas tropicais protegidas do mundo, incluindo parte da Amazônia. No entanto, o desmatamento continua sendo um grande desafio.
Fonte: Fernando Trujillo, Fundación OmachaEntre 2017 e 2021, a Colômbia perdeu mais de 760.000 hectares de floresta, principalmente devido à extração ilegal de madeira e outros usos insustentáveis da terra, de acordo com o Banco Mundial e o Global Forest Watch. A aplicação de leis de proteção ambiental é complicada, especialmente em áreas remotas onde as atividades ilegais são frequentes. Para enfrentar esse problema, o governo colombiano estabeleceu metas ambiciosas, como alcançar o desmatamento zero na Amazônia até 2030 (Banco Mundial). O monitoramento satelital é fundamental para apoiar esses esforços, permitindo a vigilância em tempo real das mudanças na terra e facilitando a implementação eficaz das leis ambientais.
O Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC), é a autoridade geográfica nacional da Colômbia, responsável pela produção e gestão de informações geográficas, cartografia, levantamento de terras e atividades cadastrais. O IGAC desempenha um papel essencial na gestão territorial ao fornecer dados sobre o uso do solo, recursos naturais e riscos ambientais.
O IGAC utiliza dados satelitais da Planet na cartografia cadastral, monitorando mudanças em todo o país de forma eficiente. As imagens de alta resolução quase em tempo real aceleram os processos de levantamento e facilitam a detecção rápida e precisa de mudanças, ajudando as entidades colombianas a esclarecer o uso do solo, identificar riscos e fazer cumprir as normas ambientais.
Fonte: Caso de Inundação em San Marcos – Ciénaga Los Lagos, PlanetMelhorando a gestão da terra com acesso a dados satelitais
A equipe de Marulanda não trabalha sozinha. Eles desenvolveram sua própria plataforma, o “Observatório da Terra e do Território”, que facilita o acesso a dados atualizados para uma variedade de instituições interessadas.
Fonte: Observatório da Terra e do Território, IGAC, Colômbia 2024O acesso aos mesmos dados facilita a unificação de esforços entre os diferentes níveis de governo e o setor privado. Por exemplo, as autoridades regionais podem usar essas informações para coordenar uma gestão mais eficiente da água.
Integração de IA para melhorar a tomada de decisões
Os dados satelitais não são a única ferramenta tecnológica usada pelo IGAC. “Estamos desenvolvendo um plano de Inteligência Artificial (IA) que nos permitirá ser muito mais assertivos”, comentou Marulanda.
A IA permite analisar rapidamente grandes conjuntos de dados, fornecendo ao IGAC informações precisas sobre mudanças ambientais. Ao integrar a IA com o monitoramento e análise satelitais, o IGAC pode detectar mudanças no uso da terra de forma mais rápida e responder de maneira eficaz. As ações decisivas, informadas pela IA, ajudarão a proteger os recursos naturais e as comunidades.
Fortalecendo a resiliência comunitária
O IGAC emprega dados satelitais da Planet para rastrear vários eventos de alto risco, como inundações, secas e deslizamentos de terra. Ao analisar esses dados, eles podem prever esses eventos com maior precisão e se preparar adequadamente. Essa abordagem proativa ajuda as comunidades a minimizar os danos e a se recuperar mais rapidamente após desastres.
Além do monitoramento de desastres naturais, o IGAC utiliza dados satelitais para observar padrões ambientais em mudança e variações no uso da terra que podem aumentar a vulnerabilidade a impactos climáticos. Compreender essas mudanças permite ao IGAC aconselhar os governos locais e organizações sobre as melhores estratégias para gerenciar recursos e proteger populações em risco. Por exemplo, eles fornecem informações sobre os locais mais adequados para infraestruturas que são menos propensas a serem afetadas por inundações ou deslizamentos de terra.
Essa estratégia baseada em dados é essencial para melhorar a resposta a desastres. Ela garante que os serviços de emergência possam agir de forma rápida e eficaz quando ocorrem desastres e ajuda as comunidades a se prepararem para mudanças climáticas de longo prazo, fortalecendo sua resiliência diante dos desafios futuros.
Tecnologia para uma gestão sustentável da terra e do território
O progresso da Colômbia demonstra o potencial transformador dos dados satelitais e da IA na gestão da terra. Por meio da abordagem inovadora do IGAC, o país não apenas melhora sua capacidade de analisar e prever riscos ambientais, mas também promove a transparência e a colaboração de dados entre setores. Ao melhorar a tomada de decisões e construir resiliência frente a desastres naturais, o IGAC estabelece um precedente sólido para o desenvolvimento sustentável. Esse modelo mostra como aproveitar tecnologia de ponta pode proteger os recursos naturais, salvaguardar as comunidades e construir um futuro mais seguro e resiliente para a região e além.
In today’s world, governments and enterprises are constantly confronted with conflict, natural disasters, and unexpected challenges. To respond effectively, they require rapid and accurate data interpretation. AllSource Analysis meets this need by integrating satellite data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and human expertise into finished geospatial intelligence. Their comprehensive reports provide crucial insights for timely decisions affecting infrastructure, resources, and lives.
A Planet partner for over a decade, AllSource Analysis relies extensively on Planet’s Earth observation imagery. “We regularly use PlanetScope data and see very clearly broad scale changes on the Earth,” said Renny Babiarz, Vice President of Analysis and Operations at AllSource Analysis. “Frequently, we’ll have projects where we use PlanetScope data to tell us we need to look over here. Then we can task high-resolution SkySat imagery to get a better look at that location to get more detail.”
Human Expertise Powers AllSource Solutions
While technology is critical, AllSource Analysis distinguishes itself with a network of independent professional analysts and subject matter experts. These seasoned analysts, with decades of geospatial and industry-focused experience, accurately interpret data, providing essential context for informed decisions.
Babiarz shared an example where a client faced a large electrical fire at a substation and required a quick analysis. “We’ll look for an analyst with a background in the electricity industry. The analyst examines various data sources, analyzes the issue, and then produces a concise report detailing the damage, its extent, and next steps.”
This flexible, independent analyst network enables AllSource Analysis to deliver the right expertise at the right time in a cost-effective manner. The result is clear, actionable reports tailored to specific business challenges.
A Collaborative Partnership Focused on Growth
Over the years, AllSource Analysis has depended on Planet’s data to provide comprehensive situational awareness worldwide. Planet is not just a data provider but also a driver of innovation and growth.
With the launch of the Planet Insights Platform, Planet is simplifying Earth data and analytics management while also enabling connections within the ecosystem. “Planet is becoming a hub of innovation, bringing in new companies with different capabilities to collaborate on projects,” Babiarz noted. “This is exciting for AllSource because it allows us to connect with companies we haven’t worked with before, expanding our capabilities and fostering new partnerships.”
Watch the accompanying video to hear more from Renny Babiarz on how this partnership helps governments and enterprises reduce risk, maintain compliance, and stay competitive in a rapidly changing world.
In an ever-evolving world, understanding behavioral and environmental patterns on a global scale is essential for making informed decisions. PSAI is at the forefront of this transformation, leveraging advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite imagery to provide real-time insights that drive meaningful change in national security, human rights, and environmental conservation.
Revolutionizing Global Monitoring with AI and Satellite Data
PSAI’s mission is to reshape how governments, organizations, and industries interpret complex data. By continually monitoring vast geographical regions using a range of commercially available data sources, they enable real-time decision-making that can have immediate and significant impacts.
Michael Kelly, Director of Operations at PSAI, emphasizes the importance of their partnership with Planet, “We could not do what we do without Planet, specifically PlanetScope data. This allows us to monitor for daily change, and no other provider can provide that. Planet excels in this area.”
Spotlight on National Security: Predicting the Unpredictable
One of PSAI’s most notable achievements is its ability to detect early signs of significant geopolitical events. In the lead-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, PSAI’s SPOTLIGHT monitoring solution, powered by Planet’s daily satellite imagery, identified unusual activity in Russian industrial and military complexes. “Our AI established a baseline of what normal activity looked like… We saw an uptick in activity at ports and other industrial areas that led us to believe that change was happening,” Kelly recalls.
This early detection was crucial in understanding and responding to the situation. PSAI’s ongoing monitoring, in collaboration with the U.S. State Department’s Conflict Observatory, has tracked the daily destruction of over 700,000 buildings across Ukraine, providing invaluable data for international response efforts.
Expanding Horizons: Beyond Conflict Monitoring
Following their work in Ukraine,PSAI has broadened its focus, applying their technology to various sectors, continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible with satellite data.
“We can detect everything from vegetation encroachment and on power supply areas, looking at oil pipeline, security and safety, looking at reservoir and dam and physical infrastructure, maintenance, whether there are leaks detected. We can do all of that with PlanetScope data, which is incredible,” says Kelly.
A Partnership Built on Innovation
The partnership between PSAI and Planet is not just about technology; it’s about collaboration and shared vision. “Working within this partnership model has put us in direct partnership with other Planet partners, creating a symbiosis that wouldn’t otherwise exist,” Kelly explains. “We appreciate Planet’s investment in the partnership program because it provides us the confidence and ability to do our work — our best work. And we know we are more powerful together than we could ever be alone.”
As PSAI continues to innovate and expand its capabilities, the synergy between their advanced AI and Planet’s satellite imagery will remain at the core of their efforts to drive change across the globe.
Watch the accompanying video to hear more from Michael Kelly on how this partnership is making a difference.
In conflict zones around the world, the protection of civilians and assets is a critical challenge. Hala Systems, a technology company specializing in innovative solutions for early warning and civilian protection, is at the forefront of addressing this issue.
Hala Systems, with the support of Planet imagery, is creating a resilient, data-informed future for civilian protection in conflict zones. By integrating advanced technology and reliable data, they are making significant strides in reducing harm and increasing security for vulnerable communities around the world.
Hala Systems’ Mission and Partnership with Planet
Hala Systems’ mission is to save lives before, during, and after conflict through advanced solutions that provide reliable, structured data to decision makers. “For us, decision makers are civilians,” says Alexander Lee, Director for Activity-Based Intelligence at Hala Systems. “To reduce risks to people living in dangerous areas, we use technology to bring structured, trustworthy data to those who need it,” Lee elaborated.
One of the key technologies for Hala Systems is satellite imagery from Planet. With PlanetScope, SkySat Archive, and Tile Views, Hala Systems builds comprehensive pictures of conflict zones, combining data from proprietary sensors with high-frequency satellite imagery to understand and predict events.
“Our primary mission is to save civilian lives in war zones. We start with a fundamental problem: How do we get good quality information into the hands of those who need it? People need to make decisions based on reliable data,” added Lee.
The integration of Planet imagery with Hala System’s data from proprietary sensors creates a robust system for monitoring and early warning. This system has proven invaluable in situations where traditional media cannot provide timely information. “Now, as a Planet Partner, we [Hala Systems] leverage Planet’s constellation of satellites to build comprehensive pictures in conflict zones,” said Lee.
One notable example of the impact of this partnership is the monitoring of a refugee camp in a war zone during a communications blackout. Rumors about the camp’s status abounded, but with frequent satellite imagery from Planet, Hala Systems could validate ground reports and ultimately document the activities happening at the inaccessible camp. “Satellite imagery captured very frequently allowed us to see changes happening in and around the refugee camp, validating what we were hearing from the ground,” Lee recounts.
A Collaborative and Forward-Looking Partnership
Over the years, Hala Systems has found Planet to be a genuine, responsive partner aligned with real-world problems faced by its customers. “We’ve genuinely found that Planet increasingly is very in step and in synchronization with the problems that its partners and customers face,” says Lee. “We’re very happy today that we’re on this tremendous journey with Planet, working increasingly closer together to deliver insights to those who really need them.”
As far as the future goes, Hala Systems is now working on building new solutions and expanding their use cases, aimed at government defense and security teams. “We are planning to increase our remote monitoring capacity and capabilities by improving our end-to-end workflows,” says Alex. “We aim to provide even quicker insights to field offices and other end users, enabling faster assessments and better support for civilians.”
Watch the accompanying video to hear more from Alexander Lee on how this partnership is transforming lives:
Earlier this year, Planet, ERM, Salesforce, and NatureMetrics launched the NatureTech Alliance at the World Economic Forum in Davos to help companies harness advanced data and technology to tackle their most urgent nature challenges. This week at COP16, this Alliance released a new report with insights from leading companies about their nature performance journeys – what they’re learning, where they’re stuck. We identify key steps to move from “Do No Harm” to “Nature-Positive” through thoughtful and timely integration of data and tech, and show how leading performers are already on their way.
We’ve included our joint forward below and invite you to read the full report here.
—————————————–“Forward: A new era for nature tech”“As the eyes of the world turn to Cali, Colombia, for the next UN Biodiversity Conference, COP16, it is increasingly clear that companies are prioritizing biodiversity and combating the growing nature crisis. The scale of the crisis is clear: global biodiversity loss is accelerating at unprecedented rates. According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre’s 2023 Planetary Boundaries study, the current rate of species extinction is tens to a hundred times higher than the average over the last ten million years. These extraordinary losses threaten ecosystems, economies – and (they are now realizing) companies directly.
For many years, companies have been conducting environmental impact assessments, identifying the presence of threatened and endangered species, and managing air and water pollution. Despite these efforts, biodiversity loss continues to increase: simply minimizing harm is no longer enough. The time has come for businesses to shift from reducing their environmental footprint to actively advancing net benefits to nature throughout their operations, supply chains, and products.
Companies must step up not just to be ‘good corporate citizens’ but because it is increasingly clear that the continued success of their businesses depends on it.
Two years ago, the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) of a global bank embarked on their nature journey, assuming it would follow the same path as tackling carbon. After all, if they could gain C-suite buy-in for decarbonization and address investors’ demands on stranded fossil fuel assets, how difficult could bugs and bunnies be?
A year in, the complexity of the task became evident. The breadth of issues, depth of business impact, and location-specific differences across their asset portfolio – exacerbated by seemingly infinite data sets – made the challenge feel overwhelming.
According to recent interviews with leading companies, this CSO’s experience is far from unique. Many are only beginning to grasp the magnitude of the biodiversity crisis and are turning to new data providers and technologies for solutions.
In mid-2024 the members of the Nature Tech Alliance—ERM, Salesforce, Planet, and NatureMetrics—assessed the current state of corporate biodiversity measurement, management, and disclosure through interviews with 18 leading companies. All of them are global corporations that are the ‘users’ of nature data, rather than technology providers looking for new markets (which are being well covered by excellent reports by Nature 4 Climate and others).
This white paper results from that collaboration. It outlines key pathways for businesses as they navigate new frameworks like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) – all while addressing the pressing and practical challenges of biodiversity loss, water scarcity, and climate change.
We offer practical insights for CSOs and CTOs as they guide their organizations through this next set of challenges. In short, aligning with their overall business goals: working across the value chain to achieve landscape-scale impact, by knitting together the tech architecture vital to deliver enterprise-wide transformation.”
Learn how governments and organizations leverage broad area management to monitor change across vast geographies and timescales.****
Organizations across various sectors increasingly rely on real-time data and actionable insights to make informed decisions. Whether managing agricultural lands, monitoring natural resources, detecting threats, or overseeing vast infrastructure networks, the ability to efficiently observe, analyze, and manage broad areas of the Earth is crucial. This is where Planet comes in.
Planet offers a unique set of products — including daily Earth data, high-resolution tasking, advanced analytics, and powerful APIs — that support broad area management by providing a multidimensional view of change as it’s happening.
This guide explores how Planet’s broad area management capabilities allow governments and organizations to look broader, closer, deeper, and back in time to identify and address new challenges and make better decisions.
Table of Contents
- Understanding Broad Area Management
- Broad Area Management Capabilities: Four Superpowers (Broader, Back, Closer, Deeper)
- Planet Products: The Broad Area Management Toolkit
- How Broad Area Management Is Used by Governments (Civilian and Military)
- How Broad Area Management is Used by Commercial Operations
- Future Trends in Broad Area Management
- A Holistic Approach to Broad Area Management
Understanding Broad Area ManagementBroad area management is the practice of monitoring, measuring, and reporting change across large, dispersed geographic areas and timescales using Earth observation data.
This approach enables governments and organizations to gain insights into various natural processes and human activity, such as environmental changes, land use, and infrastructure development.
Broad area management is best achieved with scalable data, analytics, and software that capture multiple dimensions of information in near-real time — including location, time, and physical characteristics.
By leveraging high-frequency satellite imagery and advanced analytics from Planet, broad area management can help detect early threats, mitigate risks, ensure regulatory compliance, and improve disaster preparedness.
Broad area management from Planet includes four distinct capabilities which help enhance decision making. It allows organizations to:
- Look broader and monitor vast areas every day with daily satellite imagery
- Look back and identify changes with AI-powered alerts
- Look closer with high-resolution tasking imagery
- Look deeper with analytics-ready derived data
The Value of Broad Area Management
Historically, many organizations and agencies have relied on public satellite imagery, aerial surveys, in-field sampling, and other remote sensing to collect data across. But these tools aren’t enough to keep pace with changes fueled by climate change, population growth, new compliance requirements, and rising geopolitical tensions — especially in inaccessible or difficult to access areas.
Traditional data sources like drones and aerial imagery are often not collected frequently enough to spot changes early. Legacy IT systems often depend on highly manual processes, which can create analysis and reporting bottlenecks. And staffing shortages can make it even more difficult to scale up data collection and analysis.
Broad area management from Planet provides up-to-date, daily, and detailed insights into changing conditions.
Governments use these insights to support routine operations like permit compliance and code enforcement, implement new policies and programs, and coordinate responses to unplanned events like natural disasters and illegal activities. And use cases across commercial operations range from minimizing underwriting risk and increasing crop productivity to monitoring infrastructure development.
Ultimately, broad area management helps organizations across industries achieve a range of shared outcomes, including:
- Real-time monitoring and alerting of critical areas
- Faster issue discovery and decision-making
- Ability to do more with current budgets
- Increased efficiency and productivity of remote sensing workflows
- Streamlined data integration and analysis processes
Broad Area Management Capabilities: Four SuperpowersBroad area management brings together four distinct capabilities, or superpowers, to look broader across the landscape with daily monitoring, look back in time with our living archive, look closer at an area of interest with high-resolution tasking, and look deeper to see signals and patterns that fall outside the visible spectrum. Let’s take a look at each.
Looking Broader: Monitoring and Measuring Change Across Vast Geographic Areas
Basing decisions on data that is too narrow can have negative and even dangerous consequences — ranging from the loss of precious resources and funds to unnecessary suffering.
Monitoring large geographic areas is possible with Planet Monitoring — a fleet of 3.7 meter resolution (GSD) Dove® satellites that orbit the globe approximately every 90 minutes, capturing Earth’s landmass and coastal areas on a near-daily basis.
This continuous global coverage means there is PlanetScope® satellite imagery available almost anywhere it’s needed, so you can broaden your focus to include adjacent geographies immediately.
This additional context can eliminate assumptions in choosing the path forward — allowing teams to act with confidence and agility.
In early June 2023, the Nova Kakhovka dam across the Dnipro River in Ukraine collapsed, flooding several downstream cities. This high-resolution SkySat® image taken on June 6 captures the aftermath of the collapse in great detail. But it lacks the broader view — demonstrated by the background map.
This time series of Planet Basemap images spanning May to July 2023, gives insights into the broader and potential downstream consequences of the collapse.
Looking Back: Utilizing Earth Observation Data for Better Decision-Making
Planet operates hundreds of satellites that index the entire surface of the Earth nearly every day and feed the ever-growing Planet Archive — composed of more than 300 billion sq km of imagery, with proprietary datasets back to 2009 and public datasets back to 1972.
This means that for any given location on Earth’s landmass, the archive has an average of over 2,700 images of that area.
This unprecedented, living dataset of global change allows organizations to compare current conditions with those in the past to understand patterns in areas of interest, validate hypotheses of what is happening on the ground, and model future scenarios with confidence.
And these capabilities are magnified when combined with analytics and automation. Planet Analytic Feeds transform daily satellite imagery leveraging AI into sources of information that identify and classify buildings, roads, vessels, aircrafts, and other objects. When applied to the Planet Archive dataset, change can be detected efficiently over large periods of time, at scale.
The construction of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport near Mexico City between January 14, 2017 and January 27, 2024 — captured in 364 PlanetScope scenes.
Looking Closer: High-Resolution Tasking for Detailed Inspection
Broad area management often begins with an expansive view that is refined once a change or specific area of interest is identified.
Then, when an even closer look is needed, Planet Tasking via the SkySat constellation offers satellite imagery at 50 cm resolution — which captures images with incredible clarity, revealing features as small as a tree.
This process of constant monitoring with always-on Earth observation data, paired with on-demand high-resolution tasked imagery, is called “tip and cue” — and it can be a powerful tool for organizations across industries.
With the ability to task satellites on-demand and rapidly capture high-resolution images, users gain access to near real-time information when they need it most.
A comparison of PlanetScope and SkySat images of Alexandroúpolis, Greece illustrates the value of looking closer, in a higher resolution.
Looking Deeper: From Imagery to Measurements With Planetary Variables
Many Earth observation satellites image in multiple spectral bands, which means they’re capable of not just “true color” imagery, or imagery that looks like what a human eye would see, but also probe various segments of the electromagnetic spectrum.
And when this capability is applied to broad area management, we’re able to understand physical attributes across the Earth in a much deeper way. Through multispectral analysis across space and time, we’re able to look deeper and convert raw observations into quantifiable metrics.
Planetary Variables are Planet’s analysis-ready data products that are derived from sources across the electromagnetic spectrum, including optical, radar, passive microwave, and LiDAR sensors.
By fusing these distinct sources together with Planet imagery and tools, Planetary Variables unlock information about key characteristics that drive deep insights for a range of use cases, including:
- Agricultural monitoring: Cloud-free Crop Biomass data and Soil Water Content data help farmers and agricultural companies detect nutrient deficiencies, pests, diseases, and generate prescription maps for seeds and fertilizers. Field Boundaries trace the boundaries of agricultural parcels to help aid in food security, supply chain management, and commodities trading.
- Forest and land management: Forest Carbon offers up-to-date, accurate, and finely resolved measurements of the aboveground carbon stored in forests. This helps enable quantification of carbon stocks and regulation of forest degradation.
- Water resource monitoring: Soil Water Content data is used to help build models and make informed decisions about irrigation needs, drought risk, and ecosystem restoration projects. Land Surface Temperature helps monitor hot and dry conditions to track the feedback loop of drought, in addition to agriculture uses and commodity and yield prediction.
Soil Water Content allows organizations to monitor complex water systems by providing insights in water demand and storage capacity. Planet processes data from satellite sensors that measure passive microwave radiation, delivering near-daily measurements. Pictured here are measurements of soil water content near Ahlen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Planet Products: The Broad Area Management ToolkitBetter information means better decisions. Planet products support broad area management for every location on the globe.
Planet Monitoring
Hundreds of PlanetScope satellites image nearly all of the Earth’s landmass on a daily basis, at 3.7 m resolution. Analysis-Ready PlanetScope data makes it easy to conduct deep time-series analysis, and Planet Basemaps provide seamless, up-to-date mosaics. These products provide a broad, near-daily view of any area of interest.
Planet Tasking
The SkySat constellation provides additional clarity for any area of interest with imagery at 50 m resolution and sub-daily revisit. These images allow for a closer look, when needed.
Planet Archive
The Planet Archive is composed of more than 300 billion sq km of imagery, with proprietary datasets back to 2009. It is a living dataset for any given location on Earth’s landmass — providing the ability to look back in time.
Planet Analytics
These products leverage machine learning to detect objects like roads, buildings, ships, and aircraft — transforming imagery into actionable information feeds. When combined with Planet PlanetScope and Archive data, these products can detect change over broad areas and timescales.
Planetary Variables
These analysis-ready data feeds draw on numerous constellations to measure important conditions outside the visible spectrum, including:
- Soil Water Content: Provides high-resolution measurements of the water content of the soil, unhindered by clouds.
- Land Surface Temperature: Provides high-resolution measurements of the skin temperature of the surface of the Earth.
- Crop Biomass: Provides daily, cloud-free estimates of crop biomass.
- Field Boundaries: Includes a set of polygons that represents the boundaries of agricultural fields for any areas of interest.
- Forest Carbon: Provides timely, operational, near-tree-scale insights into global changes in canopy height, canopy cover, and aboveground carbon density.
These measurements provide a deeper look and understanding of changing conditions of the Earth’s surface.
Planet Insights Platform
The set of applications, APIs, data layers, and tools that help customers and partners create insights that characterize our changing physical Earth.
The platform empowers developers, data scientists, and GIS teams to perform pixel-based analysis, calculate statistics, and prepare data for machine learning workflows on a global scale.
Planet Insights Platform supports broad area management by providing a central place for Earth data, analytics, and tools — to look broader, back, closer, and deeper.
How Broad Area Management Is Used by GovernmentsGovernments have been early and active users of Planet data. The reason is simple: change is occurring faster than ever across their territories. These changes are driven by a variety of factors, including climate variability, land use changes (urbanization, agricultural expansion, and deforestation), and evolving policy mandates that need to be implemented and monitored.
These forces are reshaping day-to-day government data needs. Many department leaders and analysts are finding that in order to run programs effectively, they need more frequent and detailed information about activities on the ground. They need to be able to detect changes in near real-time, regularly monitor detailed changes over broad areas, and share insights across more government agencies and users. Let’s explore how they are using satellite imagery and data to support their policy goals.
Use Cases for Civil Government
- Agriculture compliance and risk monitoring
Governments monitor agricultural practices for many reasons: to observe local production, safeguard the environment, support farmers, allocate subsidies with efficiency and transparency, and maintain confidence in the food supply chain. But existing methods for data collection and claim verification are highly manual, making it difficult to scale operations to meet new and evolving policy requirements.
Broad area management enables faster, more accurate verification of management practices such as conservation tillage and cover cropping. This includes optimizing inspections, monitoring compliance, and administering subsidy programs more effectively.
ARSKTRP — the Slovenia agency responsible for overseeing Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments to farmers — used Planet satellite imagery and data to reduce the total number of inconclusive parcels by almost three-fourths, saving over €1M.
* Forest health monitoring
Governments monitor forest health to identify new disturbances, track drought stress and wildfire risk, and allocate resources into management practices such as forest thinning, treatment or restoration work.
But forests cover vast areas that are often difficult to reach, making it challenging for governments to gather and integrate multiple data sources that reveal trends over time.
Broad area management helps governments develop and implement regional management strategies that protect and restore forested lands. This includes increasing the efficiency of pest and disease monitoring, fuels reduction and treatment, and forest restoration work.
The Czech Republic, for example, experienced a significant population increase of bark beetles that threatened roughly 80% of the country’s spruce forests. However, the nation’s Forest Management Institute (FMI) mitigated the threat using Planet satellite imagery to detect which forests were affected. Among 55 randomly selected plots, 90% were infested, while 20% of the landowners were unaware.
* Deforestation monitoring
Governments track deforestation to reduce forest crime, protect biodiversity and ecosystem services, uphold commitments to indigenous peoples, assess changes to carbon stocks, and more.
Historically, many agencies have relied on highly manual processes for data collection and analysis. However, the size and complexity of many forested regions make it challenging to respond quickly and effectively to illicit activities like deforestation.
Broad area management enables faster, more accurate detection of illegal logging, land conversion, and other indicators of forestry crime. This includes monitoring changes, document unpermitted activities, and streamlining enforcement operations.
Planet customer, SCCON Geospatial, used Planet satellite imagery and data to build a custom platform with change-detection alerts that notify authorities of changes in forest cover within days. This allows the Brazilian Federal Police to prioritize interventions, accelerate investigations, and ensure that logging operations comply with legal permits.
* Wildfire monitoring
Governments need data that helps quantify risk reduction and prioritize needs — including current information about roads and buildings, as well as hazard indicators.
However, collecting, processing, and analyzing sufficient aerial data is expensive and time-consuming, and delays can increase vulnerability or even the cost to address known issues.
Broad area management enables faster, more accurate monitoring of a range of potentially hazardous conditions, including tree mortality and disease, drought, utility line clearance, stand dynamics, and fuel loads. It also supports recovery efforts by verifying burn areas and supporting environmental impact assessments.
In 2024 a wildfire spread across the island of Maui in Hawaii and devastated the town of Lahaina. Researchers (Caleb Robinson et al.), looking to analyze the disaster and better inform future emergency response efforts, utilized Planet satellite imagery and data to visualize and assess damages — testing a machine learning (ML) model to see how well it could identify structurally unsafe buildings.
Use Cases for Peace and SecurityFoundational geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT, describes the physical characteristics of an area of interest. All geospatially referenced intelligence analysis is built upon it, enabling imagery, signals, human, and all-source intelligence. Integrating foundational GEOINT into the decision-making process enables defense and intelligence agencies to enhance their effectiveness and agility in complex environments.
Planet broad area management capabilities are used by governments and defense organizations to gain situational awareness into activities like troop movements, the impacts of climate change, and illicit activities.
- Maritime domain awareness
Governments need to capture a baseline of activity in their waterways, when changes in that baseline occur, and what took place, and whether the activity was nefarious. For example, two vessels fastened together indicating a ship-to-ship transfer.
While public satellite imagery is available to help identify this activity, it isn’t frequent or detailed enough to detect and categorize every vessel that passes through waterways.
With broad area management, governments can improve situational awareness in strategic maritime zones. This includes filling intelligence gaps, optimizing resource allocation, and responding swiftly to emerging threats and illegal activities.
Supported by partners like Synmax, Planet satellite imagery provides unparalleled coverage and frequency, empowering organizations to maintain security, ensure safety, and protect economic interests. By leveraging Planet’s high-cadence satellite data, organizations can fill intelligence gaps, augment government capabilities, and improve situational awareness in strategic maritime zones.
* Foreign military intelligence
In a world of rapidly increasing global competition, staying ahead requires more than just strategic planning — it demands real-time insights into activities happening across vast, geographically dispersed areas.
With the ability to monitor vast areas and respond swiftly to changing conditions, broad area management enhances situational awareness and strategic planning. Precise, up-to-date geospatial data allows operations to stay ahead of potential challenges and reduce operational risk.
Military leaders can detect changes such as damaged infrastructure or troop movements, enabling rapid, informed decision-making. This intelligence supports efficient resource allocation and mission planning in dynamic environments, ensuring operational success.
Broad Area Management and Commercial OperationsWhile broad area management is used across a diverse range of commercial industries to track and understand change, two notable examples are insurance and agriculture.
- Agricultural monitoring
In agriculture, every part of the supply chain faces threats from weather, disease, and price uncertainty. Finding data to help track and respond to these risks can be unreliable, expensive, and challenging to process at scale.
Broad area management enables faster, more accurate monitoring of crop health, soil conditions, and land use changes on individual fields to support data-driven management decisions.
For example, Organic Valley, a national organic food brand and independent cooperative of small family farms, uses Planet near-daily satellite imagery to improve their pastures and herd nutrition, and contribute to sustainable agricultural practices like regenerative rotational grazing.
And Planet partner Bayer Crop Science is leveraging Planet data to ensure that they have the right seed, in the right place, at the right time to serve their growers worldwide.
* Insurance underwriting and loss adjustment
As the insurance industry grapples with an increasingly complex landscape fueled by climate change, better data and tools are needed to reduce risk, streamline processes, and more effectively protect communities where people live and work.
Broad area management allows insurance companies to scale insights across geographies, develop advanced predictive modeling capabilities, and drive more efficient analysis.
Planet partner AXA Climate leverages Planetary Variables to power their drought insurance program. Using the Planet Soil Water Content data feed, AXA Climate receives a measurement of the volume of water contained in soil at a high resolution in their areas of interest to a depth of about five centimeters. This critical information helps the insurance company determine risk for drought-related losses, such as crop yields.
Future Trends in Broad Area ManagementAs access to satellite imagery becomes more widespread, the focus on broad area management is shifting toward how to use this data more effectively. Here are two key trends shaping the future.
Prospects of AI and Machine Learning
While AI and ML are already integral to geospatial analysis, the future will see these technologies become even more refined and widely applied. They will streamline processes like object detection and change analysis, making extracting actionable insights from satellite imagery faster and easier.
These advancements will continue to enhance the ability to monitor large areas in near-real time, improving response times and decision-making.
Advances in Satellite Technology
Ongoing innovations in satellite technology provide more detailed and frequent imagery, enhancing the ability to monitor large geographic areas more accurately.
Improvements in imaging frequency, resolution, and data quality allow for more precise monitoring of environmental changes, infrastructure health, and land use compliance. As satellite technology evolves, these advancements will play a critical role in supporting broad area management across various sectors.
A Holistic Approach to Broad Area ManagementDetecting change across vast and remote areas of the earth is challenging — especially if you don’t know where to look or windows for decision making are small.
Broad area management enables daily insights across large known and unknown geographies using the power of satellite imagery and analytics.
The tools that allow organizations to look broader, closer, deeper, and back in time come together in Planet Insights Platform — which provides a central place for Earth data, applications, APIs, data layers, and tools.
The platform operates across ecosystems to seamlessly integrate with other GIS applications and platforms, such as ESRI, to deliver users a comprehensive view of an area of interest. Additionally, partners and developers leverage the platform to create customized solutions tailored to the specific needs of defense and intelligence organizations.
Planet Insights Platform allows users to leverage the power of near-daily Earth observation data to work more efficiently, reduce risk, improve compliance, and allocate resources in informed and equitable ways. They can look broadly with near-daily imagery, look back with a robust archive, and take closer look with high resolution imagery, and see deeper with derived data. Interested in learning more about how Planet Insights Platform and broad area management can support your policy and operational goals? Contact us today.
Note: This piece can also be read in English and Spanish.
As mudanças climáticas estão intensificando os desastres naturais na América Central e na América do Sul, desde incêndios florestais devastadores até inundações e deslizamentos de terra. Segundo o Painel Intergovernamental sobre Mudanças Climáticas (IPCC), a frequência e a intensidade dos eventos climáticos extremos na região aumentaram significativamente nos últimos anos, resultando em um crescimento de 23% no número de desastres naturais registrados na última década. Esse risco crescente levou tanto o setor público quanto o privado a repensar suas abordagens em relação à gestão de desastres.
Durante o recente evento “Planet On The Road” em Bogotá, Colômbia, especialistas da região compartilharam como estão utilizando dados de satélites em tempo real para proteger as comunidades frente a esses desastres iminentes.
Monitoramento de Riscos em um Mega Projeto de Barragem na ColômbiaEm grandes represas, os riscos de inundações e deslizamentos de terra exigem a proteção tanto do meio ambiente quanto das comunidades locais. William Ramírez, profissional de Gestão Ambiental, Social e Sustentabilidade da Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), discutiu o monitoramento de riscos no megaproyecto hidroelétrico Hidroituango, na Colômbia.
Imagery provided by EPM – DAM HidroItuango Hydroelectric ProjectImagery provided by EPM – DAM HidroItuango Hydroelectric ProjectO projeto Hidroituango representa um desafio único devido à sua magnitude e aos potenciais impactos ambientais ao longo do rio Cauca. Detritos flutuantes, deslizamentos de terra e chuvas intensas ameaçam tanto a represa quanto às áreas circunvizinhas.
Imagery from the Planet Insights Platform displaying DAM HidroItuango Hydroelectric ProjectA equipe de Ramírez utiliza imagens da Planet para avaliar continuamente a situação e tomar medidas preventivas antes que os riscos se tornem desastres. “O monitoramento por satélite nos permitiu controlar e caracterizar os fenômenos”, destacou. “Isso não abrange apenas a ameaça de inundações, mas também outros tipos de riscos de origem natural ou humana.” Com dados quase em tempo real, a EPM pode proteger de maneira mais eficaz a infraestrutura, o território e as vidas.
Combate a Incêndios Florestais com Dados em Tempo Real no ChileImagery from the Planet Insights Platform displaying a Chilean wildfire.Imagery from the Planet Insights Platform displaying a Chilean wildfire with Raster4’s analysis. O Chile enfrenta desafios únicos. Valentina Espinosa, gerente geral da Raster4, ressaltou a importância de contar com dados satelitais confiáveis em um país que se estende por mais de 4.000 quilômetros e enfrenta ameaças que vão de tsunamis a vulcões. “Antes da Planet, estávamos praticamente cegos”, afirmou.
Ela destacou o valor de dados quase em tempo real durante o devastador incêndio no Chile no início deste ano. “Conseguimos colaborar no incêndio de Valparaíso ao detectar automaticamente quais áreas estavam sendo afetadas pelo fogo e entregar rapidamente essa informação às prefeituras e instituições governamentais que apoiamos.”
Espinosa enfatizou que a automação por meio do aprendizado profundo foi crucial para uma resposta ágil. Ao aplicar processamento automático de IA nas imagens da Planet, a Raster4 conseguiu compartilhar atualizações com as instituições governamentais em minutos, em vez de horas. “Ao fornecer dados praticamente em tempo real, conseguimos identificar as melhores rotas de evacuação e transmitir essa informação aos bombeiros.”
Previsão do Risco de Desastres na Colômbia, Equador e Panamá
Inovações que integram IA e imagens de satélite estão transformando a gestão do risco de desastres. Marta Valbuena, gerente de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento da Procalculo, explicou como essa empresa utiliza big data para prever e mitigar riscos na Colômbia, Equador e Panamá.
A Procalculo analisa dados da Planet para entender como diversas características do território aumentam ou diminuem sua vulnerabilidade a riscos. Por exemplo, certos tipos de vegetação podem tornar uma área mais ou menos propensa a incêndios.
Os modelos preditivos da Procalculo incorporam uma ampla gama de variáveis naturais, como topografia, capacidade do solo, geologia, precipitação e fenômenos como El Niño e La Niña. Eles também consideram fatores antropogênicos, como estradas, culturas, população e a localização de habitações e indústrias. Com essas informações, Procalculo prevê quais territórios são mais propensos a serem afetados por desastres naturais e implementa medidas para proteger tanto as pessoas quanto o meio ambiente.
Planet Insights Platform displaying landscape in La Calera, Colombia on April 16, 2024“Os dados detalhados e frequentes da Planet nos permitem enriquecer nossos processos de inteligência artificial”, destacou Valbuena, “realizando análises com melhor desempenho e obtendo um conhecimento mais profundo sobre nosso território em termos de gestão de riscos.”
Uma Nova Era para a Gestão de Desastres na América Latina
Desde a previsão e mitigação do risco de desastres até a coordenação de respostas, os tomadores de decisão na América Latina estão utilizando a tecnologia para agir de forma proativa, em vez de reativa, diante da crescente ameaça dos desastres naturais.
Informações oportunas ajudam governos e organizações a agir rapidamente e de forma eficaz. Além disso, a colaboração entre os setores público e privado acelerou o desenvolvimento de novas ferramentas, como modelos de risco impulsionados por IA, que transformam a maneira como as comunidades compreendem e respondem às ameaças de desastres naturais. À medida que o clima continua a mudar, essas tecnologias se tornarão ainda mais essenciais. O trabalho realizado em toda a América Latina serve como modelo de como soluções baseadas em dados podem salvar vidas em todo o mundo.
Learn how to migrate your workflows to the cloud, create custom visualizations, and stream data with OGC services — watch our webinar to learn more.
Planet has revolutionized the way geospatial professionals monitor changes on Earth. But as the volume of satellite data grows, so does the need for streamlined access, storage, and analysis. That’s where our latest updates come in — transforming the way you interact with and manage massive datasets, all while making the experience faster, more efficient, and more integrated with the tools you already use.
In a recent Agile EO webinar, Matt Ballard, Technical Marketing Manager, and Asa Strong, Senior Product Manager, walked us through exciting new features designed specifically to improve how you manage and integrate Earth observation data into your workflows. If you missed it, here’s a recap of what’s new and how it can help you unlock more value.
Streamlined Data AccessPlanet Explorer has always been the go-to web application for searching and ordering imagery from our extensive PlanetScope and SkySat catalogs. However, downloading large volumes of data for local storage is a challenge, especially when dealing with daily updates.
With our new Imagery Collection feature, you can now have the data you’ve ordered delivered straight to cloud image collections — no more local downloads needed. Not only does this save you storage space, but it also gives you direct access to datasets stored in the cloud, ready for use in your software of choice through OGC services.
The benefit? You can now focus more on analysis and less on data wrangling. The days of manually handling terabytes of satellite data are over — our platform stores, organizes, and streams the data to your tools, whether it’s ArcGIS, QGIS, or Mapbox.
Key Updates to Planet Explorer: Bringing AOIs to LifeNew saved Area-of-Interest search tool in Planet Explorer.
One of the standout features introduced during the webinar was the improved Areas of Interest (AOI) Management in Planet Explorer, demonstrated live by Asa Strong. Now, users can access saved AOIs directly within Planet Explorer, enabling easier searches for relevant data without needing to upload or recreate them each time.
AOIs can be shared across teams, stored in feature collections (folders for your AOIs), and reused for future searches. For example, Asa demonstrated (skip to 8:28 in the recording to watch) how uploading wildfire perimeter data as a feature collection immediately enabled him to search for imagery within those boundaries, significantly cutting down time to locate the necessary data.
These updates are especially valuable for organizations managing large or recurring AOIs, like city planners, agricultural firms, or disaster response teams. By reusing AOIs, teams can collaborate seamlessly, ensuring everyone is working from the same dataset without having to pass files back and forth.
Imagery at Your Fingertips With Cloud-Based DeliveryNew delivery destination in Planet Explorer for cloud imagery collections.
In the past, users had to download datasets and store them locally. Now, you can deliver imagery directly into an imagery collection in the cloud, reducing infrastructure costs and streamlining access to data. Once data is ordered, it’s cataloged in the STAC (SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog) specification, enabling easy search and retrieval.
But the game-changing aspect? You can now configure OGC web services to stream this data directly into your analysis software, whether it’s ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, or Mapbox. Asa demonstrated how this allows users to visualize, analyze, and collaborate in real time, directly within their familiar geospatial platforms.
Imagine searching for imagery in Planet Explorer, ordering it into a cloud image collection, and instantly pulling that data into ArcGIS for interpretation — all in a few clicks. This kind of interoperability eliminates delays, allowing for faster, more agile decision-making.
A New Era of Efficient Imagery ManagementIn the ever-evolving field of satellite imagery, the need for more efficient ways to handle data is growing. These latest updates empower users to focus less on managing data and more on deriving insights.
By providing cloud-based storage, reusable AOIs, and easy integration with popular geospatial tools, Planet is streamlining your ability to access, visualize, and analyze imagery—unlocking faster decision-making and more precise outcomes.
If you haven’t had a chance to explore these new features yet, watch the full webinar to learn more and see the demonstration. If you’re new to Planet, test out our Sandbox Data Collections to better understand the capabilities.
The European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a critical framework designed to support and improve the agricultural sector across member states. However, the CAP’s requirements pose significant challenges, particularly in the area of remote sensing-based Area Monitoring Systems (AMS). Netherlands Geomatics & Earth Observation B.V. (NEO), a Planet partner, is addressing these challenges head-on, leveraging the Planet Insights Platform to enhance compliance with CAP requirements.
NEO’s Mission and Partnership with Planet
NEO, a leading provider of information services for continuous monitoring of geo-objects, has been at the forefront of agricultural monitoring for over 25 years. Their expertise in geo-data management and innovative use of technology has enabled them to support nationwide monitoring efforts in countries like the Netherlands and Ireland.
“At NEO, our goal is to monitor all objects visible from the skies,” said Henk Janssen, Project Manager and Consultant for Earth Observation and Geomatics at NEO. “Specifically, we focus on agricultural parcels to support national paying agencies in monitoring subsidy applications from farmers.”
One of the primary challenges faced by NEO is the need for high-resolution, frequent data to monitor agricultural activities accurately. Through CAP, financial incentive programs support farmers in their transition towards sustainable and efficient farming practices through verified payout schemes. However, traditional reliance on Sentinel-2 satellite data has proven inadequate for verification and monitoring smaller fields and narrow land parcels, which make up a significant portion of CAP-eligible hectares. This is where the partnership between NEO with Planet comes into play.
The Challenge of Implementing CAP
Originally established in 1962, the CAP is a cornerstone of the EU’s efforts to support and improve the agricultural sector. With €58 billion allocated towards it in 2021, the CAP represents the largest share of the EU budget. The policy aims to strengthen the EU agricultural economy and improve productivity across 174 million agricultural hectares.
Since 2018, the CAP has been undergoing a modernization process aligned with the EU Green Deal, aiming to tackle climate change through sustainable management practices and the adoption of digital technologies. National authorities have traditionally relied on Sentinel-2 satellite data for the verification of these practices, but the limitations of this data in terms of resolution and cadence have posed significant challenges.
NEO’s Innovative Approach with Planet Insights Platform
NEO’s expertise in remote sensing has been instrumental in preparing for the AMS implementation. They have led several successful projects, including the Proof of Concepts in the Netherlands and operational implementation support in Denmark from 2018 – 2020. Currently, NEO is leading the setting up and running of the Dutch AMS and is a project partner in the AMS implementation in Ireland.
The Planet Insights Platform has been a game-changer for NEO. Offering high spatial resolution satellite data with a near-daily satellite capture of real-time observations, the platform has significantly enhanced NEO’s monitoring capabilities. The number of monitored fields has increased by 25% compared to Sentinel-2 data, and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) has expanded its monitored parcels from 650,000 to 1 million.
“The Planet datasets are crucial for us because they fill the gaps left by Sentinel data sets,” explained Janssen. “With a higher return time and the ability to identify activities on smaller and narrower parcels, we can monitor 15-20% more parcels and use twice as many images to fill our models.”
Additionally, the partnership with Planet has allowed NEO to deliver high quality results to the Dutch Paying Agency (NEA) that helps them to reduce the number of on-the-spot checks . This has streamlined the monitoring process, reducing administrative challenges and enabling more accurate reporting to the EU on subsidy spending.
“Our partnership with Planet has great value for us,” said Janssen. “By combining our skills with Planet’s capabilities, we can prepare for the future and scale up our competencies. This ecosystem approach is vital for building robust monitoring systems that can support the evolving needs of agricultural policy in the EU.”
Looking Ahead
As NEO continues to innovate and expand its capabilities, their partnership with Planet will play a crucial role in their ongoing success. By leveraging advanced remote sensing technology and reliable data, NEO is helping national authorities comply with CAP requirements and support sustainable agricultural practices across the EU.
Watch the accompanying video to hear more from Henk Janssen on how this partnership is transforming agricultural monitoring in the EU.
Every year on October 2nd, India celebrates Gandhi Jayanti, honoring the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, a global icon of nonviolent resistance. As one of India’s three national holidays, this day marks his legacy in advancing peace and social equity. His influence transcends time, and the United Nations established the “International Day of Non-Violence” in his memory.
In recognition of Gandhi’s contributions to humanity, we explored how the Planet data can support his vision in modern times.
Inclusive Development in a Changing WorldGandhi strongly advocated for self-sufficiency and rural development in India. He led the Khadi movement, encouraging locals to produce and wear locally-made clothes. Rooted in the principles of empowering rural communities and fostering self-reliance, the movement gained national support.
At present, Khadi is still worn and celebrated across the country and recognized around the world as part of India’s rich cultural heritage. It is but one of the lasting legacies of Gandhi. He may have lived in a time before satellite imagery, but its advanced capabilities can make his vision of a sustainable and inclusive India a reality. As the world’s most populous nation facing the challenges of economic growth and the threat of climate change, its natural resources have been put under strain.
The ancient city of Bhubaneswar is experiencing rapid urbanization, but growth has brought with it land encroachment activities. This issue poses a serious threat to the preservation of biodiversity, undermines government revenue, and prevents sustainable planning. In response, the Odisha Space Application Centre (ORSAC) collaborated with Vassar Labs to leverage Planet data for the early detection and prevention of illegal government land use. The partnership gave birth to the Bhubaneswar Land Use Intelligence System (BLUIS). Since its launch, BLUIS has identified over 300 potential encroachments, significantly saving the government time and resources for land monitoring and management. By preventing illegal land use, the government successfully safeguarded environmentally sensitive areas, including forests, wetlands, and water bodies.
Agriculture, an industry that heavily relies on natural resources, especially water, also provides livelihoods to millions of India’s rural residents and generates significant export revenue. A key challenge is tackling crop stress, a common farming issue which directly impacts yield productivity. In response to this problem, Agribridge, an India-based agriculture company, developed a system to detect early signs of crop stress without human intervention. Access to this crop-level insight which uses Planet data helps local farmers take proactive measures to maximize harvest potential.
These two examples are just a glimpse into the countless ways in which Planet data has empowered and enhanced initiatives. When it comes to understanding Earth’s dynamic landscape, our multidimensional insights can help address present-day challenges such as biodiversity conservation, land use mapping, and precision agriculture, while also supporting government programs and policies to further Gandhi’s legacy of promoting sustainable and inclusive development.
As we further explore how Planet can support your specific initiatives, we invite you to join the upcoming Planet Webinar Series: Gov Insights to gain more insights into these important topics.
Gasteranthus and Centinela Range offer us hope – and a lifeline – to halt species extinction before it’s too late. What this parable tells us is that even as we face the increasing fragmentation, degradation, and loss of habitats, the urgent and effective action we take today – protecting and investing in the most vulnerable, high-biodiversity places on the planet – can realistically prevent the disappearance of endemic and rare species that have made special places their home over generations. It can preserve the diversity of life that fires the imagination and feeds the soul of humanity.
Earth is having its Centinela moment. There is urgent need for effective, frequent, and accessible monitoring to ensure that these measures are applied in the places where extinctions are most likely to occur and irrecoverable biodiversity and natural capital are at greatest risk. Today, many of our most vulnerable and precious places receive limited global attention. More than 40% of Alliance for Zero Extinction sites are unprotected – the places where extinctions are most likely to occur. Many of the world’s 16,337 Key Biodiversity Areas go unmonitored for years–their status updated only once every half-decade. And about 1.22% of Earth’s landmass harbors concentrations of rare and threatened species in “species rarity sites” that remain vulnerable to destruction (Dinerstein et al. 2024).
Introducing Project Centinela
That is why Planet is launching Project Centinela – a new program to help leading scientists, conservationists, and stewards monitor and safeguard up to 50 of the world’s vulnerable biodiversity hotspots. Project Centinela will put an unprecedented array of high-resolution, high-frequency satellite imagery, analytics, and Planetary Variables into the hands of those who are maintaining a lifeline for biodiversity and the communities who depend on that variety of life. In many cases, these places will be in underinvested ecosystems where we know advances are needed in biodiversity understanding and in conservation outcomes. In the case of Centinela, a clear view of the last remaining fragments of cloud forest – at the resolution and pace that change is occurring – can put environmental groups, government agencies, researchers, and communities on a faster path to preserving them and advancing their recovery.
We consider Project Centinela one element of Planet’s contributions to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (known as the Biodiversity Plan) and an initiative that helps us fulfill our Public Benefit Corporation purpose: to accelerate humanity toward a more sustainable, secure, and prosperous world, by illuminating environmental and social change. We aim to engage an ecosystem of other partners to support these sites and conservation leaders.
We inaugurate this program with an initial set of eight sites, which exemplify up to 50 hotspots around the world Project Centinela will encompass over the next three years.
These eight vulnerable, high-biodiversity locations are the first sites for Project Centinela, implemented in collaboration with local site teams.Proposing Sites for Project Centinela
Conserving the globe’s most imperiled biodiversity and ecosystems happens only when we work together. We invite you to tell us where you believe it’s imperative to monitor and safeguard biodiversity, and how you’ll do it through collaboration between partners who hold the deep analytic expertise to hit the ground running with open Earth data and technologies and the boots-on-the-ground experience with local stewardship to turn knowledge into action. Sites are selected via an open application for eligible teams and sites. If interested in applying or staying informed about Project Centinela, please fill out our online form.
We look forward to supporting up to 50 of these partnerships in vulnerable biodiversity hotspots around the globe!
Authors: Christopher Anderson, David Marvin, & Maxwell Joseph
As world leaders discuss climate solutions at Summit of the Future and Climate Week NYC, Planet is proud to announce the release of Forest Carbon Monitoring, a new data product for mapping forest change at high resolution worldwide.
Built using data from Planet’s fleet of Doves—the largest constellation of Earth-imaging satellites in the world—Forest Carbon Monitoring provides timely, operational, near-tree-scale insights into global changes in canopy height, canopy cover, and aboveground carbon density.
This dataset delivers insights into forest change every quarter and is provided at PlanetScope’s native resolution—near 3m—resolving deforestation, degradation, and forest carbon dynamics with unprecedented detail. The initial release includes quarterly observations from December 2020 through June 21st, 2024, providing rolling and current insights into forest structure and carbon.
High resolution aboveground carbon density data along the Amazon River highlights the complex geography of carbon in tropical rainforests and captures detailed patterns of carbon losses at fine spatial scales.Why is this dataset important right now?
Voluntary and jurisdictional carbon offset markets are navigating difficult but important questions around how to build trust among buyers, sellers, ratings agencies, regulators, local communities, and the public. And with EU Deforestation Regulation compliance slated to begin in December 2024, companies that source commodities—including soy, beef, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, and wood—will be required to assess, address, and mitigate deforestation risks in their supply chains.
Transparent, high-quality, regularly updated scientific data on deforestation and carbon storage are essential for markets and regulations alike to function and to flourish. Forest Carbon Monitoring was designed to support the monitoring, reporting, and verification needs of stakeholders across industries so they can spend less time navigating today’s fragmented data landscape and more time building the technical, financial, and regulatory systems that will underpin a more sustainable economy.
As world leaders meet this week, many are looking to chart pathways towards effective climate action. Of all climate solutions, carbon sequestration and storage by the biosphere provide huge mitigation potential, with forests offering the largest, cheapest, and most readily available set of solutions. Losing or slowing this pathway would be detrimental not only to climate efforts, but also to conservation and biodiversity initiatives around the world.
The release of Forest Carbon Monitoring marks the beginning of a new era in operational forest monitoring, and we look forward to supporting the wide array of government, commercial, and non-profit organizations working to build the next generation of natural climate solutions.
Canopy height data from eastern Victoria, Australia reveals detailed patterns of vegetation structure, contoured by terrain, hydrology, land use, and tree crowns themselves.What use cases are supported?
Our customers and the broader scientific community can find many use cases, but we designed this dataset for project and jurisdictional monitoring, reporting, and verification of forest carbon stocks. The leading project type by volume in the voluntary carbon market continues to follow the REDD+ framework of avoiding deforestation of non-plantation forests, and our product excels at tracking deforestation and quantifying the resulting carbon losses.
The power of quarterly, 3m resolution data lies in detecting complex, diffuse phenomena like forest degradation and regrowth. Not all forest loss is uniform, making it crucial to map the selective harvest of individual or small groups of trees. Losing large, valuable trees can contribute to a significant loss of carbon, so tools to track deforestation need to deliver fine resolution to accurately account for carbon loss from this kind of forest degradation, especially for REDD+ projects. Working with coarser resolution data does not provide the same level of detail as Forest Carbon Monitoring does, which is adept at capturing these fine-scale changes. The long-sought ability to track such subtle change at global scale is now possible only with Planet’s satellite-powered Forest Carbon Monitoring.
A similar, long standing problem in remote sensing is detecting changes at early forest growth stages. Whether tracking natural regeneration or explicit interventions like reforestation, ARR (afforestation, reforestation, and restoration) projects generally rely on field site visits for monitoring. Forest Carbon Monitoring is sensitive to sapling and young tree growth, and can be combined with in situ data or data from other techniques to support digital monitoring, reporting, and verification, to improve quality and reduce costs.
Scaled up to sub-national or national scales, Forest Carbon Monitoring can also support jurisdictional carbon accounting, and policy implementations related to climate mitigation or adaptation.
Tracking reforestation progress with Forest Carbon Monitoring data can map tree growth over time across large areas.
What is the fine print?
Detailed technical validation that provides analytical guidance is forthcoming. Our team is committed to providing transparent, rigorous analyses using multiple independent datasets to provide detailed insights into the quality of our products. You can read about our intercomparison and validation methods for the Forest Carbon Diligence product to get a sense for how we approach these analyses. Since Forest Carbon Monitoring data are provided at such high spatial resolution and temporal frequency, we expect this product will be closely scrutinized. We would like to take this opportunity to address one key question we’ve received in anticipation of the launch.
Many tree crowns are larger than 3×3 meters – so what does 3m carbon even mean?
While structural metrics like canopy height and canopy cover are valid at nearly any spatial resolution, the finest observed unit of carbon stock measurement is typically the individual tree. Since tree structure varies greatly from individual to individual, partitioning the carbon stock of a tree into gridded, two-dimensional subunits may seem unrealistic. We thus consider 3m carbon to represent an emerging frontier in forest monitoring, and suggest that analysis of carbon data at the native resolution be carried out with caution.
The majority of use cases we aim to support involve aggregation over multiple pixels—like plots, stands, projects, or administrative units—which increases accuracy due to the “averaging out” of local noise. Based on ecological scaling theory, we expect very high levels of uncertainty at fine scales, with prediction accuracy increasing as carbon estimates are aggregated. There are other challenges related to interpreting pixel-level data— like pixel-level coregistration issues and image-to-image variability—that increase fine-scale uncertainty. We try to mitigate some of these issues by providing statistically calibrated, pixel-level prediction intervals to characterize these various sources of uncertainty and to avoid reporting overconfident estimates of change.
As a result, we encourage some form of aggregation to a higher spatiotemporal unit for analysis, and do not advise users to only analyze data at the pixel level. Aggregation will increase predictive accuracy, decrease uncertainty, and better align with standard ecological scales of carbon quantification.
Despite these caveats, predicting forest structural attributes at high resolution is important to capture fine-scale changes. Some signals are clearer at 3 meters than at 30 meters, such as the loss of individual trees, development of logging roads, or local variation in tree survival following disturbance. In addition, 3m data contains detailed spatial information that can be used to discriminate between plantation forests (e.g., single row plantations) from naturally growing forests.
Canopy cover patterns at the border of Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s largest National Park.
On a personal note
Since Planet Co-Founder and CEO Will Marshall’s TED Talk in 2014, the opportunity to leverage Planet’s unique satellite constellation for global forest monitoring has been apparent. Salo Sciences was founded to build the world’s most advanced forest monitoring system to track the health of the biosphere, and it has been our privilege to join Planet and make our shared vision a reality.
It has been a long and complex path to realize this opportunity, but we are thrilled to share this release with you. We believe this is the most precise forest mapping data available, but we also acknowledge that it’s not perfect. There is more to improve and refine, and we look forward to working with our partners, users, and the scientific community to further advance our shared goals.
The conclusion of one journey marks the beginning of the next, just as the sprouting of a seed presages the growth of a tree.
Ad Sylvae
As one of the world’s largest and most diverse agricultural producers, the Asia-Pacific region faces the critical challenge of ensuring long-term food security while preserving its environment and rich cultural heritage.
Tradition Meets Technology in Asia-Pacific
The Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated in the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan, is a major festival during the harvest season in the region. During the festivities, the people honor the moon, which is believed to be the harbinger of abundant harvests. This celebration occurs on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar when the moon is at its roundest and brightest.
The rich tradition dates back 3,000 years ago when the moon’s light during mid-autumn extended the hours farmers could harvest their crops. At present, farmers face a multitude of challenges in ensuring high farm productivity such as shifting growing seasons, soil degradation, and water scarcity—all while the demand for food continues to rise. One solution to these challenges is regenerative agriculture, enhanced by satellite data. Regenerative agriculture is a sustainable farming approach that seeks to improve soil health and biodiversity, ensuring the long-term viability of agricultural lands.
Creattura, a Japanese company, blends tradition and technology to meet food demands while promoting sustainable food systems in the region. They collaborated with local communities, handling vast amounts of manual, raw data, which requires tedious processing. From the data collected, they identified that the outdated irrigation systems were consuming excessive water without necessarily improving yields. To address this, they analyzed soil moisture levels using Planet data. The localized farming insights led to the development of an automated irrigation calendar for the farmers, creating a more efficient system that conserves water and reduces carbon emissions. Creattura incentivized farmers to adopt the system by offering carbon credit funds generated from the system’s carbon emissions reduction.
In addition to optimizing irrigation systems, Planet’s solutions can also be integrated to help monitor crop health for early detection of pests and diseases, improve yield forecasting, streamline NDVI calculations, and protect biodiversity. Planet can help users gather, manage, and meaningfully visualize multiple sources of data, enabling farmers to focus on what is truly important for a fruitful season.
Given its deep connections to culture, civilization, and conservation, agriculture is crucial to building a sustainable and food-secure future. While we navigate the balance between feeding the growing population and minimizing our carbon footprint, technologies like satellite data and machine learning will be key to threading this needle. However, we must act now and collaboratively to achieve a greater impact. After all, without a healthy planet, we may no longer be able to celebrate festivals as our ancestors once did.Learn more about “Cultivating a Regenerative Future: Satellite Data for Food Security & Environmental Protection in Asia-Pacific” in our webinar on October 16th. We will discuss sustainable digital agriculture in detail with actionable insights from regional Planet data use cases.
Our leadership team at Planet continues to grow! I am thrilled to announce Troy Toman has been promoted to Chief Product Officer and James Mason has been appointed to the newly-created role of Chief Space Officer. Both roles are instrumental in continuing Planet’s growth as a platform company and leading innovator in today’s space industry.
Troy Toman has been a part of Planet’s story since 2014, helping to grow the company’s software engineering and product and design teams into a cohesive organization. Under Troy’s leadership, Planet’s industry-leading computing and storage infrastructure has helped underpin the company’s platform expansion and growth – supporting hundreds of satellites across a variety of constellations. In his new role, Troy will oversee the growth and strategy of the company’s robust product offerings, including Planet’s flagship monitoring, tasking, analytics, and Planetary Variables product suite, as well as its recently-launched Planet Insights Platform.
“I’ve been fortunate to be a part of many amazing initiatives in my career at Planet, but the most rewarding aspect of my role is working with the most talented, passionate and caring folks in the industry,” said Troy Toman. “As CPO, I have the privilege and responsibility of empowering our engineering, product and design teams to continue developing and maintaining our incredible array of products that allow our customers to easily unlock the value of EO data everyday. It’s an honor to step into this new position, and I look forward to continuing to make magic together.”
Troy has spent more than 30 years in the technology industry as a developer, architect and software leader, and previously led Planet’s global software engineering team. Prior to Planet, he has held roles at Rackspace, Veritas, Inktomi and Sun Microsystems. Troy earned his degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M University.
James Mason was a Planet founding employee, and has held a number of different roles focused on developing and optimizing Planet’s space operations. James was an integral part of the team during Planet’s first successful satellite launch in 2013 – the first major milestone in our growth journey – and has played a role in all 600+ satellites Planet has launched. He leads the Space Systems team, which includes all aspects of developing, manufacturing, and operating Planet’s fleet of imaging satellites, supporting ground station networks, and mission control infrastructure.
“From building satellites in a garage with some friends all the way to the recent launch of our Tanager-1 hyperspectral satellite, I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of Planet’s pioneering agile aerospace journey and the incredible renaissance of the broader newspace industry,” said James Mason. “The mission of using space to improve life on Earth is what brought me to Planet, and it’s still what keeps me and my fellow Planeteers so passionately driven to this day. In the role of Chief Space Officer, and with our amazing team, I will continue pushing the remote sensing industry forward, most immediately by deploying our Tanager and Pelican constellations, to make global change more visible and actionable.”
Prior to Planet, James was a research scientist at NASA who worked on solving old problems in new ways, including on the PhoneSat missions, developing the LightForce debris remediation concept, and advancing novel optical communications concepts. He holds a Master of Space Studies from the International Space University, a BSc-Honours in Astrophysics from the National Astrophysics and Space Science Program, and a BSc in Physics and Applied Mathematics from the University of Cape Town.
At Planet, we have always believed in growing and shaping talent from within, and we are proud to promote these two remarkably talented individuals into well-deserved leadership positions. Both Troy and James have already proven themselves as dedicated Planeteers in their passion for our products, in solving customer problems and the growth of the industry at large. We look forward to what they will accomplish next!
Today, we are thrilled to release our first light images from our Tanager-1 hyperspectral satellite. Our first set of imagery is of Karachi, Pakistan, and was taken on September 19th, 2024, from an altitude of 522 km.
In the following months, our partners, including Carbon Mapper and customers are expected to use the data to monitor and mitigate point-source methane and CO2 emissions, two potent greenhouse gasses. We also plan to make the hyperspectral data commercially available for a variety of use cases including defense and intelligence monitoring, biodiversity assessments, mineral mapping, water quality assessments, and much more.
Tanager-1 launched on Transporter-11 on August 16th, 2024. This is the second Planet satellite to leverage the our Smallsat platform and went through a one-month satellite bus commissioning process. “We are pleased to have already progressed to first light activities. Leveraging our decade of operational experience, our teams are rapidly making progress towards production operations of this satellite,” said Mark Longanbach, Planet’s Senior Vice President of Missions.
The satellite is the first of a planned hyperspectral constellation (made possible by the Carbon Mapper Coalition) that combines Planet’s cutting-edge agile aerospace and smallsat bus technology with the state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer design developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL). Tanager-1 is capable of imaging all wavelengths between 400 – 2500 nm simultaneously and is expected to provide rich datacubes—images of the ground but with 420 colors (‘spectral channels’)—that enable users to detect a multitude of surface features from gas emissions to ground chemicals to plant species. In the released imagery, we show a standard RGB image, a false-color near-infrared image, and false-color shortwave infrared images to showcase the broad wavelength range addressed by the satellite. These images showcase only 6 of the 400 total bands available to Tanager.
Tanager first light images of Karachi, Pakistan taken on September 19th, 2024. Each of these images is composed of 3 of the over 400 bands that Tanager collects with each capture.A hypercube visualizing the range of wavelengths collected by Tanager. In the lower left is a visible-light image of Karachi, Pakistan collected on September 19th, 2024. Up and to the right is a cross section of all the bands collected by Tanager spanning from 400 – 2500 nm.“Tanager first light is the biggest program milestone yet,” said Mark Keremedjiev, Planet’s Mission Director for the Tanager Hyperspectral Mission. “This image demonstrates Planet’s world-class imaging spectrometer and provides a tangible result to the years of investment and effort. It’s early days but we are very pleased with the quality we are seeing, and we believe that first light is but a preview of amazing things to come.”
We plan to continue to build on the success of our Smallsat platform as Pelican-2 progresses towards launch readiness in the coming months. With this modular and extensible platform, we are applying our agile aerospace development philosophy to both of our Pelican and Tanager missions to drive continuous improvements in the products we offer our customers.
We will continue with payload commissioning activities over the coming months and plans to begin delivering data to customers in 2025.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations, the Company’s ability to successfully design, build, launch and deploy, operate and market new products and satellites and the Company’s ability to realize any of the potential benefits from product and satellite launches, either as designed, within the expected time frame, in a cost-effective manner, or at all. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the Company’s ability to obtain and maintain required licenses and approvals from regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a timely fashion, or at all; whether the Company will be able to successfully build, launch and deploy or operate its satellites, including new satellites either as designed, in a timely fashion or at all; the Company’s ability to develop and release product and service enhancements to respond to rapid technological change, or to develop new designs and technologies for its satellites, in a timely and cost-effective manner; whether the Company will be able to continue to invest in scaling its sales organization, expanding its software engineering (including its ability to integrate new satellite capabilities) and marketing capabilities; whether the Company will be able to accurately predict and capture market opportunity; whether current customers or prospective customers adopt the Company’s platform or new products; the Company’s ability realize any of the potential benefits from new products and satellites, as well as strategic partnerships and customer collaborations; and other risk factors and disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
Gone are the days when sustainability initiatives move at a snail’s pace, cost a fortune, and often with outdated onground data. Today, governments and private companies worldwide are integrating advanced technologies into their workflows, gaining unprecedented Earth insights with faster processing times—all without compromising quality.
At Planet, we have long held the view that only when we uncover previously unseen changes on Earth can we take informed actions to drive meaningful changes. And it starts with local communities. They are at the forefront of these changes. With this in mind, we went directly to three cities in three countries in the Asia-Pacific to discuss with the frontliners of change, exchange insights, and bring ideas over for our common sustainability goals at our inaugural Planet Connect events in Tokyo, Hanoi, and Sydney.
Highlights from Planet Connect
Discussions at the Planet Connect Tokyo event were focused on Japan’s vulnerability to natural disasters—especially infrastructure-damaging earthquakes and unpredictable typhoons—that lead to ongoing challenges. Despite their world-class disaster management strategies, not having the right data at the right time can have devastating effects particularly when climate change starts catching up with these systems.
The 2024 New Year’s Day earthquake in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture left a tragic rubble. Within days after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake, The Asahi Shimbun published a Planet satellite imagery of the seaside town. According to the article, “The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) analyzed the images and found the coastline in some areas in the bay had advanced about 200 meters offshore.”
Left: Planet’s satellite imagery of the west coast line of Wajima Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan taken on March 2, 2022. © 2022 Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. Right: Planet’s satellite imagery of the west coast line of Wajima Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan taken on January 2, 2024. © 2024 Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved.An accurate assessment of post-disaster areas, with the use of satellite imagery, can be crucial for recovery operations, efficient resource allocation, and mitigation planning for every emergency scenario.
At Planet Connect Sydney, the New South Wales government shared the NSW Imagery Hub that they launched in July 2023. The NSW Imagery Hub is a multidimensional data platform supporting 2,000 users in over 149 NSW government agencies and local councils. We were privileged to have Anthony Young, Senior Remote Sensing Scientist in the Spatial Imagery Services Team of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) share how integrating Planet data into their system improved emergency response, recovery and biodiversity programs across civil agencies. Young, in his presentation during Planet Connect Sydney, noted the usability of the data that enabled one of their important partners, the State Emergency Service to “support themselves during weekends and public holidays when the Imagery Hub staff are not available.”
Additionally, as a new member of the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA), we’re excited to strengthen our collaboration with local government organizations in Australia. For nearly three decades, the SIAA has been the national representative organization of the country’s space and Earth observation community and we look forward to supporting more sustainability programs leveraging our broad area management capabilities.
And finally, at Planet Connect Hanoi, as Stephen Green, Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, noted in his opening remarks, “Commercial collaboration between the United States and Vietnam in the spirit of the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership announced in September 2023 is growing in an unprecedented manner and American companies like Planet are poised to make important contributions.” Inspired by solutions-oriented ministries and organizations, such as Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, we continuously look for more ways to collaborate and learn from regional governments to impact local initiatives.
Planet Partner Nguyen Quang, Head of Geo Space Department, Vegastar.jpg moderating the Q&A session for Planet Connect | Hanoi © Vegastar. All Rights Reserved. Discover local perspectives on using satellite data for disaster management in Asia-Pacific in our newest webinar series, the “Planet Webinar Series: Gov Insights Episode 1 – Saving Lives, Protecting Communities: The Power of Satellite Data for Disaster Management”.
In the face of increasing food demand, larger farm sizes, tightening regulations, and limited resources, agricultural producers are under pressure to optimize every aspect of their operations. Abelio, a leader in precision agriculture in France, has developed a crop monitoring solution designed to empower farmers, cooperatives, and agricultural distributors with the tools they need to make informed, sustainable decisions. By gathering data from various reliable sources, including PlanetScope imagery, and applying powerful algorithms and AI models, Abelio generates time-sensitive insights that are critical during the short growing season.
Whether in the field or at the office, Abelio groups data together with an easy-to-use interface to optimize decision-making.One of the key challenges for farmers is managing the tight timelines dictated by plant growth cycles. Missing even a few days of data can lead to suboptimal decisions, especially during cloudy seasons. This is where Abelio’s partnership with Planet comes into play. “Before partnering with Planet, farmers often had to rely on satellite imagery that was updated only every five days,” explained Samuel Bonnard, Head of International Business Development at Abelio. “This meant that cloud cover could obscure the fields for up to two weeks, leaving farmers in the dark. With PlanetScope’s near-daily imagery, we can provide the resolution and frequency needed to offer precise recommendations, helping farmers make timely decisions.”
Optimizing Nitrogen Use for Wheat Crops
Nitrogen is a vital nutrient for wheat crops, directly impacting crop yield and quality. However, excessive nitrogen use can harm the environment, leading to air and water pollution, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss. Abelio’s solution addresses this issue by enabling farmers to apply nitrogen more precisely, reducing environmental impact while maintaining or even increasing crop yields. “Nitrogen accounts for 40% of the carbon footprint of a farm,” Bonnard noted. “Our solution helps farmers reduce nitrogen use by 5-10% on average.”
Before Abelio’s solution, farmers calculated the minimum amount of nitrogen in one field and would apply the same amount of nitrogen across all their fields, leading to inefficiencies and waste. Abelio’s variable rate mapping approach allows farmers to tailor nitrogen application to the specific needs of each zone within a field. This saves money and prepares farmers for the Farm to Fork Strategy under the EU Green Deal that mandates a significant reduction in nitrogen use by 2030 and accelerates transition to a sustainable food system.
Abelio helps customers provide the right dose of fertilizer with near-real time views of plots to help optimize yields and increase production.Early adopters of Abelio’s smart farming solution are already seeing positive results. A large corn producer in France reported a 96% satisfaction rate after using the service, with a 7% reduction in nitrogen use and a 5% increase in yield, translating to nearly 50 euros in additional profit per hectare.
With the help of Planet’s near-daily imagery and Planet Insights Platform, Abelio can quickly regenerate maps and provide farmers with up-to-date recommendations, optimizing yields, reducing nitrogen use, and helping to ensure compliance with environmental regulations.
Streamlining Data Analysis with Planet Insights Platform
Abelio’s evolution from a Planet customer to a partner highlights the growing importance of data in agriculture. By leveraging the Planet Insights Platform, Abelio has streamlined its data analysis process, becoming more efficient and productive. The platform allows Abelio to scalably process satellite data to train into its AI models, enabling the creation of precise agronomic models for biomass and chlorophyll content based on real-time field observations.
“Using Planet Insights Platform, we can retrieve satellite data from our customers’ plots quickly and easily,” explains Bonnard. “This API has allowed us to fully automate our service and run it in the cloud with a serverless architecture, significantly reducing our development time and costs.”
The collaboration with Planet has accelerated Abelio’s ability to build and deploy solutions, providing their customers with a responsive, continuously available service that leverages the latest data to inform decision-making. Abelio currently supports customers in France, and is testing in Canada, Australia, and Spain to provide farmers around the world solutions to optimize their agricultural operations, reduce their environmental impact, and make farmers’ lives easier.
Government agencies managing vast forests can now leverage satellite imagery to monitor forest health more effectively, overcoming traditional challenges like limited resources and personnel.
Government agencies responsible for developing and implementing strategies to protect and restore forested lands face a difficult task. With areas often exceeding millions of acreage, there simply isn’t enough personnel, funds, or time to regularly monitor, detect, or measure change efficiently or effectively.
However, always-on, up-to-date data derived from satellite imagery offers government agencies the advanced capability for forest health monitoring over broad and remote areas. Rather than reactionary responses or infrequent, costly aerial photos, satellite imagery empowers civil agencies to increase the efficiency of pest and disease monitoring, fuels reduction and treatment, and forest restoration work.
We’ll explore how government agencies can draw on historical satellite data, receive new imagery daily, and task high-resolution imagery to detect early threats and support conservation efforts of our forests.
The Importance of Forest Health MonitoringGovernments around the globe rely on forest health monitoring to support stewardship and legislative initiatives. This practice involves carefully managing and reporting on these initiatives, watching for any new or worsening threats, and responding as needed.
Forest health monitoring includes responsibilities such as:
- Conducting biological, physical, and social scientific research and developing beneficial applications from it
- Ensuring agroforestry practices (i.e., combined forestry and agriculture) help keep farms and woodlands productive and profitable without threatening ecological balance or encroaching into protected spaces
- Monitoring invasive species, illegal logging, trespassing, and other legal or regulatory compliance violations committed by individuals or commercial entities
Early Threat Detection
For fairly obvious reasons, proactive forest health monitoring proves crucial for effective protection and mitigation. The longer a threat goes unnoticed, the more difficult management and remediation efforts become — especially in remote and vast environments.
Take wildfires. Some governments, like the Government of Canada, have adopted forest management strategies to improve mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery practices. Combining satellite data with other geospatial, weather, and behavioral indices help the government map burned areas, monitor fire risk, and model carbon emission estimates.
Why Is Traditional Forest Health Monitoring So Difficult?
Simply put, there’s too much forest to effectively or efficiently monitor all the acreage (even when there aren’t enough forests). For example, consider the following areas some countries must manage:
- The U.S. federal government and collective state governments monitor over 321 million acres (130 million hectares) of forests across public lands.
- Canada contains around 815 million acres (330 million hectares) of public forests.
- The European Union (EU) collectively controls roughly 160 million acres (65 million hectares) of publicly owned forests.
- Brazil’s public forests—largely bolstered by the Amazon Rainforest—almost match Canada’s, with 808 million acres (327 million hectares).
Regardless of how many regional agencies, branch offices, personnel, and other resources the government has at its disposal for forest health monitoring, the fact remains that they can’t be everywhere at once. More importantly, these agencies traditionally couldn’t gain the reliable visibility necessary to mitigate this disparity between capabilities and scope.
Improving Forest Health Monitoring With Broad Area Management
Regularly viewing and analyzing near-real-time ground truth compiled from satellite imagery provides reliable early warning indicators. Applying broad area management practices not only improves visibility but also reduces costs and accelerates decision-making capabilities.
Broad area management is the practice of monitoring, detecting, and measuring change over large land areas. Planet offers broad area management with:
- Global, Daily Monitoring: 3.7 meter resolution images in four multispectral bands; RGB and Near Infrared collected over 300 million square kilometers each day.
- High-Resolution Imagery: Enhanced 50 cm ortho spatial resolution images delivered less than three hours from capture.
- Automated Change Detection and Alerts: Timely alerts when new roads are cut into forests or new buildings emerge.
- Derived Data Products: Forest carbon datasets and automated field boundary detection.
These capabilities enable government agencies and commercial entities to monitor:
- Forest inventory and estimated logging capacity
- Newly planted areas for reforestation and the clearfell regions after harvesting
- Forest disease detection
- Pests
- Invasive species
- Trespassers
- Disasters like wildfires
- The long-term impacts of climate change
- Tree growth encroaching on power lines or other dangers
Whether the geospatial analysis focused on these threats prompts immediate response or continued monitoring, government agencies gain the visibility needed to make the right decision. Satellite imagery supports all monitoring and response activities—from fighting wildfires to writing new public policies that help prevent them.
Conservation: Practices and Policies
Brazil’s Federal Police began utilizing satellite imagery to monitor the Amazon Rainforest in pursuit of environmental protections, potential trespassers and wildfire culprits, a low-carbon economy, and forest conservation.
In 2021, Brazil’s government passed a new proposal—Regulate the National Policy of Payment for Environmental Services. The document outlines law enforcement’s environmental monitoring responsibilities, inclusive policy goals for all stakeholders, minimal payment criteria to establish safeguards, and reasonable incentives for commercial entities. This policy’s creation and future enforcement will depend on augmenting forest health monitoring via satellite imagery.
Pest and Disease Detection Case Study
In the Czech Republic, summers affected by climate change caused the bark beetle population to rapidly increase in the dry heat, causing the forest ecosystem to fall out of balance. The insects devastated Czech conifer forests, impacting 18 million m3 and putting 80% of the spruce growth at risk.
By leveraging Planet surface reflectance basemaps, the Czech Forest Management Institute (FMI) collaborated with various stakeholders to rapidly determine the affected areas, which covered 16,000 hectares (valued at €200 million). Additional assessments helped inform landowners of the severe impacts, with one out of every five unaware that forests on their property were affected.
As Peter Lukeš, a remote sensing scientist at FMI, stated, they can now mitigate the damage and provide data to the “Ministry of Agriculture so they can discern affected areas and decide where finances should be allocated for reforestation going forward.”
If FMI had not leveraged satellite imagery (and basemaps), they may not have discovered the full extent of the bark beetle’s damage. This would have caused the problem to persist if any affected forests or trees were overlooked and created a resurgence. Given the unpredictability of climate change’s effects, as seen via the beetle population boom, increased visibility and monitoring are paramount.
Tools and Techniques for Forest Health MonitoringGIS platforms provide the best tools for accessing, analyzing, and visualizing satellite imagery. Specifically, Esri’s ArcGIS and the open-source Q-GIS typically receive the highest praise from users.
Data Integration
Depending on which commercial satellite imagery provider organizations partner with, they may access various integration methods. These connect the provided image library to the organization’s GIS implementation (and potentially other software platforms).
For example, organizations partnering with Planet gain access to the following integrations:
- Desktop integrations allow users to search, access, and import Planet imagery within GIS.
- API integrations allow more technical users to build and configure connections to various resources, streamlining and simplifying data transfer.
- Planet images can be streamed to any platform that complies with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) WMS or WMTS standards.
Planet: Leading Future Trends in Forest Health MonitoringAlthough remote sensing technology was not considered until roughly the 1980s, today’s forestry and forest health monitoring professionals leverage it alongside satellite imagery to achieve new levels of visibility and insight. Future trends will likely see continued adoption of satellite imagery and more efforts to incorporate various intelligence sources like drones and LiDAR.
These augmentations to remote sensing and satellite imagery will only help create a more comprehensive understanding, visibility, and more targeted and actionable guidance.
But rather than waiting for the future, Planet has already been busy working toward facilitating sustainable forest management for a decade.
Every day, we’re helping governments and commercial entities—from gradually monitoring reforestation growth over time to receiving prompt notice about trespassers, illegal loggers, and other malicious activity.
Organizations tasked with forest monitoring and inventory management need visibility to be effective. And no one provides visibility like Planet.
Contact us to learn more.
Professionals and decision-makers tasked with analyzing the rapid changes occurring on our planet face an overwhelming abundance of data. Transforming this data into actionable insights to support their choices can be daunting. Swift Geospatial, a GIS and remote sensing company, alleviates this burden by leveraging near-daily Planet imagery to create proprietary dashboards that enable swift and sustainable solutions.
“It’s [Swift’s] mission to bridge the gap between the raw satellite data that comes down, turning that data into information for our clients,” commented Michael Breetzke, Co-Founder and Director at Swift Geospatial. “Having the ability to always see what’s happening on the ground at a large scale provides us with the raw information needed to provide our clients with decision support.”
With the support of Planet, Swift Geospatial provides business intelligence to help organizations in agriculture, mining, forestry, and sustainability monitoring to make informed decisions based on analyzed geospatial data. The combination of GIS and remote sensing empowers decision-makers by providing timely and accurate spatial insights.
Swift Geospatial and Planet Unlock Potential of Spatial Data for Commercial Forestry CustomersTimber companies worldwide need to manage their forest assets, including monitoring their in-field operations. Harvesting is often planned months, sometimes years, in advance and executed year-round. Timely, accurate imagery is needed post-harvest to audit the harvest and update forest inventories. Additionally, newly planted compartments need to be monitored for die-off, pests, and diseases while mitigating actions can still be taken.
Swift Geospatial has monitored commercial forests in South Africa of around 12,000 sq km per week for the past seven years. They track the plantations for tree health, harvesting progress, encroachment, and post-fire analysis to aid in decision support. “We’ve got this wealth of data that they’ve been using week in and week out to inform decisions within the organization,” said Breetzke. “Continuous monitoring with Planet is taking that data down to the statistical analysis and now understanding what trees to plant where.”
Combined with PlanetScope data, Swift’s advanced GIS and Precision Forest technology runs analyses across broad areas to provide a feasible and cost-effective method of monitoring the health of their plantations and changing the game for tree conservation. Monitoring contractors’ progress, timber transportation, and sapling planting and growth during the critical initial phases allows for significant gains and logistical operational efficiencies, along with the preservation of lush, indigenous landscapes.
A Collaborative and Forward-Looking PartnershipSwift Geospatial has found Planet’s combination of high-cadence coverage and medium-resolution imagery over broad areas to be the optimal solution. Our partnership has helped Swift grow over the past seven years to provide customers with the data, knowledge, and decision support they need. “For us, technology and satellites are one thing that Planet provides, and they continue to innovate,” Breetzke commented on the partnership. “But what we see as more important is the networking and support that we receive from Planet.”
Looking towards the future, Swift Geospatial is focused on providing proactive change detection and earth monitoring GIS solutions for risk assessment and European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) compliance. Swift’s advocacy for open and unrestricted access to geospatial data, ensures that farmers, operators, and traders have access to actionable information required for enhancing cultivation practices and ensuring compliance with the new regulations.
Watch the accompanying video to hear more from Michael Breetzke on how this partnership is improving efficiency and accuracy in forestry, mining, agriculture, and sustainability monitoring:
Traditional methods of geospatial data collection, like field surveys and aerial imagery, are costly, labor-intensive, and often outdated. Advancements in satellite technology provide near-daily, accurate data, enabling organizations to conduct efficient geospatial analysis for better decision-making, from land management to disaster recovery.
Not long ago, government agencies and businesses relied on older, more complex methods to gather geospatial data. These traditional approaches included a range of manual and on-site collection methods—such as field surveys and direct measurements, often referred to as “boots on the ground.”
Additionally, aerial views were obtained by taking pictures from planes. But these methods were not without significant challenges—they were expensive, difficult to manage, and didn’t always provide accurate or up-to-date information.
Collecting data in remote areas was particularly onerous, with teams facing harsh conditions and logistical hurdles. Moreover, acquiring cloud-free imagery was often difficult, leading to incomplete or unusable data. The manual nature of these efforts also made them time-intensive and, at times, risky for those involved.
Thanks to commercial satellite imagery, organizations can access current, reliable images of the Earth’s surface today. These near-daily images allow companies and agencies to simplify access to geospatial data for new and deeper insights.
This article will explain how daily satellite imagery and geospatial analytics work and how they can benefit your organization. By understanding these tools, you’ll be better equipped to make informed decisions that impact business operations and policy outcomes.
Deepen Your Understanding of Geospatial AnalyticsGeospatial analytics involves using geographic information systems (GIS) to manage and analyze satellite images and other geographic data. This allows organizations to gain insights about specific locations and activities on Earth. By combining data from various sources within a GIS, organizations can create detailed analyses that guide decision-making and operations.
Geospatial analytics brings together different types of geographic, spatial, and location data to provide insights into environmental changes and human activity. In the past, these insights were hard to get because traditional methods were expensive and complicated.
Now, with advancements like commercial satellite imagery, geospatial analytics is much more accessible. Organizations can easily access both historical and current satellite data, request new images, and combine this information with other data sources to make informed decisions—all without the high costs and challenges of the past.
Types of Satellite Imagery: Tailoring Data to Your Needs
When performing geospatial analysis, the choice of satellite imagery or data source plays a critical role in the quality and effectiveness of the insights you generate. Here’s how different types of imagery can be used:
- Free satellite imagery: Sourced primarily from government satellites, free imagery provides a cost-effective entry point for organizations. However, these images often have limitations, such as lower resolution and less frequent updates, which can result in analysis gaps. This option may not meet the demands of projects requiring high-precision or frequently updated data.
- Commercial satellite imagery: Commercial providers like Planet offer high-frequency, high-resolution imagery with near real-time updates captured by constellations of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). This type of imagery is ideal for applications requiring detailed, up-to-date information, such as disaster recovery, land use verification, or environmental monitoring. The ability to task satellites for specific capture requests ensures organizations receive the exact data they need precisely when needed.
Key Data Sources for Geospatial Analysis
Geospatial analysis uses diverse data sources to provide insights across industries like environmental monitoring and urban planning. Key sources include:
- Satellite imagery: Offers broad, up-to-date views of Earth’s surface, tracking changes like deforestation and urban growth. It is widely available through platforms like NASA’s Landsat or ESA’s Sentinel.
- Field data: Provides ground-level verification of satellite data, crucial for localized details such as soil conditions or water quality.
- Remote sensing: Utilizes specialized sensors to capture data beyond the visible spectrum, such as temperature and vegetation health, supporting detailed environmental monitoring.
- Public information: Open-source data from governments and institutions, like maps or demographic stats, enhances geospatial datasets.
- Non-satellite alternatives (e.g., drones): Drones offer high-precision data for localized tasks like surveying or disaster assessment, complementing satellite imagery.
Satellite imagery and remote sensing are the most valuable sources, offering comprehensive, real-time data for disaster management and resource exploration applications. Combining them with field data and other sources ensures accurate, multi-layered analysis.
Practical Applications of Daily Satellite ImageryDaily satellite imagery is particularly valuable for compliance monitoring, disaster recovery, and land management.
For example, Slovenia’s ARSKTRP agency used Planet satellite data to improve their agricultural assessments, reducing the number of inconclusive assessments by 73% and saving over €1 million in the process.
Similarly, the New Mexico State Land Office used satellite imagery to identify land trespassers and establish new leases, resulting in $4.3 million in additional revenue.
Discover more about how satellite imagery is used for environmental monitoring in this article about measuring global streamflow with Planet imagery.
Tools and Techniques for Geospatial AnalyticsOrganizations rely on a combination of robust Geographic Information System (GIS) platforms and effective integration techniques to harness the full potential of geospatial analytics. These tools and techniques enable the seamless combination of satellite imagery with other data sources, facilitating detailed analysis and actionable insights.
GIS Software: Choosing the Right Platform
Selecting the right GIS software is critical for effective geospatial analysis. Below are two of the most popular GIS platforms, each catering to different needs:
- ArcGIS:
- Industry-standard: Developed by Esri, ArcGIS is widely recognized as the industry leader.
- Comprehensive tools: Offers a full suite of advanced tools for detailed spatial analysis, complex mapping, and large dataset management.
- Professional support: Comes with extensive support and additional modules for enhanced functionality.
- Paid license: Requires a commercial license, which might be a barrier for smaller organizations or those with limited budgets.
- Best for: Users who need a feature-rich environment and are willing to invest in professional-grade software.
- QGIS:
- Open-source: A free alternative to ArcGIS, offering a wide range of geospatial analysis features.
- Cross-platform: Supports multiple operating systems, making it accessible to a broader audience.
- Community-driven: Lacks formal support but has a vibrant user community and a large repository of plugins for extended functionality.
- Cost-effective: Ideal for organizations seeking a no-cost solution for most geospatial tasks without the need for a commercial license.
- Best for: Users looking for a flexible, cost-effective solution that can handle standard geospatial analysis tasks.
Data Integration: Enhancing Geospatial Analysis
Integrating satellite imagery with other data sources is crucial for comprehensive geospatial analysis. Here’s how organizations can do it effectively:
- Combining data sources: Successful geospatial analysis often begins with high-resolution satellite imagery as the foundational layer. Integrating this imagery with other datasets—such as field data, remote sensing information, and public data—creates a more complete and nuanced view of the area being studied. For instance, combining satellite images with ground-level data can significantly enhance the accuracy of land use assessments or environmental monitoring efforts.
- Preprocessing techniques: Before conducting analysis, it is crucial to preprocess your data to ensure it is clean, accurate, and ready for integration. This process involves correcting errors, aligning different data layers to a common coordinate system, and converting data into formats compatible with your GIS platform. Proper preprocessing lays the groundwork for reliable and effective analysis. Additionally, Planet offers preprocessed or derived data products known as Planetary Variables. These datasets are ready for immediate use and provide high-quality, scientifically validated variables to simplify data preparation.
Best Practices for Geospatial Analysis
- Ensure accuracy: Start with precise data and maintain consistency across all sources.
- Stay updated: Use the most current data available, especially in dynamic environments.
- Think scalability: Choose tools that can grow with your project’s needs.
- Facilitate collaboration: Opt for platforms that support easy collaboration and data sharing.
The Future of Geospatial AnalyticsAs more organizations adopt geospatial analytics, the potential for new applications and insights will continue to grow. With Planet’s leading satellite technology, organizations can stay at the forefront of this exciting field, leveraging the most advanced tools and data available.
Contact Planet today to learn more about the new insights and analysis-backed guidance your organization can achieve with commercial satellite imagery.
The Bureau of Land Management’s new public lands rule highlights the growing importance of satellite imagery in conservation. With Planet’s remote sensing technology, government agencies gain invaluable insights to monitor ecosystems, prevent illegal activities, and protect forests, wetlands, and wildlife, driving impactful, cost-efficient environmental preservation efforts.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is making significant changes under the public lands rule to increase efforts and resources to protect natural resources. Now more than ever, satellite imagery for conservation is crucial, as satellite technology transforms the field through remote sensing, monitoring, and the innovative use of its insights.
Below, we’ll briefly explain remote sensing imagery and how satellite technology is vital in conservation. We’ll also explore the benefits government agencies can gain from using satellite images and what the future holds for this technology.
Understanding Remote Sensing Satellite ImagesRemote sensing for land management involves collecting data from a distance, typically satellites orbiting the Earth. These satellites capture images of the earth’s surface using optical, radar, sonar, and other sensors. This technology allows us to “sense” features of the planet on a scale impossible to achieve from the ground.
Remote sensing provides government agencies with high-resolution, high-frequency images across board areas. These images help make informed decisions, enforce regulations, monitor environments, and prevent disasters and degradation.
Using satellite images, we can better manage and protect public lands—a concept known as Forestry 4.0.
Applications in Protecting Public LandsRemote sensing helps track and mitigate the impacts of natural disasters and slow environmental degradation. For example, NASA collaborated with Yosemite National Park to minimize forest fire damage by determining fire characteristics and the best response strategies.
Satellite imagery also supports the detection and prevention of illegal activities, such as unauthorized logging, mining, or poaching in protected areas.
The ability to analyze historical data also provides insights that were previously unavailable or required extensive resources. A study in BioScience demonstrated how images from the 1960s support current conservation efforts, showing that looking back in time is just as important as having a broad, detailed view of the present.
Forest Conservation
Governments use satellite imagery to monitor forests, better understand the health of plants and wildlife, and assess the severity of threats. This helps prevent both immediate and long-term damage to forests more effectively.
For instance, the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) improved forest monitoring using Planet’s satellite data by detecting threats like illegal logging and mining. With this data, FZS could address these threats more effectively, even with budget constraints.
Wetland Preservation
Governments also use satellite imagery to protect wetlands by monitoring their health and detecting threats like pollution or damage to vegetation. This is vital because wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems globally, comparable to rainforests and coral reefs in their ecological importance.
Wildlife Protection
Satellite images help track animal movements, habitat changes, and other vital data. This capability extends beyond human activities and enables better understanding and protection of wildlife.
In the Asia-Pacific region, home to critical ecosystems, Planet high-resolution satellite imagery helps monitor biodiversity. For example, our imagery provides detailed monitoring of the Indonesian archipelago, which hosts 17% of the world’s wildlife.
Benefits of Remote Sensing for Public LandsRemote sensing satellite images provide accurate, timely monitoring, enabling better data-driven decision-making. This technology’s unique advantages are why governments rely on it for land management.
Key benefits include comprehensive coverage and cost-efficiency:
- Comprehensive coverage: Remote sensing provides consistent data collection over large, remote, or hard-to-reach areas. Governments gain extensive coverage of any landmass they need to monitor, with daily images offering an accurate view of changes.
- Efficiency and cost-effectiveness: Satellite imagery reduces the need for ground surveys, lowering costs and improving project efficiency. The substantial economic benefits allow governments to allocate resources more effectively and build public trust through innovative conservation efforts.
Future Prospects and InnovationsAdvancements in satellite technology will enhance these benefits, enabling more government collaboration and stronger public-private partnerships. Leading providers are already improving efficiency across diverse data sets. For example, Planet Insights Platform integrates earth data with advanced analytics, making insights more accessible to decision-makers.
Planet continues to lead in innovation and is committed to constant improvement. We use an agile aerospace approach and rapid iteration.
How Planet Powers Public Lands MonitoringPlanet’s remote sensing technology is at the forefront of environmental protection with satellites. Our satellite imagery supports governments worldwide in conserving forests, wetlands, wildlife, and other public lands.
We offer comprehensive, efficient coverage, enabling decision-makers to act confidently and drive positive environmental changes. Our continued innovation ensures we remain at the cutting edge of global conservation efforts.To learn more about our work protecting public lands, browse our customer stories. You can also contact us to discuss how we can support your conservation efforts.
Getting ahead of natural disasters is no easy feat, especially in a geographically challenging area like the Aosta Valley of Northern Italy. Home to the Italian slopes of Mont Blanc, this region separates the Pennine Alps from the Graian Alps and is particularly susceptible to landslides. These natural events have caused flooding, destruction, and loss of lives and resources. To mitigate these risks, the government of the Aosta Valley leverages Planet’s satellite data to build an early warning system aimed at effectively managing riverbeds and preventing floods.
Locator map of Aosta Valley in northern Italy, made with Planet satellite image data.A Land Suitable for Remote SensingThe Aosta Valley is characterized by its extreme geography, making it both a suitable and challenging area for remote sensing. Spanning 19,350 hectares of glaciers, it is home to all the “4,000” peaks of the western Alps, with over 40 mountain peaks exceeding 4,000 meters. The region also features numerous impervious and inaccessible areas and serves as an EGMS validation site for landslide issues.
“We are the smallest region in Italy, located in the northwestern corner, a very mountainous region with the highest peaks in the Alps, including Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. We are very prone to landslides and geohazards, which threaten human lives and obstruct access to important tourist resort towns like Courmayeur. Our job is not only to react but also to prevent these geohazards as much as possible,” shares Davide Bertolo, Chief Geologist of the Aosta Valley region.
The Regional Geological Survey is dedicated to tackling land stability issues through comprehensive field inspections and geophysical analyses. Their risk mitigation strategies are multifaceted, incorporating topographic surveys using total stations, GNSS, UAS, and scanning stations, along with 24/7 monitoring of large landslides exceeding 1 million cubic meters.
Leveraging Planet Data for Proactive Disaster ManagementPlanet’s PlanetScope and SkySat data has markedly enhanced the Geological Service’s analysis capabilities. The decision-making system, primarily based on Planet satellite images, provides swift and effective information crucial for managing riverbed maintenance and flood prevention.
Before and after comparison of a landslide which occurred in Oyace, a region of Aosta Valley, Italy. Left: PlanetScope image taken August 11, 2023 (before landslide). Right: PlanetScope image taken August 20, 2023 (after landslide). With our PlanetScope data, this team has been able to run NDVI analyses, and when combined with cosmic ray data and field inspections, this has supplied essential information for aqueduct repair. Furthermore, RGB analysis of our PlanetScope data has enabled their identification of precursor elements, significantly enhancing the understanding of the triggering dynamics behind the Challand-Saint-Anselme landslide.
“We have been working with Planet since 2017 and were immediately aware of its potential due to its daily revisit frequency and multispectral bands. These features enable us to assess the evolution of landslides and detect early warning signs like water infiltration in the ground, which usually triggers landslides. With Planet’s capabilities, we can deploy our field teams to the right places promptly, saving time, human lives, and preventing damage to infrastructures,” says Bertolo.
Looking ahead, the Geological Service aims to explore the potential of Artificial Intelligence, deepen their understanding of landslide precursor events, and integrate multisource information. They also plan to extend their aqueduct analysis across the entire Aosta Valley region, enhancing their proactive disaster management capabilities.
Watch the accompanying video to hear more from Davide Bertolo on how this partnership is transforming disaster management in one of Italy’s most challenging regions.
Learn how to calculate Growing Degree Days to optimize crop management and enhance growth modeling.
Authors: Maddie Grady and Annett Wania
Accurately tracking crop growth stages is vital for optimizing agricultural practices. Temperature has a significant impact on crop growth rates, and an effective way to quantify this is through growing degree days (GDD) or thermal time. In this article, we’ll explore how to calculate GDD using Planet Land Surface Temperature.
GDD measures the accumulated temperature over the growing season by adding up the daily average temperatures that exceed a certain base threshold necessary for crop growth. This can be used to infer crop growth stages. For example, 800 GDD accumulated from the planting means that the crop should be flowering. This provides farmers with valuable insights into crop development, enabling them to make smarter management choices, like applying crop protection products or fertilization in optimal windows.
Graphical representation of GDD. The area in blue indicates the time where there is sufficient thermal energy for growth to occur.Calculating GDD usually relies on air temperature data from weather stations. However, satellite-derived Land Surface Temperature (LST) offers an alternative data source that can improve on weather station data for two reasons:
- The 100 m spatial resolution captures field level variations missed by meteorological data that measures a single point. LST can capture more granular, field-level temperature fluctuations that might arise from microclimatic conditions in a given area.
- Weather stations measure air temperature 2 m above the surface. Although a strong proxy for available thermal energy, surface temperature may serve as an alternative representation of the thermal energy available to the crops. Integrating surface temperature data into thermal time calculations could enhance the accuracy of crop growth modeling, by measuring the surface temperature directly, rather than relying on correlation between air and surface temperatures.
Calculating Growing Degree Days From Land Surface TemperatureThere are two inputs needed to calculate GDD:
- Daily maximum and minimum temperatures to calculate the average temperature.
- A crop specific development threshold to identify the temperature range for crop development.
LST acquisitions occur at 13:30 (1:30 p.m. local time) in the day and 01:30 (1:30 a.m. local time) at night. Although these times roughly align with daily minimum and maximum temperature, they don’t match the exact timings needed to calculate the daily average temperature. To address this, daily temperature extremes were modeled using LST day and night acquisitions and air temperature in hourly measurements by the United States Climate Reference Network (USCRN), achieving an r2 of 0.72 for minimum temperature and 0.82 for maximum temperature.
The development threshold is crop specific. In this example, commonly used local crop development thresholds for air temperature were applied. The daily average temperature (calculated from the daily minimum and maximum) is adjusted to represent the available thermal energy for crop growth, by subtracting the crop development threshold. This value is then cumulatively summed from the start date (e.g. crop planting or emergence) to indicate the total temperature accumulation.
Scatter plot of LST modeled daily maximum (left) and daily minimum (right) air temperature for all USCRN stations and years (2013 – 2022).Validation Against Weather Station DataWhen crops reach the same phenological stage, it means they’ve received a similar amount of thermal energy for growth, so the cumulative thermal time should also be similar. For instance, if crops in Field 1 emerged on April 1 and flowered on May 15, while crops in Field 2 emerged on April 7 and flowered on May 18, the cumulative thermal time between these dates should be comparable. We compared LST-derived GDD to weather station GDD using crop growth records from the 2020–2023 growing seasons for multiple crops in Brandenburg, Germany and 208 fields from the 2017 growing season for maize in Kansas, U.S. Air temperature data for comparison was sourced from the local weather stations and cumulative GDD was computed from the visit date closest to crop emergence. We evaluated the quality of the GDD data by comparing it against crop development phases to ensure consistency across different years and locations.
Standard deviation in total cumulative GDD between the Kansas fields was 8.6% lower for LST-derived GDD than the weather station GDD. The graphs below illustrate how across multiple fields and growth seasons the accumulation of thermal time can be a consistent predictor of phenological development from LST. In these plots the crop growth stage and the cumulative thermal time should align between fields or years, for example stage 30 in 2021 should have a similar thermal time total to that recorded at stage 30 in 2022. For the validation fields in Germany and Kansas, the LST-derived GDD appears more similar than those from the weather station data.
Phenological crop growth stage (BBCH) against cumulative thermal time for Rapeseed fields in Brandenburg, Germany from 2021 (left), 2022 (center) and 2023 (right). Phenological crop growth stage against cumulative thermal time for Maize fields in Kansas, US. GDD can also be used to compare crop conditions at the same development stage across fields or years. For example, by indexing NDVI on accumulated thermal time rather than calendar day, productivity at similar thermal energy or growth can be more easily compared.
Planet Fusion NDVI indexed by day after emergence (left) for all wheat fields and indexed by cumulative thermal time from LST (right). Try Out Land Surface TemperatureWant to try this workflow out? Sign up for a 30-day free trial for Planet Insights Platform and get access to the Land Surface Temperature data used in this blog. Follow along with the workflow in this Python Notebook.
AcknowledgementsThe work was performed under the research project NaLamKI which has received funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany BMWK (Teilvorhaben 01MK21003G). The two phenology datasets which were used for validation were provided by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research ZALF (PatchCROP) and CropQuest, Inc. (Kansas). The weather station data was sourced from publicly available data from the German Weather service (DWD) and Kansas Mesonet.
We are thrilled to announce today that our first hyperspectral satellite, Tanager-1, along with 36 SuperDoves (Flock 4BE) were successfully launched into orbit during the Transporter-11 Rideshare mission with SpaceX, which lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday, August 16, 2024. Our team has successfully made contact with Tanager-1 and started its commissioning process.
Tanager-1 is made possible by the Carbon Mapper Coalition, a philanthropically-funded effort to develop and deploy satellites designed to detect and track methane and CO2 super-emitters at a level of granularity needed to support direct mitigation action. Tanager-1 combines Planet’s cutting-edge agile aerospace and smallsat bus technology with the state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer design developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Tanager satellite. Image provided by Planet. “This is an amazing all California effort! A Planet satellite carrying a JPL payload on a SpaceX rocket, from Vandenberg Air Force Base for a California charity Carbon Mapper to help the State of California! We’re proud to be a part of it,” said Will Marshall, Co-Founder and CEO of Planet. “Delivering innovative space-based solutions to our customers that improve environmental conditions is core to our mission. Placing cutting-edge imaging spectrometer technology in a smallsat bus platform is a remarkable achievement for this Coalition. I’m incredibly proud of our team and everyone who helped bring this satellite to life.”
SpaceX’s live stream of Tanager deployment. Image credit: SpaceX.Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that has accounted for around 30 percent of atmospheric warming since 1750. In order to slow and ultimately halt global warming, methane emissions must be slashed this decade along with a sustained program to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Future Tanager imagery will be analyzed by expert scientists at Carbon Mapper for methane and CO2 source detection and quantification, meanwhile we at Planet will commercialize the hyperspectral data for a variety of use cases including defense and intelligence monitoring, biodiversity assessments, mineral mapping, and water quality assessments.
Transporter-11 payload. Photo provided by SpaceX. “The successful launch of Tanager-1 is a testament to the power of collaboration,” said Laurie Leshin, Director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Our partnership with Planet and Carbon Mapper exemplifies how we can come together to develop innovative solutions that address our most urgent climate challenges. JPL has a long history of developing advanced instruments and the imaging spectrometer onboard Tanager-1, combined with Planet’s expertise, will drive impact for environmental monitoring and mitigation. We’re excited to see the continued success of this coalition and are proud to be part of it.”
Tanager-1 mission patch displaying a tanager, a colorful and visually diverse bird based in Central and South America, for which the Tanager constellation is named after. “Any serious effort to tackle climate change must include a focus on minimizing high emission point sources, particularly methane ‘super-emitters’ where a small fraction of infrastructure contributes disproportionately to total emissions,” said Riley Duren, Co-Founder and CEO of Carbon Mapper. “There are solutions at hand today that are capable of eliminating unnecessary leaks and wasteful practices but until now most emission sources have remained unobserved at the granular scales necessary to guide mitigation action. We’re incredibly excited to apply Tanager’s unique capabilities to make methane and CO2 emissions visible at high resolution globally—translating data into transparent and actionable information to help decision makers act now. There’s no time to waste.”
In addition to Tanager-1, the Transporter-11 rocket delivered 36 of our SuperDoves to orbit to contribute to our flagship daily, global monitoring mission. PlanetScope data is used by hundreds of our customers in defense and intelligence, civil government, and commercial markets to take informed action, and better contextualize events they’re seeing on the ground now. Our daily scan and deep archive of data across the globe is unique within the industry and provides our customers with a continuous and comprehensive view of their areas of interest. Further, the archive acts as a rich training ground for predictive machine-learning and advanced artificial-intelligence models, accelerating users’ ability to draw insights from the terabytes of data collected by Planet each day.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations, the Company’s ability to successfully design, build, launch and deploy, operate and market new products and satellites and the Company’s ability to realize any of the potential benefits from product and satellite launches, either as designed, within the expected time frame, in a cost-effective manner, or at all. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the Company’s ability to obtain and maintain required licenses and approvals from regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a timely fashion, or at all; whether the Company will be able to successfully build, launch and deploy or operate its satellites, including new satellites either as designed, in a timely fashion or at all; the Company’s ability to develop and release product and service enhancements to respond to rapid technological change, or to develop new designs and technologies for its satellites, in a timely and cost-effective manner; whether the Company will be able to continue to invest in scaling its sales organization, expanding its software engineering (including its ability to integrate new satellite capabilities) and marketing capabilities; whether the Company will be able to accurately predict and capture market opportunity; whether current customers or prospective customers adopt the Company’s platform or new products; the Company’s ability to realize any of the potential benefits from new products and satellites, as well as strategic partnerships and customer collaborations; and other risk factors and disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
Learn how earth observation technology has evolved to support government compliance strategies and enforcement of regulatory frameworks.
Government agencies tasked with regulatory compliance oversight and enforcement often face visibility challenges. A government agency can do very little if it remains unaware of compliance violations because it cannot see them.
The government’s proactive compliance monitoring and enforcement usually involves on-site visits and assessments.
However, the enormous scope of a government agency’s responsibilities — alongside potential staffing and resource challenges — frequently hampers efforts to provide sufficient coverage.
This is why current advancements in Earth observation (EO) technology will become increasingly instrumental to compliance monitoring. Government agencies can adopt more proactive roles and strategies by leveraging daily satellite imagery and data for improved visibility.
The Role of Satellite Imagery and Data in Compliance MonitoringAgencies must frequently adopt reactive roles regarding compliance monitoring and enforcement. They may not have the personnel to procedurally evaluate every organization, square mile, or infrastructure project for which they hold responsibility. They may overly depend on citizen complaints and whistleblowers to identify and address noncompliance.
For example, the Federal Lands Highway (FLH) Program, which existed under the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), oversees more than 500,000 mi (800,000 km) of roads, 11,000 vehicular bridges, and 1 billion acres of Federal properties. Regular, on-site compliance assessments simply are not feasible.
This lack of visibility (and delays receiving any at all) frequently causes government agencies to insufficiently meet their compliance oversight responsibilities, resulting in multiple problematic outcomes:
- Noncompliant organizations and individuals go unpunished for violations, threatening broader adherence to a government agency’s authority. Some organizations will choose to ignore compliance requirements because they rarely witness enforcement.
- Individuals, groups, and the environment directly impacted by the consequences of noncompliance will be affected longer and more severely.
- The government agency is deprived of funds it would have gathered through noncompliance fines or other penalties, restricting its available resources and operational capabilities in the future.
Visibility achieved via EO capabilities demonstrates the importance of leveraging technology in compliance monitoring and enforcement over broad land areas. On-site assessments continually prove inefficient and insufficient for these applications.
Impact of Improved Visibility on Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement
Consider an illegal logging operation encroaching onto protected land and violating environmental compliance requirements. It may go undiscovered for a considerable length of time if no one stumbles upon it or reports it to the proper authority.
Even if an agency like the U.S. Department of Agriculture sources aerial images after receiving a tip about the regulatory compliance violation, the photos may be months or years out of date by the time of receipt.
If the agency responds too late and the illegal operation has already departed with no trace besides the impacts observed up close, there may be little to nothing the agency can do.
However, with EO technology, the government agency would promptly receive satellite imagery captured before and during the illegal operation.. The agency can easily scan broad land areas for non compliant logging activity, assess duration and extent, and determine any hazards (e.g., risk of falling trees) to protect personnel who will evaluate the violation on-site.
Prompt visibility with the most current ground truth leads to prompt agency responses.
EO Technology
The satellite technology used for government compliance monitoring — or, more specifically, EO technology — refers to the image- and data-capture capabilities currently facilitated by constellations of satellites orbiting our planet.
These constellations directly support compliance monitoring and enforcement by equipping government organizations with significantly expanded visibility. The captured images and data provide an invaluable perspective of the planet and activity on its surface.
Notably, this umbrella category for technology also extends to solutions like those offered by Planet, which enable organizations to:
- Access new and existing satellite imagery
- Request satellite imagery of specific locations and subjects (i.e., tasking)
- Assist with analyzing or exporting satellite imagery
- Observe and detect changes over time regarding specific locations or subjects
How Does EO Technology Work?
The satellite constellations that capture and transmit images sit suspended in low Earth orbit (LEO). LEO refers to orbital paths at or below roughly 2,000 km or 1,200 mi above the planet’s surface. For example, the Flock constellation sits at about 475 km or nearly 300 mi.
At these altitudes, satellites complete roughly 16 revolutions over the course of each day, continually capturing images of their surface throughout the journey. The technology on board can capture and transmit extremely detailed images. For example, the library of images captured by Planet satellites includes resolutions of 50 cm and 3.7 m, which means each pixel represents that scale.
In addition to images captured during standard orbits, agencies responsible for regulatory compliance and government oversight can also task satellites to capture high-resolution images of specific locations and subjects to further improve their visibility.
Enhancing Regulatory Oversight With Real-Time Data
Earth observation provides government agencies with the regulatory technology and visibility they need. These capabilities prove necessary when performing new types and levels of analysis — for compliance monitoring and enforcement or otherwise:
- Using science-based measurements, experts can granularly quantify changes and develop statistical models.
- Detection capabilities leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) notify agencies about subjects of interest via individual snapshots or changes in imagery over time.
- Agency findings leveraging satellite imagery inform the highest-priority locations and subjects that require continued monitoring or immediate on-site evaluation.
Strategies for Implementing Satellite Technology in Government Compliance
The vast majority of government agencies don’t possess the expertise, resources, or funding to launch and maintain a dedicated satellite constellation. But that doesn’t mean satellite imagery and data remain unavailable; numerous government agencies and commercial entities now leverage EO technologies.
Strategies for implementing satellite technology in government compliance include leveraging satellite data for broad area management, enabling governments to monitor large geographical regions efficiently. This can support regulatory compliance in sectors such as environmental protection, land use, and resource management. Satellite technology provides accurate and timely data, helping governments ensure adherence to laws and regulations, track changes over time, and make informed decisions based on real-time insights.
New Mexico State Land Office (NMSLO): Case Study
Similar to the illegal logging example above, the New Mexico State Land Office previously struggled with compliance management, particularly with identifying and pursuing trespassers.
The state agency knew it didn’t have the visibility or oversight capabilities to continuously monitor the 9 million surface acres and 13 million mineral acres it oversees — and realistically, no government agency does.
Instead, NMSLO partnered with Planet.
Using current and historical satellite imagery to monitor active and inactive mines for trespassers, the agency discovered five violations amounting to $800,000. Given the trial’s success, NMSLO soon leveraged Planet EO technologies to access 3.7 m resolution imagery of the Permian Basin over the next year.
This effort identified 53 trespassing and material release incidents, which amounted to $2.7 million in back payments owed to the state and 22 new land leases that generated an additional $800,000. Millions of dollars that New Mexico contributed to public funding would be missing without EO capabilities.
EU CAP: Case Study
The European Union (EU) developed the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to regulate policy goals and determine farmer subsidies. Traditionally relying on on-the-spot-checks (OTSCs) for area-based payments, the EU sought to reform a system that struggled to adequately oversee 174 million agricultural hectares by leveraging EO technology and remote sensing.
However, the Copernicus Sentinel satellites and other sources of EO imagery and data weren’t sufficient for the Slovenian National Payment Agency (ARSKTRP) because:
- Copernicus Sentinel missions were too infrequent and lacked high-enough resolution images.
- Roughly 25% of Slovenian fields are too narrow to be evaluated by Copernicus Sentinel missions with reliable time-series data.
- Cloud cover often obscured visibility.
- Activity on permanent grasslands and orchards proved too difficult to detect.
Still seeking a Checks by Monitoring (CbM) solution, ARSKTRP and its service provider, Sinergise, began incorporating Planet imagery and data to complement the Copernicus Sentinel missions.
With both sources of EO imagery, ARSKTRP decreased the number of parcels with inconclusive determinations by 73% — reducing expected expenditures for OTSC follow-ups by over €1 million.
Additionally, when ARSKTRP personnel spot-check the remaining parcels, they leverage Planet satellite imagery. This enables them to determine the cause of inconclusive CbM results in roughly 30 seconds — reducing expected expenditures by another €70,000.
EO Technology Represents the Future of Compliance MonitoringEarth observation technology continues to grow in importance to support government compliance strategies and enforcement of regulatory frameworks.
Daily satellite images and data prove invaluable for promptly and accurately enforcing compliance, reducing oversight costs, protecting public property and individuals’ rights, and recouping substantial funds to help the agency’s budget or other public programs.
Government agencies leveraging EO technologies finally achieve the visibility and insights needed to monitor and enforce compliance properly.
Contact Planet to discuss your needs today
Yesterday, we were proud to showcase our major customers and partners from across Central and South America at our “Planet On The Road” conference series, hosted in Bogotá Colombia. Speakers at the in-person event included data and artificial intelligence experts and government leaders from Brazil, Colombia, and Bolivia, who focused on how satellite data was being used across Latin America for sustainable development, law enforcement, disaster response, and Amazon forest protection.
At Planet, we provide our customers and partners with satellite datasets and analysis feeds, helping them conduct broad area management and quantify changing conditions on the surface of the Earth. At the Bogotá event, Planet President and CFO, Ashley Johnson expanded on these capabilities, highlighting the company’s newly launched Planet Insights Platform and shared, “Our daily global scan can help authorities improve situational awareness, allocate resources during complex incidents that occur over large areas, understand flood risks in burned areas, and plan long-term recovery operations.”
Ashley Johnson, Planet President and Chief Financial Officer, giving a keynote presentation at On The Road Bogotá.Planet has experienced business momentum in Latin America over the last year and by working with partners in the region, valuable insights and novel workflows have emerged for governments and businesses in the region. “Our community is uniquely equipped to harness the power of space data and AI technologies to see the signal in the noise, to modernize and digitize our workflows, use transparency to promote peace and security and to accelerate the transition toward a sustainable economy,” said Robbie Schingler, Planet Co-founder and CSO in his keynote address at the event.
Robbie Schingler, Planet Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, giving a keynote presentation at On The Road Bogotá.We were honored to have our customers and partners take to the stage for the day to share how they are leveraging Planet satellite data. Representatives from INRA, Bolivia’s land management agency, discussed how they worked in collaboration with Planet and our partner CIVIS to modernize their approach to land management. Aiming to balance sustainability, food sovereignty, and national development, INRA leveraged the Planet Insights Platform to gain near real-time insights and streamline management for monitoring for carbon emissions compliance and land use and titling, establishing ambitious sustainable targets across the nation.
In a keynote, alongside INRA, our customer Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC), a Colombian government entity responsible for managing cartographic data, shared how they provide user access to PlanetScope and Planet Basemaps covering the entire Colombian territory. Through their platform, Observatorio de la Tierra y el Territorio (OTT), organizations are able to conduct efficient land-use planning and territorial management. With data analysis and AI, the platform aims to offer capabilities for monitoring infrastructure change and detect anthropogenic changes to the environment.
Juan De Dios Fernández, General Director of Planning at INRA (left) and Gustavo Marulanda Morales, General Director at IGAC (right) presenting at On The Road Bogotá. In a fireside chat hosted by Robbie Schingler and Guillermo Ocampo, Microsoft’s National Digital Transformation Officer, the industry leaders discussed how artificial intelligence and satellite imagery have been transforming biodiversity protection in South America, helping to inform scientists and raise public awareness. Microsoft’s Project Guacamaya, for instance, runs AI-enabled analyses on top of Planet satellite imagery of biodiverse regions to swiftly detect ecosystem changes, potentially caused by deforestation or mining.
Robbie Schingler, Planet Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer (left), hosts a fireside chat with Guillermo Ocampo, National Digital Transformation Officer at Microsoft (right), at On The Road Bogotá.Felipe Trujillo, General Manager at Procalculo Prosis S.A.S. and Alfredo Aramayo, President of CIVIS came on stage for a keynote presentation about how Planet’s satellite imagery is leveraged to provide unique data solutions in Latin America, including helping governments modernize their approach to land management and enabling disaster and environmental risk management. Additional representatives from Planet partner Procalculo also spoke about their collaborative work with organizations across Colombia to provide geospatial insights derived from our satellite data in areas, such as risk management and disaster response. At the event, Procalculo shared how they used deep learning models on top of Planet data to evaluate yearly drought impacts and risks, wildfire threat zones, and mapping roads for disaster management. They also spoke with the Head of Space Production Area for the Airforce of Colombia about how Planet data offers the capabilities of broad area management for the Amazon, enabling authorities to combat illegal deforestation.
Ashley Johnson, Planet President and Chief Financial Officer (far left), and Thijs Van Leeuwen, Planet Sr. Director of Product (left), join Felipe Trujillo, General Manager at Procalculo Prosis S.A.S. (right), and Alfredo Aramayo, President of CIVIS (far right) for a keynote on stage at On The Road Bogotá.From left to right, Nataly Pulido, Customer Success Manager at Planet, Iara Musse Felix, CEO of SCCON Geospatial, Cristiano Cunha, Chief of the Geomatics Service of the Federal Police, Camila Pintarelli, Director – Chief of National Fund for Public Security of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security of Brazil, Captain Laura Fernanda Guerra Ibáñez, Head of Space Production Area, Airforce of Colombia (FAC), and Juan Camilo Amaya, Geospatial Technology Manager at Procalculo Prosis S.A.S. Representatives across the Brazil MAIS program shared how Planet data has enabled the success and expansion of the program, working to protect the Brazilian Amazon in collaboration with the Federal Police of Brazil, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security of Brazil, and Planet partner SCCON Geospatial. Leveraging our satellite data, SCCON supports a change detection alert system on their platform, making near real-time information regarding illicit activities, such as environmental crimes and illegal mining accessible to Brazilian government agencies. The Federal Police of Brazil have been able to implement justice across the country, protecting the Amazon rainforest and enhancing their law enforcement operations. With Planet satellite data and SCCON’s automated change detection, the project collected over $3 billion from fines, seized goods, and the freezing of assets since 2020.
From left to right, Robbie Schingler, Planet Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Ricardo Guerra, Regional Sales Director of LATAM at Planet, Camila Pintarelli, PhD, Director – Chief of National Fund for Public Security Ministry of Justice and Public Security of Brazil, Cristiano Cunha, Chief of the Geomatics Service of the Federal Police & Coordinator of the Steering Committee of the Brazil MAIS Program of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Iara Musse Felix, CEO, SCCON Geospatial, and Ashley Johnson, Planet President and Chief Financial Officer on stage at On The Road Bogotá.We also hosted a myriad of leaders leveraging Planet satellite data across the Latin American agricultural industry and disaster response programs. In the digital farming arena, customers and partners speaking included Disargo, a leading supplier of fertilizers originating from Guatemala, Auravant, an Argentina-based digital agricultural monitoring system, and Oryzatvia, which integrates Planet data into their digital platform to support rice farming in Uruguay. Focusing on how AI and machine learning can transform proactive disaster response, Planet customers and partners EPM and Procaculo from Colombia, and Chile-based Raster4 shared how satellite data and emerging technologies are supporting all stages of disaster life cycle management, including prevention, response, and recovery.
From left to right, Steve Padgett Vasquez, Customer Success Manager at Planet, Billy Pineda, Corporate Manager for Innovation and Development at DISAGRO, Bernardo Böcking, Co-Founder of Oryzativa, and Fernando Calo, Chief Business Development Officer at Auravant on stage at On The Road Bogotá.It was an incredible day at On The Road Bogotá, and we’d like to sincerely thank everyone who joined us in-person for inspirational keynotes and brainstorming sessions. From combating environmental crimes and leveraging AI for biodiversity conservation to digitally transforming land management and enabling disaster response, we were empowered and excited about all of the solutions shared on stage, and look forward to continued and expanded collaborations with customers and partners across the region!
Planet On The Road Bogotá management team.
We are excited to share that our SkySat data has been leveraged by the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Survey and Land Registration Bureau (SLRB), to enhance urban planning initiatives nationwide. In collaboration with Planet, our partner Aetosky (formerly known as SkyMap Global) has implemented an advanced urban planning system. This turnkey solution integrates AI-enabled change detection technology with our high-resolution satellite imagery, exemplifying a sophisticated approach to modern urban management.
Leveraging our SkySat 50 cm satellite imagery, Aetosky has enabled government authorities in the Kingdom of Bahrain to deploy this comprehensive urban planning system, covering 850 sq kilometers. This sophisticated system integrates Planet’s high-resolution satellite data with Aetosky’s advanced Change Detection Analysis capabilities to monitor and categorize various changes in the region, including modifications to existing buildings, rooftop alterations, vegetation shifts, and water changes. This innovative approach has led to an increase in effectiveness of building permit validation activities by the municipalities, highlighting the system’s significant impact on efficient urban management and planning.
“The Kingdom of Bahrain is making remarkably innovative strides in enabling smart city planning by leveraging cutting-edge satellite data and AI,” said Will Marshall, Planet CEO and co-founder. “This project has demonstrated how governments can embrace smart change detection systems to automate their projects, saving time and resources. We look forward to helping countries across the world to follow suit.”
The government of the Kingdom of Bahrain now receives regular biweekly updates, facilitating the tracking and analysis of developments, infrastructure changes, and environmental alterations, such as urban greenspaces and coastline activities. The new system, powered with Planet’s data, incorporates proprietary data cube technology, enabling the cataloging and management of spatial-temporal datasets. This technology empowers the SLRB to automatically extract and analyze changes across the entire country, significantly reducing monitoring time, identifying new activities on a national scale, and directing resources more cost-effectively.
“This advanced technology marks a significant leap forward, further enhancing our ability to track and manage construction and environmental changes across the Kingdom of Bahrain, with unprecedented efficiency, speed and accuracy. This, in turn, feeds into the development of the country’s smart cities, sustainable agricultural practices, and proactive environmental protection,” stated H.E Eng. Basim Yacob Alhamer, President of the Survey and Land Registration Bureau. “This collaboration epitomizes the Kingdom of Bahrain’s dedication to harnessing the power of cutting-edge technology to propel our nation towards a future defined by sustainable development and intelligent urban planning.”
The implementation of change detection using satellite data in the Kingdom of Bahrain is a significant advancement for smart city planning. By tracking and categorizing changes in urban development, infrastructure, and vegetation, the system provides essential data for urban planners and policymakers. This supports informed decision-making, promoting sustainable growth, optimizing resource allocation, and enhancing city functionality. The initiative aligns with smart city principles, contributing to more efficient, resilient, and environmentally friendly urban spaces.
With access to our bi-weekly satellite data, analysis-ready time series data management solutions, and AI-enhanced Change Detection Analysis, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s SLRB now serves as a centralized data hub. This hub supports various government departments. Leveraging Planet’s satellite imagery, this collaborative approach addresses environmental monitoring, transportation, and municipal response throughout the region.
By Christopher Anderson, Amy Rosenthal, and Flávia de Souza Mendes.
Today, Amazon Conservation released the first in a series of three Mapping the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) reports on forest carbon across the Amazon that leverages our Forest Carbon Diligence product. The reports reveal patterns of aboveground carbon dynamics, including where and how much aboveground carbon has been lost – and gained – in the Amazon biome over the past 10 years.
Notably, this first report (MAAP report #215) estimates the biome’s total aboveground forest carbon at about 56.8 billion metric tons, and suggests that Earth’s most critical forest remains a carbon sink – though just barely. With the Amazon on the cusp, effective and timely action is urgently required to safeguard a globally important carbon sink and forestall a flip into a net carbon emissions source.
As will be expected by longtime readers, like we are, the findings both substantiate the best scientific understanding of trends and also identify some notable surprises, which we’ll dive into below. Together, these conclusions indicate key opportunities for conservation, reason for hope, and actionable insights to forestall forest emissions.
You can find these reports on the MAAP website, where you can sign up to have future MAAP alerts delivered to your inbox. We’re big fans of the data-driven environmental reporting produced by their team, and we highly recommend the read.
The Planet team was thrilled to work with Amazon Conservation on these summary reports. In this companion post, we aim to complement the reports with an explainer about how and why these insights came to light with the Forest Carbon Diligence datasets and to provide scientific guidance regarding how to evaluate the quality and veracity of these results.
First we’ll share a few of our big takeaways from the first MAAP report (#215), followed by a series of FAQs raised by these findings:
- As of 2022, total aboveground forest carbon in the Amazon biome can be estimated at about 56.8 billion metric tons. This is right in between the lower and upper estimates found in the scientific literature.
- That’s 64.7 million metric tons more than in 2013, making the Amazon a carbon sink over the last decade – not a net source of carbon emissions. That’s a very small buffer, however, and there’s reason to worry that the biome could flip from sink to source with ongoing deforestation.
- High carbon density – or the amount of aboveground carbon per hectare – is found across the Amazon, but there are peak carbon levels in two geographically distant extremes: the southwestern Amazon including southeastern Peru and adjacent Brazil and eastern Guiana Shield including northeastern Brazil, French Guiana, and southeastern Suriname. This is notable, given how much higher the carbon density is, highlighting the outsized importance that targeted conservation could play.
- From 2013 to 2022, we see anincrease in average carbon density in mature forests, particularly in the Guiana Shield countries of French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana. This result challenges some conventional wisdom about ‘saturation,’ in which old growth forests are assumed to reach a point where carbon sequestration is balanced by carbon losses from respiration and decomposition. These results indicate that intact forests continue to accumulate carbon, increasing aboveground forest carbon over time, and that these effects are measurable.
What is Forest Carbon Diligence?
Planet’s Forest Carbon Diligence products quantify—globally and annually—how much carbon is stored in trees, the area occupied by trees, and how tall they are. This is done using cutting-edge machine learning models that fuse historical satellite observations with high quality, laser-derived reference data. Model benchmarks include an extensive archive of high resolution airborne LiDAR data for the canopy height and canopy cover models, and a global carbon dataset derived from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), a NASA satellite mission. This product builds on decades of open data and open science, and was designed to maximize accuracy, transparency, and trust based on well-known standards.
You can think of Diligence as a multi-year, GEDI-like forest carbon data product with wall-to-wall spatial coverage. It includes historical time series data since 2013 with numerical estimates for aboveground carbon density, canopy height, and canopy cover at 30-meter nominal resolution. It provides pixel-level uncertainty data, QA data, and day-of-measurement data. You can read more about Diligence in the product’s Technical Specifications.
How do Forest Carbon Diligence carbon density results relate to the peer-reviewed literature?
The first MAAP report estimates that the Amazon biome contains 56.8 billion metric tons of aboveground carbon. That’s a big, mind-boggling number. Even bigger when we Americans convert it to pounds (lbs), which translates to over 125 trillion lbs of carbon. For perspective, that would be roughly equivalent to the biomass of 9 billion African elephants! And for additional perspective on that point, the total population of African elephants is only about 415,000, down from about 10 million in 1930, per a WWF report.
But those weren’t the comparisons you were asking about. How does the Diligence estimate compare to other peer-reviewed estimates of carbon stocks?
The best source for globally evaluating how Diligence compares to other peer-reviewed datasets is the Diligence Validation and Intercomparison Report, which we described in a previous Planet Pulse post. But we’ll need to look elsewhere for Amazon-specific comparisons. Here are a few we could track down, with the caveat that the boundary definitions for the Amazon biome (analyzed by MAAP) and the Amazon biome (analyzed by others) may not exactly match.
Gatti et al. (2023) recently published an excellent paper on how carbon emissions from land use change in the Amazon have shifted as a result of decreased law enforcement activities, particularly in the western Amazon. Their carbon data appears to cite Saatchi et al. (2007), who published carbon stock estimates for the year 2000. After adjusting some numbers—converting the biomass-to-carbon scalar from 0.5 to 0.48 to ensure consistency between datasets—Saatchi et al. estimated the total carbon stocks in the Amazon basin to be between 56.0 and 69.3 billion metric tons (Pg). Diligence estimates 56.8 Pg for the year 2022, which follows around 20 years of deforestation in the region. This seems to be a reasonable level of agreement.
Ometto et al. (2023) separately developed estimates of carbon density across the Brazilian Amazon, derived from fusing airborne LiDAR, field plots, and satellite data. They estimate average aboveground biomass density in the Amazon basin to be 174 metric tons per hectare (Mg/ha) or, converted to carbon density, 83.5 Mg/ha. Diligence estimates are lower than Ometto et al. Why is there misalignment? Both methods estimate carbon from forest structure data, but each does so with a different approach. Diligence uses GEDI as a reference dataset, while Ometto et al. uses regional allometry. Regionally calibrated estimates usually provide finer, local-scale calibration, but the field-to-LiDAR fits in this case appear to be very noisy, and we can’t speak to the level of agreement between these results and other independent datasets.
Figure 1. Comparisons of FAO, Diligence, and GEDI L4B estimates of aboveground biomass density across Brazil. Please note that the numbers reported in these tables and figures are in units of aboveground biomass and not aboveground carbon, which requires a scale conversion for consistency with the MAAP reports.What about other sources that could provide a standard reference, like National Forest Inventory data? Figure 1, sourced from a prior analysis, compares aboveground biomass density and total biomass estimates to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and GEDI across all of Brazil. We found strong agreement between Diligence and GEDI across Brazil, including an r-squared score of 0.84. Diligence estimates are right between the national-scale estimates from FAO and GEDI. Analytically, we typically feel good about estimates that land between multiple independent results, which is the case here. More country-level GEDI/FAO comparisons are provided in Section 8 of the validation report, and Diligence does not appear to be systematically higher or lower than either source.
How confident are we in the finding that the Amazon biome remains a carbon sink?
Determining whether the Amazon is a net source or a net sink of CO2 has been an active research topic for the past few years. Making the transition from sink to source could mark a critical tipping point, where feedback loops between deforestation, drought, and fire would lead to progressively slower rates of carbon sequestration and evapotranspiration, and eventually towards large-scale turnover in species communities (Lovejoy and Nobre, 2018, Silvério et al. 2013).
So the finding from MAAP that the Amazon remains a net carbon sink is reason for cautious optimism, even while forest loss in the region has remained high over the past decade (World Resources Institute, 2024). Are these results consistent with other studies?
Two important papers provide evidence on both sides of the debate. Baccini et al. (2017) published one of the first studies to provide evidence via remote sensing that the tropics had transitioned to become a net carbon source. They modeled carbon stocks using 500-meter (m) resolution MODIS data, then fit time series trends to identify whether a pixel experienced loss, gain, or no change. The next paper is from Harris et al. (2021), who reported that both Brazil and the South American tropics overall remain a net carbon sink, using 30m Landsat data. Table 1 and Figure 2 from the Harris et al. paper are worth your attention.
What’s the difference between these papers? It’s mostly in how carbon gain gets estimated.
- Harris et al. used process-based carbon sequestration models, which are not satellite-based, but should give good estimates on average.
- Baccini et al. used a statistical smoothing process to denoise the signal over time, which may minimize small changes in forest growth while being more sensitive to forest loss.
We won’t pick a side between the two, which are both excellent, innovative contributions to the field. But our results represent another contribution to the discussion, which lands pretty much right in between the papers cited above. MAAP found the Amazon is a net sink—by a small margin of just +64 million metric tons. Relative to the total estimate of 56.8 billion metric tons (Pg), net positive change is around +0.1%. To end up between the extremes of two sides of the debate seems a reasonable place to land.
What makes the Forest Carbon Diligence approach different is that no assumptions are made about growth rates, minimal time series smoothing is applied, and the maps are derived from multiple 30m resolution satellite datasets. Also, the shifts in carbon storage are directly attributed to estimated changes in canopy height and canopy cover. This is opposed to trying to estimate carbon stocks directly from optical data, which can be troublesome (Ploton et al. 2020).
We interpret these results to suggest that, while deforestation and forest degradation are major drivers of carbon emissions across the Amazon, it appears that—in addition to gains from tree cover expansion—increases in carbon accumulation in low-disturbance landscapes might offset these effects, which can be detected via small increases in canopy height and canopy cover.
With the Amazon approaching a tipping point, it’s not clear how much longer we can expect the benefits of these carbon sink dynamics to last, especially with total forested area shrinking over time. These patterns reinforce the critical importance of conservation and stewardship in the region’s remaining forests, especially the recognition and protection of land tenure rights in Indigenous lands (Prioli Duarte et al. 2023).
Figure 2. Ten-year time series of aboveground carbon density over Amazonas, Brazil showing trends in forest loss in response to agricultural expansion. Year-to-year variation in undisturbed landscapes also observed.Is carbon density increasing in the Amazon, as Forest Carbon Diligence estimates?
Interpreting aggregate carbon density numbers is a tricky endeavor, so let’s break down what they mean. Decreases in carbon density are primarily driven by forest loss via deforestation, selective logging, or natural disturbance. Increases in carbon density are observed where forests regrow or where existing forests continue to sequester and store carbon, which may be expressed through increases in canopy cover and canopy height.
The MAAP report quantifies shifts in average carbon density across the countries in the Amazon basin. Whether carbon density increases or decreases on average is a reflection of the balance between the drivers of loss and the drivers of gain. One remarkable trend here is the increase in carbon density in French Guiana and Suriname, with the highest and second-highest average carbon density in the Amazon, respectively. These countries are designated as high forest, low deforestation (HFLD), indicating the majority of forested areas are intact, mature forests. Potapov et al. (2017) and Global Forest Watch characterize much of these countries’ forest regions as Intact Forest Landscapes. Minimizing deforestation in these regions could have a disproportionately positive impact on increasing carbon stocks. Is there corroborating evidence showing similar increases in carbon density across the region? Do intact forests continue to sequester and store carbon, or have they ‘saturated’ and reached a steady-state equilibrium?
Pan et al. (2024) provides the most contemporary evidence of net increases in carbon density in mature forests, in both intact tropical forests and in regrowing tropical forests, which builds on earlier work by Pan et al. (2011). The rates of carbon uptake in tropical forests are decreasing relative to sequestration rates in the 1990s when intact forests made up a larger portion of total forest area, but remain net positive overall.
What about evidence from the field? Duque et al. (2023) analyzed trends in the intact montane forests of the Andes, finding strong, persistent net increases in carbon density over an 11-year period. The authors suggest that “[their] results indicate that the Andes are similar to other tropical forests in that they are acting as aboveground carbon sinks, but the overall relative strength of the Andean carbon sink (1.01% annually) is even stronger than that of mature lowland tropical forests in Amazonia, Africa, or southeast Asia.”
Based on long-term field plots from the RAINFOR network, Phillips and Brienen (2017) found that intact forests in the Amazon have sequestered enough carbon to offset both land-based emissions and national fossil fuel emissions. The synthesis provided in this work is truly remarkable, summarizing decades of plot measurements from hundreds of sites throughout the region:
The sink of carbon into mature forests has been remarkably geographically ubiquitous across Amazonia, being substantial and persistent in each of the five biogeographic regions within Amazonia. Between 1980 and 2010, it has more than mitigated the fossil fuel emissions of every single national economy… While the sink has weakened in some regions since 2000, our analysis suggests that Amazon nations which are able to conserve large areas of natural and semi-natural landscape still contribute globally-significant carbon sequestration.
These studies are all consistent with the results reported by MAAP. Planet developed the Forest Carbon Diligence product to provide these sorts of detailed, broad-scale insights into a dynamic carbon balance at local, regional, and global levels, anywhere in the world. But such a product requires a strong linkage to fundamental ecological research, like the field studies above. Satellite-derived products should be analyzed as a complement to, not a replacement for, such work.
How do we characterize uncertainty around Forest Carbon Diligence results in the Amazon?
Diligence provides pixel-level uncertainty quantification, estimated independently for canopy height, canopy cover, and aboveground carbon density. Users can draw on these pixel-level uncertainties to derive their own project-level estimates. Pre-computed estimates of total carbon uncertainty at project, biome, or country levels are not currently provided.
Users will need to make certain assumptions to develop their own aggregate uncertainty estimates. The crux is that one must know the spatial covariance among pixels if aggregating within a year, and potentially the spatiotemporal covariance if aggregating across both pixels and years. The covariance parameters may also be uncertain. Estimating spatial covariance often requires specifying a parametric model, which necessitates domain expertise specific to regions and forest types, and is computationally intensive. There are many different approaches to this kind of estimation, and the Forest Carbon Diligence products provide the raw materials required—robust, well-calibrated, distribution-free pixel-level uncertainties—for users to make decisions that are appropriate for their needs.
Fortunately, it is much more straightforward to estimate the total carbon over an area, which can be computed simply by summing the expected values for each pixel and then adjusting for area to get pixel-level MgC values.
To get a sense for the relative amount of uncertainty between Diligence and other datasets, we recommend reading more in Section 2 of the validation report. This section shows spatially-explicit maps of agreement among data sources, showing particularly strong agreement between Diligence and GEDI in the Amazon.
Where does training data come from for Forest Carbon Diligence, and is there any from the Amazon?
Figure 3. Extent and count of the airborne LiDAR data used for model training and evaluation. Source: Forest Carbon Diligence Technical Specifications.Diligence models were trained using publicly available data sourced over the last decade. The Planet team has developed an unparalleled data catalog of global, high resolution airborne LiDAR data, which was used for model training. This included hundreds of individual LiDAR sites across the Amazon basin and the Neotropics. Airborne LiDAR data were used to model canopy height and canopy cover. To estimate carbon density, we leveraged GEDI, a spaceborne LiDAR mission, which provides more than 5 years of large-footprint observations across the region. As a result, we observe some of the strongest agreement between Diligence and other independent data sources in the region.
These MAAP reports, drawing on Forest Carbon Diligence, explore the nuanced dynamics of forest carbon in the Amazon. There’s no single story or trend that encapsulates the complexity and dynamism of this system. But with time series tracking of forest canopy and forest cover, we can get closer to actionable insights across the dominant trends that influence biome’s health overall – including its provision of crucial ecosystem services for local communities, the countries they inhabit, and everyone who lives under our shared sky.
For forest carbon in the Amazon, not all locations are equal. These MAAP analyses show that mature forests continue to accumulate carbon over time. This points to the importance of safeguarding these biodiversity-rich, old growth forests to preserve the Amazon’s carbon sink, alongside efforts to avoid further frontier forest losses and reforest what’s been lost. The stability of Earth will be determined by our ability to understand its changing surface and intervene where necessary. MAAP report #215 reveals cutting-edge and actionable information to underpin data-driven conservation in the Amazon. Its overall message is simple: there’s no time to lose.
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Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this blog post (including statements related to the Company in the third party blog post reproduced below) are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to successfully design, build, launch and deploy, operate and market new products and satellites and the Company’s ability to realize any of the potential benefits from product and satellite launches, either as designed, within the expected time frame, in a cost-effective manner, or at all. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: the Company’s ability to obtain and maintain required licenses and approvals from regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a timely fashion, or at all; whether the Company will be able to successfully build, launch and deploy or operate its satellites, including new satellites either as designed, in a timely fashion or at all; the Company’s ability to develop and release product and service enhancements to respond to rapid technological change, or to develop new designs and technologies for its satellites, in a timely and cost-effective manner; whether the Company will be able to continue to invest in scaling its sales organization, expanding its software engineering (including its ability to integrate new satellite capabilities) and marketing capabilities; whether the Company will be able to accurately predict and capture market opportunity; whether current customers or prospective customers adopt the Company’s platform or new products; the Company’s ability realize any of the potential benefits from new products and satellites, as well as strategic partnerships and customer collaborations; and the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
When a daily food staple feeding half of the world’s population emits 12% of global human-caused methane, what can we do about it? This is the dilemma that Creattura sustainably aims to solve together with a science-based approach and the local communities. Based in Japan, the company specializes in climate finance, partnering with local and regional multinational corporations to assist in carbon accounting, emissions reduction, offsetting, in-setting, and greenhouse gas reduction initiatives.
SWITCHING TO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURERice farming is a contributor to human-induced global warming, responsible for 1.5% of total global greenhouse gas emissions, and relies heavily on an increasingly scarce resource: water. On the other hand, rice is a source of life and is culturally significant to the Asia-Pacific and Japan region. Understanding these nuances, the Creattura team is developing Lynx, a digital measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) platform enabling farmers to cut their methane emissions in half without sacrificing farm productivity. On top of that, companies committed to contributing to the reversal of global warming can support this initiative by buying carbon credits against the reduced emissions.
The challenge: The longer rice paddies are flooded with water, the higher the methane emissions are.
The solution: An automated irrigation calendar using Planet satellite data and AI to support the rollout of sustainable rice farming.
Using Planet data, Lynx detects the presence of water in each rice paddy on a daily basis, objectively tracking farmers’ irrigation activities from space. This reduces the burden on farmers for manual data collection and increases the integrity of the resulting carbon credits. To encourage the adoption of sustainable agriculture, Creattura organizes knowledge-sharing sessions with farmers, training them on the alternate wetting and drying technique, and providing cash incentives called “green carrots” to those who successfully switched to sustainable farming.
Farmer field school graduates in Pangasinan, Philippines, taken on May 16, 2024. © Creattura Co Ltd. All Rights Reserved.The carbon credits sold to corporations sustain the incentive program. For Zachary Brown, CTO and Co-Founder of Creattura, “Adding remote sensing data to carbon credits has the potential to increase customer trust. This raises the bar of integrity within the industry.”
AI, DATA, AND EVERYTHING RICEIn the early days of developing Lynx, the Creattura team faced the inevitable challenge of collecting digital water level data at scale, across thousands of hectares. They previously used publicly available data sets with insufficient revisit frequencies and low satellite imagery resolution. Realizing the limitation of public data, they subscribed to other satellite imagery providers, but none had anything approaching daily coverage and were usually only available on a tasking basis, entailing higher costs.
PlanetScope filled this operational data gap with a persistent view of the local farmlands. “The daily coverage is a game changer. And having historical data that goes back several years allows us to digitally prove additionality for each individual rice field, which is super powerful. This was the dataset we needed to bring our vision to life,” said Brown.
PlanetScope imagery of rice fields in Pangasinan, Philippines, taken on February 22, 2024 © Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved.Another benefit to local farming is the ease of using digital MRV without requiring stakeholders to manually take geotagged photos for reporting and verification. The scalability of sensing data enables an inclusive approach to sustainable farming. It removes the burden of verification on smallholder rice farmers and allows them to focus on their tasks.
While we are still far from our collective goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, Creattura’s novel climate solution is a positive step towards that goal.
“Sustainable rice agriculture is a solution that can make a huge impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the effect is immediate. PlanetScope gives us the ability to massively scale the positive impact. We need solutions that are highly scalable and that have an immediate impact, not 10 years from now,” added Brown.
Looking for ways to use geospatial solutions for sustainable agriculture? Explore how precision farming drives more productive and profitable techniques while reducing harmful emissions.
Spanning over a vast expanse of 2.7 million square kilometers, Kazakhstan stands as the world’s largest landlocked country–a colossal landmass characterized by its diverse geography, ranging from bustling urban centers, to sprawling steppes and rugged mountain ranges. For authorities tasked with monitoring land use and environmental change, both the scale of the country and the diversity of its environments present a considerable challenge.
As is the case almost anywhere where broad area monitoring is required, satellite imagery and remote sensing data provide avenues to overcome these challenges. The authorities in Kazakhstan have long recognized this fact. The country has developed and operated its own set of Earth observation satellites since 2015. It consists of both a high-resolution satellite, KazEOSat-1, and a medium-resolution satellite, KazEOSat-2. Since 2018, the imagery these satellites provide has been supplemented by data from Planet. The resulting combination of public and commercial data allows Kazakhstan to realize the full utility of satellite imagery in improving the efficiency and efficacy of public administration.
“We found Planet data extremely valuable for us because we’re using it for monitoring the whole country,” said Osken Toishibekov, Deputy Chairman of the Board at KGS.
Kazakhstan’s satellites are operated by its national space operator, Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary (KGS), which is able to provide imagery to government agencies throughout the country. The imagery is utilized across civil government, including in agricultural monitoring, emergency and disaster management, forestry, water quality monitoring, permit enforcement, controlling illegal waste dumping, as well as in civil defense and national security applications.
According to Toishibekov, “Planet was the only satellite data provider, which could meet our needs to monitor the whole country of Kazakhstan for agriculture, deforestation, water bodies, illegal constructions, or waste dumps.”
The small number of satellites operated by the KGS does, however, mean that its capacity to produce data at a high temporal cadence is limited. This means that for particular use cases, the data set is incomplete. In the areas of agriculture and monitoring of illegal logging, for example, the most valuable insights are derived when change can be detected over short periods of time–a cadence that the KGS system, with two satellites servicing many use cases, is often unable to provide.
This is where Planet comes in to provide KGS with supplementary satellite data via a simple, bundled package. This approach provides Kazakhstan with access to all new image collections over the country, as well as access to the entire Planet archive, which contains an average of 2,400+ images of nearly every location on Earth’s landmass. KGS is then able to act as the unitary distributor of satellite imagery for local and national authorities in Kazakhstan. Taking this approach towards transparent product bundling results in a simplified procurement process that is both cost effective and scalable. It is an efficient, streamlined approach that can easily be replicated globally in countries that face constraints similar to those in Kazakhstan.
“Planet provides multidimensional data where we can look closer, deeper, wider, and even backwards to provide monitoring more comprehensively. We were able to discover more illegal constructions in cities and towns, so the government is able to take appropriate action. Because Planet has all the data tools, analytics in one cloud-based platform, we can provide more valuable information to our decision-makers,” added Toishibekov.
The data set that combines Planet data with that of Kazakhstan’s own Earth observation satellites has proven to be invaluable. It has been utilized to identify over 1 million hectares of unused arable land in the country. Between 2018 and 2021 municipal authorities were able to use satellite imagery to identify and mitigate the number of illegal dumping sites in the country by 35%. The imagery the KGS system provides was also utilized to control for unauthorized construction in 551 cities and towns between 2019 and 2021.
In Kazakhstan, state institutions operate a land distribution scheme, which allocates unoccupied plots of land for small scale agricultural production. Farmers are then able to utilize the land in accordance with the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. KGS has been using Planet data to monitor land use under the scheme since 2019. Additionally, inappropriate land use was identified on 700,000 hectares.
“Planet data is extremely valuable for us. Now the government can give this land to the farmers and boost development of agriculture in Kazakhstan,” said Toishibekov.
These insights enable the effective utilization of Kazakhstan’s abundant land resources, to the benefit of small-scale farmers throughout the country. At the same time, satellite imagery is being used to enable those farmers to implement precision agricultural practices. Having successfully mapped the country’s arable farmland, KGS is able to utilize Planet data to provide farmers with both crop identification as well as yield forecasting. This data helps farmers throughout the country to optimize their planning and increase their overall productivity.
Satellite imagery is also helping Kazakhstan to effectively manage and monitor its forestry resources. There are 12 million hectares of forested land in the country. Monitoring this valuable resource poses a significant challenge. KGS uses Planet data as a supplement to their own imagery to identify the construction of new roads and illegal logging sites. In addition, daily monitoring PlanetScope data enables KGS to detect and efficiently allocate resources to manage forest fires. The timely, broad-area monitoring provided by Planet is helping the relevant authorities build a more complete understanding of the hazards faced by the country’s forestry resources.
In light of these outcomes, the result of years of effective cooperation between Planet and KGS, the government of Kazakhstan has decided to reaffirm their commitment to building out the country’s remote sensing capacity. In October of 2023, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry Bagdat Musin met with Robbie Schingler, Chief Strategy Officer at Planet. Together they signed a memorandum of understanding, confirming both parties’ commitment to continue working together in order to fully realize the potential utility of satellite imagery in the country.
“In the beginning we were just providing images for Kazakhstan. Now we are developing information systems and platforms where we provide not just the data or information…we are digitizing the business processes of government bodies where they use this data in their processes. Combining our data and Planet data is cost effective and scalable and can be repeated in other countries which can face the similar challenges like Kazakhstan,” said Toishibekov.
This renewed commitment on the part of Kazakhstan is a testament to the power of satellite imagery as a tool for civil government. At Planet we work to make change in the world visible and accessible. By doing so, we enable our civil government customers to take action–to use their limited resources in a more efficient and effective way, and achieve better outcomes for the communities they serve.
See how near-daily imagery and analysis-ready datasets from Planet work within your existing GIS platforms in our collection of on-demand demos.
Our continuously growing catalog of short video demonstrations are a great resource for learning how to supercharge your analysis with our best-in-class GIS integrations. We cover real-world applications like detecting algal blooms and assessing wildfire risk, plus instructional how-tos like streaming imagery from Sentinel Hub into ArcGIS — all in eight minutes or less.
And all of our demos showcase what is possible through Planet Insights Platform— our all-in-one place for multidimensional Earth insights. If you’re already a Planet customer, you can get started here.
Demo 1: Streaming Planet Daily Imagery Into ArcGISThis video is also available in our demo library.This short demo shows how to customize and stream Planet imagery directly into your GIS software without ever having to download a single image — using Sentinel Hub.
Since Planet’s acquisition of Sinergise in 2023, Planet customers can manage, stream, and analyze Earth observation data from multiple satellite constellations directly in their GIS environment. Planet Technical Marketing Manager, Matt Ballard, walks us through the process:
- Order: Order your imagery from Sentinel Hub.
- Customize: In the “Configuration Utilities” section in Sentinel Hub you can customize your data layers with NDVI, NDRE, true color, false color, and more.
- Stream: Copy the WMTS service URL in Sentinel Hub, and open ArcGIS Online or your GIS application of choice, and click “add layer from URL.” Select a layer and select “Add to map.”
That’s it! Your image is streamed into your GIS environment with no downloading. While you can always download this imagery for use in your GIS software (including ArcGIS or QGIS), this demo shows you how to streamline this process with Sentinel Hub.
Demo 2: Analyzing Planet NDVI Time Series Data With Cloud MaskingThis video is also available in our demo library.Cloudy satellite imagery often interferes with and causes errors in data analysis. The Planet Usable Data Mask can help you filter out erroneous data points from clouds, enabling a much tighter and more accurate curve that’s useful for modeling things like crop classification or crop yields.
In under six minutes, Matt shows you how to apply the mask to customize clearer imagery through different renders and spectral visualizations, such as NDVI, true color, false color, and more.
Here’s how (if you’re familiar with Sentinel Hub, skip ahead to 1:40 and dive right into the demonstration):
- Access imagery from your AOI: In EO Browser, a web-based application for interfacing with the Sentinel Hub APIs, pull in your images from your selected area of interest. You can do this by utilizing the subscriptions API.
- Select visualization: Choose from different visualizations such as NDVI, NDRE , and RTVI. These are completely customizable to power up your analysis.
- Turn on the Planet Usable Data Mask render: Filter out clouds using the Usable Data Mask for clearer analysis.
- Calculate statistics: Draw a bounding box and create statistical charts. This calculates the average of the selected index. The example shows the average NDVI across the chosen area over time and provides a much more accurate curve that can be used to model crop health, yields, and more.
That’s it! You’ve used the Usable Data Mask in your Sentinel Hub evalscripts for better analysis of data obstructed by clouds. You can now create statistical charts in EO Browser to calculate average NDVI values over time at scale. Want to see more custom scripts? Check out the custom scripts repository.
Demo 3: Downloading Daily Imagery, Basemap Streaming, and Tasking in the Planet Add-in for ArcGIS ProThis video is also available in our demo library.Unlock the power of frequent and high-resolution imagery directly in your ArcGIS workflow with the Planet Add-in for ArcGIS Pro. Once installed, a ribbon is added to your ArcGIS Pro interface, which you can use to interact with different tools so you can search, visualize, or download Planet imagery.
If you are a Planet customer, you can download the ArcGIS Add-in directly and learn more from our developer resources. If you’re not a Planet customer, get started here or explore more pathways for integrating Planet data into your GIS workflow.
Let’s dive into this six-minute demo led by Matt, to see how you can easily download Planet imagery in the Planet Add-in for ArcGIS Pro:
- Search for and discover imagery: Identify your AOI and apply filters to meet your criteria such as time, satellite constellations, percentage of cloud coverage, and other detailed options.
- Preview, download, or stream: Once your results are returned you can preview the images in your ArcGIS Pro maps using streaming services. Then you can choose to download imagery, to share in your web GIS or for imagery analysis, for example.
To download, add your selected imagery to the cart, give the order a name, choose the assets you want for your analysis (visual, surface reflectance, and more), and finally choose your tools like clipping items to your AOI or composite your images for less data to download — then place your order. 3. Share, analyze and more: Planet will process your order and then you can download it directly from ArcGIS Pro where you can visualize it, create mosaic datasets, perform analysis, and share with others.
Watch the rest of the tutorial (starting at 3:09) to continue on and learn how to utilize Basemaps tile streaming services.
Watch NowIn eight minutes or less, each video will help you understand integration set up, get ideas, or power up your workflows. Watch our full catalog of short demonstrations — and if you’re ready to get started, reach out to our team.
Earlier this year, the Australian government of New South Wales (NSW) designated $100 million towards housing development and biodiversity protection. This allocation is set to enhance the existing programs run by the government of NSW, such the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan. This 35-year plan aims to enable needed housing development in Western Sydney while protecting areas of high biodiversity value across the landscape – including the home of the largest koala population in the Sydney Basin.
To conduct this ambitious project, the government of NSW worked with Planet partner NGIS, to employ our SkySat 50 cm satellite data to map and monitor the evolving Australian landscape and make informed policy recommendations regarding urban housing and the protection of wildlife corridors.
Planet Insights Platform interface showing Basemaps Viewer for New South Wales location.“Our goal is to help design and create thriving communities, towns, and cities for the people of New South Wales,” explained Dyllen Redman, Senior Planning Policy Officer for the New South Wales Government. “We work to ensure jobs, infrastructure, and housing are delivered sustainably with environmental protection at the front of mind.”
Through remote sensing and geospatial analyses, Dyllen and his teammates are working to establish a baseline of biodiversity values and native vegetation extent across the region to support the execution of the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan (CPCP). The CPCP reported that it will facilitate the creation of around 73,000 homes in the region by providing necessary biodiversity approvals.
“Our plan’s area covers approximately 200,000 hectares. This is quite a large area to be monitoring each and every year, so we need a system that can capture this size in a short time period, can be mobilized quickly, and most importantly, something that is reliable,” Dyllen explained.
While the team made significant headway on their biodiversity assessments by conducting field surveys and analyzing airborne or aerial images, Dyllen noted that since working with Planet data, they are able to more efficiently conduct their assessments. With traditional airborne captures, their team reportedly faced significant uncertainty as factors, such as unpredictable weather, hangar locations, and airspace restrictions, could cause the team to have to wait up to four months to receive data of the full region. Dyllen shared that, in comparison, the same data could be received from Planet in just a few days.
Planet false color representation of SkySat Basemap showing New South Wales.“We used SkySat captures in our program to make a complete image of Western Sydney for analysis. The higher frequency at which the SkySat captures are able to be tasked is what makes Planet a leading provider for us, as we’re able to save on cost and time compared to traditional airborne captures,” Dyllen said. “With Planet, we have saved around two months on average as we’re able to leverage the SkySat system, which is constantly in orbit, passing over Australia multiple times every day. We have also saved tens of thousands of dollars in labor, parts, and fuel that usually go with using airborne captures.”
So, what’s next for the government of New South Wales?
Dyllen is excited to keep working with NGIS to utilize Planet’s satellite data. “NGIS has been a great partner to help identify Planet’s data as meeting our remote sensing specifications. They have been pivotal in making our latest imagery capture happen by leveraging their relationship with Planet as a provider and by also being able to translate all of the technical remote sensing information, helping ensure that the data we’re getting will meet our business requirements,” he shared.
This data is enabling the government of NSW to evaluate vegetation change over time, identify regions for ecological restoration, and create wildlife corridor maps for koalas to move safely from one part of the ecosystem to another. These satellite images are now also being shared across eight state and local government agencies participating in the CPCP, generating new opportunities for data-informed policy planning.
“Our vision for the future of using Planet data is to continue with the satellite captures year-to-year. We’re also very excited to test the upcoming Pelican system that hopefully will be launched soon,” Dyllen shared. “That high resolution and high-quality specifications for the camera will only improve our monitoring of biodiversity across the landscape. Who knows what we’ll be able to uncover by using the improved systems as we go forward for the next 35 years?”
At Planet, we have a long history of working with the U.S. government, and this relationship lives at our roots. Over fourteen years ago, our founders all met while working at NASA where the idea of Planet ultimately came to fruition. Ever since then, we’ve built strong relationships across the federal government and we work closely with our commercial customers and partners who provide critical services to the federal and civil sectors. In fact, our wholly owned subsidiary, Planet Federal, is uniquely tailored to meet the needs of the U.S. government and based in the Washington D.C. area.
Our commitment to strengthening these relationships led us to host our most recent Planet On The Road 2024 event in the Washington D.C. area this week. The in-person event focused on how the combination of artificial intelligence and Planet satellite data is being used for national security and intelligence, strategic deterrence, broad search, scientific research, natural resource management, and maritime domain awareness.
Here’s our top three takeaways from the event:
- Planet is aligning our offerings with the demand signals of the U.S. government
- The AI revolution is leading to novel solutions
- Science and international collaboration is critical to combating climate-related risks
1. Planet is aligning our offerings with the demand signals of the U.S. government
We began the morning with a keynote from Planet CEO and Co-founder Will Marshall who outlined how satellite data is one of the world’s most untapped resources and emphasized a myriad of ways in which our data has provided intelligence and insights for governments and commercial entities.
“In short, what Planet powers is what we dub ‘broad area management’ — allowing governments and businesses around the world to monitor large areas and take action,” said Will Marshall. “The Earth observation ecosystem is standing in front of a massive opportunity and we have only captured a fraction of it and we are pushing to capture even more by working with our customers and partners.”
Planet CEO and Co-Founder Will Marshall giving his keynote presentation.Following his keynote, Planet’s Robert Cardillo, Chief Strategist and Chairman of the Board of Planet Federal hosted a fireside chat with Major General Gagnon, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence at the U.S. Space Force. He noted the U.S. Space Force’s new commercial strategy. Their strategy aims to leverage the commercial sector’s scalable production and rapid technology refresh rates to complement their existing operations and enhance the resilience of national security space architectures. At the event, Major General Gagnon expanded on how the U.S. Space Force has been leveraging commercial capabilities to enhance situational awareness, strengthen deterrence, and support strategic space advantage for the U.S. and its allies.
“Our commercial strategy can be wrapped up like this: We need to move fast. And we need to move fast for a very important reason, because our adversary is moving very fast. The remote sensing market is pivoting and changing. It’s now about the insights,” said Major General Gagnon. “These commercial satellites are shining sunlight, revealing the truth, and sunlight matters.”
Fireside chat with Robert Cardillo, Chief Strategist and Chairman of the Board of Planet Federal and Major General Gagnon, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence at the U.S. Space Force. In a panel discussion, moderated by Dave Gauthier, Chief Strategy Officer, GXO Inc., Devin Brande, Director, Commercial Operations Group at NGA shared how NGA supports the U.S. government’s strategic deterrence initiatives. NGA conducts intelligence analyses with geospatial data, building indications that can monitor behavior and detect activity internationally. With access to robust satellite imagery archives, NGA is able to look through time and across vast areas to see military movements, predicting actions and identifying early warnings.
“One area we are really excited about is the magnitude of data coming through. But how do we go to the next level? How do we make more effective use of that? Analytics. We need to bring to bear a human-computer team. In the government, we have so many edge cases that require deep domain expertise as well as deep data expertise,” said Devin Brande, Director, Commercial Operations Group, NGA.
In the same panel, Philip Ritcheson, Specialist Executive at Deloitte shared how geospatial data informs operational planning for governments and intelligence entities while Renny Babiarz, Vice President, Analysis and Operations at AllSource Analysis, a Planet partner, expanded on the importance of utilizing satellite data to alert governments regarding location-based information and change detection in near real-time. Notably AllSource Analysis reveals insights into international space launches.
Panel moderated by Dave Gauthier, Chief Strategy Officer, GXO Inc. and hosting Devin Brande, Director, Commercial Operations Group at NGA, Renny Babiarz, Vice President, Analysis and Operations at AllSource Analysis, and Philip Ritcheson, Specialist Executive at Deloitte.“It was great to hear from government leaders – both in the U.S. and from around the world – about how commercial satellite data and AI is generating real, down-to-Earth, tangible solutions: enabling strategic deterrence, informing national security, mitigating disaster risk, and supporting climate resilience,” said Will Marshall at the end of the day. “EO data is one of the world’s greatest untapped resources, and we’ve only just scratched the surface. We are committed to continuing to embrace new technology and forging new partnerships to support your needs.”
2. The AI revolution is leading to novel solutions
We are living through a revolution in artificial intelligence, and at this event, we were thrilled to share how our Planet Insight Platform and the power of artificial intelligence is leading to novel solutions. Early in the day, Planet President and CFO Ashley Johnson walked the audience through the capabilities of our platform.
“We believe our job is to remove blindspots and give you insights that are multidimensional and multi-domain to maximize the impact of the actions you take,” Ashley said as she provided a pertinent example for the defense industry. She showed a Planet satellite image of a patch of ocean with various clouds and maritime objects, demonstrating what it may be like for an analyst to identify a specific vessel.
“Finding something in an image like this, a task that many of you are faced with everyday, is like finding a needle in a haystack,” said Ashley Johnson. “A problem like this is where the applicability of our data to new AI really shines. Through the work of our partners and our internal software development teams, algorithms can quickly locate what is invisible to the naked eye. With a single reference image, we can locate objects of interest in minutes, not hours or days like traditional machine learning models.”
Ashley Johnson, Planet President and CFO, giving her keynote presentation.To dive deeper into this tangible use case, Planet partner SynMax took the stage later in the day to showcase how they have combined Planet satellite data with their proprietary artificial intelligence algorithms to create a maritime awareness solution, Theia, for classifying and monitoring dark vessels. In March, Planet Federal announced that they are providing a maritime solution including Planet data with a fusion of technology from SynMax to the U.S. Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific for vessel detection and monitoring over key areas of interest throughout the Pacific. The project integrates both Planet’s daily, global PlanetScope data and high-resolution SkySat data into the Department of Transportation’s SeaVision platform, a web-based maritime situational awareness tool.
Dean Harkess, Director of Product, SynMax giving his presentation on SynMax’s capabilities.Our data and services operate in a platform ecosystem. In a dialogue with Ashley Johnson and Troy Toman, Planet Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, they discussed how the platform aims to serve customers and partners working in the analytics space.
“The Planet Insights Platform is a ‘one of many’ strategy. It’s about putting building blocks together to help you focus on what you’re best at. We see this as a platform within an ecosystem. It’s about elevating and enabling access to the data itself,” said Troy Toman. “AI gives us a way to take this data and turn it into insights more quickly, it’s not magic though. We cannot solve the customer problem in totality. The partner applications help bring the deep domain expertise.”
Dialogue with Ashley Johnson, Planet President and CFO, and Troy Toman, Planet Senior Vice President of Software Engineering.3. Science and international collaboration is critical to combating climate-related risks
Our work integrating artificial intelligence with Planet data has also expanded to global ecosystems through the generation of solutions for resource management, disaster risk mitigation, and climate resilience. In a session at the conference, energy company PG&E shared how Planet’s AI-informed analytics feed on vegetation encroachment is enabling them to detect and manage vegetation surrounding their energy infrastructure in real-near time, helping to mitigate wildfire risk and protect civilians and ecosystems. In the same session, we heard from Syngenta who leverages Planet data to build digital agricultural solutions and Upstream Tech whose Lens platform enables their customers to make data-informed ecosystem management decisions, like reforestation. The science underpinning all of these resource management decisions is critical and we are proud of working with the U.S. government, commercial entities, and scientists around the world to support this.
Breakout session with with Jeremy Groeteke, Head of Computational Agronomy, Syngenta Group, Justin Dhooghe, Expert Data Scientist, PG&E, Carolyn duPont, Chief Operating Officer, Upstream Tech, and Mike Merit, Chief Customer Officer, Planet as moderator.“It is with pride that one of our biggest user bases is federally funded researchers through the NASA CSDA program,” said Will Marshall in his keynote. “We have supported thousands of users and 25 government agencies through the program. And the NASA CSDA Program is only a portion of our science user base that has used our data to publish more than 3,500 scientific papers. Access to Planet’s data by the science community continues to broaden the use of EO data, identifying solutions for some of the biggest challenges we are facing today.”
Later in the day, Florence Tan, Deputy Chief Technologist, NASA Science Mission Directorate moderated a science-to-action session, where university researchers and scientists shared how they are applying Planet’s satellite data to persistent challenges associated with human-impacted climate change and disasters to shape resilience for the future. Lindsay Smart, Climate and Ocean Scientist from The Nature Conservatory (TNC) explained how they are helping to protect mangrove ecosystems by integrating Planet satellite data in their Blue Carbon Explorer Tool. The session was also joined by Sergii Skakun, Associate Professor at University of Maryland College Park who has leveraged Planet data to research climate and conflict-linked food insecurity around the globe and David Roy, Professor and Director, Center for Global Change and Earth Observations at Michigan State University who uses remote sensing data to characterize human- and climate-induced global change.
David Roy, Professor, Department of Geography, Environment, & Spatial Sciences and Director, Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, Sergii Skakun, Associate Professor from University of Maryland College Park and Lindsey Smart, Climate and Ocean Scientist of The Nature Conservancy participating in the Science-to-Action breakout session.Beyond our work with NASA, we were proud to expand the conference conversation to the global space organizations! Will Marshall was thrilled to host international space attachés for a discussion about their national priorities and how satellite data is being leveraged to solve unique challenges by international governments. The dialogue welcomed the German Aerospace Center, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency to highlight how new geospatial capabilities are helping to advance society’s sustainability, science, climate, and development policy agendas. Germany’s Marc Jochemich emphasized the country’s focus on driving forward early stage technologies and wholistically improving scientific knowledge, Japan’s Masami Onoda emphasized the nation’s work in monitoring their extensive coastlines with satellite data, and Canada’s Jill Smyth shared that they are evaluating the impacts of climate change on the arctic and integrating satellite data with indigenous community knowledge to better understand and manage their environments.
Planet Co-founder and CEO, Planet Will Marshall moderating panel with Marc Jochemich, Head DLR Washington Office at German Aerospace Center, Masami Onoda, Director, Washington D.C. Office at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Jill Smyth, Counselor for Space Affairs at Canadian Space Agency.Overall, we were inspired and impressed by all of the powerful science-informed insights that were shared today from around the world. The work to combat climate change requires commercial innovation, scientific clarity, and international collaboration. Earth observation data is one of the world’s most untapped resources. So, we look to continue to foster relationships across the public and private sectors and across the world to ensure that our data is providing useful insights.
There are three global trends our society is undergoing: Peace and Security; Sustainability and Regulation; and Digitization and AI,” emphasized Will Marshall at the event. We believe that we’ve only just scratched the surface of the potential satellite data has for advancing all three of these trends.
Note: The U.S. Government’s attendance at the event does not imply or constitute the U.S. Government’s endorsement of Planet’s products.
Monitor and track change with broad area management.
Today’s regulatory environment requires governments to meet evolving standards around transparency, traceability, and credible measurement. At the same time, they face numerous climate change-related challenges, ranging from natural resource management to disaster response.
To address and minimize these risks, governments need to see changes on a regular basis and create monitoring and reporting systems that guide resource allocation and improve efficiency.
At Planet, we call this approach broad area management. It refers to the practice of monitoring, measuring, and reporting on changes to natural and human-made assets over vast areas and across multiple time scales.
How Broad Area Management Helps Reduce Risks for GovernmentsFrom tracing commodity origins and monitoring deforestation, to enhancing natural resource management and improving disaster and emergency response, governments need tools to help them track and understand change. Near-daily Earth data from Planet brings governments a wide range of opportunities to support risk management.
- Detect issues faster: Monitor vast and remote areas and zoom-into areas of interest or areas affected by emergencies.
- Detect patterns: Use Planet Archive data and statistical analysis to detect patterns and developments and create early warning systems.
- Detect issues more precisely: Detect selective logging or forest degradation with the highest precision.
- Cover more ground: Improve pre-planning, optimize routes, and accelerate onsite inspection processes.
- Reduce operational risk: Preview site before visiting, reduce onsite time, and improve safety for inspectors who visit higher-risk areas.
- Improve reporting: Comply with international frameworks, such as EUDR, and improve due diligence efforts, monitor damage perimeter for disasters.
Customer Spotlight: A U.S. State Division of ForestryThe Division of Forestry oversees activity across millions of acres of forested areas, including wildfire suppression efforts. Before working with Planet, the division relied on helicopters to monitor wildfire perimeters, which was both costly and dangerous.
But with PlanetScope® near-daily data, they have significantly improved situational awareness during active incidents, helping accelerate inter-agency response efforts.
Planet data also helps them monitor suppression activities during and after active incidents, reducing the time and cost of investigation by $160,000 USD while shortening the time it took to digitize wildfire perimeters to just minutes.
Emergency management officials can digitize wildfire boundaries in minutes, improving situational awareness and accelerating damage assessment.
Do More With Planet Insights PlatformAs a leader in the EO industry, Planet already helps agencies managing subsidy payouts see change in unprecedented detail. Now our data is becoming more accessible to them through Planet Insights Platform — a powerful set of APIs that bring governments the ability to look broader, look back, look closer, and look deeper.
By combining Planet’s analysis read data and analytics tools with existing data inputs required by compliance policymakers, analysts can access targeted insights that help plan and distribute farmer subsidy payouts.
Interested in learning more? Learn how Planet can help governments improve compliance, better manage subsidy payouts, and increase operation efficiency. Or download our e-book, Driving Program and Policy Effectiveness With Planet.
We are proud to announce today that our first hyperspectral satellite, Tanager-1—made possible by the Carbon Mapper Coalition and its philanthropic partners—is ready for launch. The spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 3rd in preparation for liftoff as early as July on board the Transporter-11 Rideshare mission with SpaceX. Tanager-1 will be the first of a next-generation hyperspectral fleet which will expand Planet’s imaging capabilities in the spectral domain to complement the existing imaging capabilities in the temporal and spatial domains offered by the PlanetScope, SkySat, and Pelican missions.
Following on-orbit commissioning, Tanager-1 is planned to provide hyperspectral data both in support of the continued partnership with nonprofit organization Carbon Mapper and Planet’s broader commercial mission. Tanager-1 was enabled by the Carbon Mapper satellite program, which allowed Planet to combine our cutting-edge agile aerospace and smallsat bus technology with the state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer design developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This collaboration plans to provide scientific-grade data to enable action on sustainability use cases such as greenhouse gas point-source emissions.
“This important collaboration with Planet and Carbon Mapper is an innovative way to confront Earth’s most urgent climate challenges head-on,” said Laurie Leshin, Director of NASA JPL. “Our imaging spectrometer technology and expertise, leveraged and deployed on Tanager-1, will enable a broad range of stakeholders to pinpoint methane super-emitters and take action to mitigate them. The work of the Carbon Mapper Coalition will truly have a global impact, and we are proud to take part in ensuring mission success.”
Future Tanager imagery will be analyzed by expert scientists at Carbon Mapper to identify methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) “super-emitters” around the world. We expect to provide commercial hyperspectral data for a variety of use cases including emissions monitoring, biodiversity assessments, vegetation analysis, minerals mapping, and water contaminant assessments.
Tanager-1 during a recent successful solar array deployment test, conducted to ensure proper function in space.“I’m thrilled that Tanager has arrived at the launch site. This will provide hyperspectral data that will enable myriad applications from sustainability to security, and complement the data from existing Planet satellite fleets,” said Will Marshall, Co-Founder and CEO of Planet. “I am very proud to be a part of this unique public-private partnership with NASA JPL and Carbon Mapper.”
Our hyperspectral constellation is designed to provide imagery with continuous spectral information across the visible and shortwave infrared (VSWIR) regions. Tanager’s imaging spectrometer leverages JPL’s heritage in imaging spectrometer design and development through decades of similar airborne and spaceborne sensors like the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT). The Tanager-1 imaging spectrometer will be the most complex optical system ever launched by Planet, and its delivery to the launch site demonstrates a host of new capabilities, expertise, facilities, and testing acumen at Planet.
In recent months, the integrated Tanager-1 spacecraft successfully completed a rigorous series of on-the-ground tests designed to ensure that the integrated satellite can withstand the harsh environments that it will endure at launch and in orbit. Pelican-1, a technology demonstration that successfully launched late last year, shares the same smallsat bus platform with Tanager-1. Together, the successful on-the-ground and in-orbit tests have proven Planet’s agile aerospace approach as applied to the larger and more complicated spacecraft that utilize this next-generation smallsat bus.
Tanager-1 on the horizontal shaker table after successfully passing a series of vibration tests that ensure the spacecraft can withstand the intense acoustic environments of a rocket launch.“Shipping the first Tanager satellite is an enormous step in realizing the vision of our unique public-private partnership with Carbon Mapper and NASA JPL,” said Mark Keremedjiev, Tanager Mission Director at Planet. “This milestone in our program is a shared achievement across a wide range of contributors and I am exceptionally proud of the team that has brought us to this point. I am excited to see the data our system will produce on-orbit and look forward to tackling the host of challenges spaceborne hyperspectral remote sensing is suited to address.”
In addition to Tanager-1, we will be launching 35 SuperDoves that will contribute to our flagship daily, global monitoring mission. PlanetScope data is used by hundreds of customers in defense and intelligence, civil government, and commercial markets to take informed action, and better contextualize events they’re seeing on the ground today. Our daily scan and deep archive of data for every point on Earth is unique within the industry and provides customers with a continuous and complete view of their areas of interest. Further, the archive acts as a rich training ground for predictive machine-learning and advanced artificial-intelligence models, accelerating users’ ability to draw insights from the terabytes of data collected by Planet each day.
We are committed to delivering best-in-class data and services to our customers. The launch of Tanager-1 helps further the company’s mission of making change visible, accessible, and actionable.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations, the Company’s ability to successfully design, build, launch and deploy, operate and market new products and satellites and the Company’s ability to realize any of the potential benefits from product and satellite launches, either as designed, within the expected time frame, in a cost-effective manner, or at all. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the Company’s ability to obtain and maintain required licenses and approvals from regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a timely fashion, or at all; whether the Company will be able to successfully build, launch and deploy or operate its satellites, including new satellites either as designed, in a timely fashion or at all; the Company’s ability to develop and release product and service enhancements to respond to rapid technological change, or to develop new designs and technologies for its satellites, in a timely and cost-effective manner; whether the Company will be able to continue to invest in scaling its sales organization, expanding its software engineering (including its ability to integrate new satellite capabilities) and marketing capabilities; whether the Company will be able to accurately predict and capture market opportunity; whether current customers or prospective customers adopt the Company’s platform or new products; the Company’s ability realize any of the potential benefits from new products and satellites, as well as strategic partnerships and customer collaborations; and other risk factors and disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
Save time and resources with broad area management.
Time is a scarce resource in government. On top of the administrative work required to keep programs running, agencies need to monitor emerging issues, respond to unexpected events, and document decisions at every step of the way.
Making informed decisions often requires collecting, managing, and harmonizing vast amounts of data. Delays in issue discovery, analysis, resolution, and reporting can impact public health, natural resources, and regional economic growth.
We can’t increase the number of hours in every day, but we can help governments discover and respond to new issues faster. Powered by the world’s largest constellation of Earth imaging satellites, our unified data and analytics products bring governments the ability to rapidly characterize changes over vast areas and multiple time scales. We call this approach broad area management.
Governments Are Adopting Broad Area Management to Improve EfficiencyBy combining our analysis-ready Earth data with administrative datasets and public imagery, governments can see detailed changes across dispersed areas, prioritize issues, and accelerate decisions.
How do governments save time with Planet data?
- Automate change detection: Use automated road and building change detection to identify new development on a weekly basis.
- Pre-plan regular site inspections: Verify compliance and reduce total onsite time before regular inspections.
- Reduce manual processing and data analysis bottlenecks: Query, process, visualize, and analyze high volumes of Earth data and generate relevant statistics within seconds using Planet Insights Platform.
- Accelerate issue resolution: Use near-daily imagery to identify when changes occurred and reduce onsite investigation time.
- Keep internal and public-facing dashboards up to date: Deliver more accurate and timely information to diverse audiences.
As agencies implement more digital transformation initiatives, Planet can help accelerate processes and free up time for more complex tasks that require creativity, judgment, and problem-solving skills.
Spotlight: Brazilian Federal Police and SCCON GeospatialMany of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are also threatened by illegal deforestation, bushfires, mining, and drug trafficking. Nowhere is this more apparent than the Amazon region. The Brazilian Federal Police is responsible for preventing and addressing criminal activity across much of the territory. However, the region’s scale, terrain, and climate pose enormous enforcement challenges.
In the past, the Federal Police tried to monitor vast areas of the country using free satellite images. However, public imagery was usually unavailable for key areas of interest or obscured by clouds. Images without clouds often lacked the resolution to generate useful insights. Limited imagery caused delays. All of these challenges made the process of investigation and analysis more difficult and time-consuming.
Near-daily images from Planet have changed the game. A Planet partner, SCCON Geospatial, used Planet data to build a custom platform with change-detection alerts notifying authorities of changes in forest cover within days, allowing the Federal Police to prioritize interventions and accelerate investigations.
By combining Planet imagery with traditional fieldwork, the Federal Police have recovered over $1.8 billion USD in frozen assets, $27 million USD in fines and $11 million USD in seized goods.1 The SCCON platform is so effective that the Brazilian government has expanded access to over 270 institutions and over 26,000 users across the government through RedeMAIS (Brasil MAIS Program Network), an ecosystem for sharing data, information, and unique knowledge of the entire national territory. Read more in our case study.
SCCON Platform alerts — powered by Planet data — make it possible to identify changes generated by fire scars, planting of illegal crops, deforestation, degradation, illegal mining, and illegal airstrips.
Do More With Planet Insights PlatformWe’re making it easier for more government users to access Earth data with our unified experience, Planet Insights Platform. It’s a powerful set of APIs that bring governments the ability to look broader, look back, look closer, and look deeper.
Interested in learning more? Learn how Planet can help governments improve compliance and better manage subsidy payouts. Or, download our e-book, Driving Program and Policy Effectiveness With Planet.
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- For the most recent program data, please see https://plataforma-pf.sccon.com.br/#/reports.
Monitor change and verify eligibility with broad area management.
Governments need accurate and current data to track how well policies are working. But many data sources paint an incomplete picture — especially when policies impact vast land areas and irregular plots of land.
Free public satellite images often do not show changes in enough detail to be meaningful. High-resolution aerial data can be too expensive to scale. And harmonizing data from many sources into one efficient system can become the most challenging part of the process. All of these factors can make it difficult for policy makers to demonstrate success and secure ongoing subsidy payouts.
Broad area management empowers governments to manage subsidy payouts more efficiently and effectively. A broad area management approach entails monitoring, measuring, and reporting on changes to natural and human-made assets over vast areas and across multiple time scales.
For governments, this includes continually observing fields of all shapes and sizes — and flagging discrepancies faster.
Supporting Subsidy Payouts With Broad Area ManagementEarth observation (EO) data makes broad area management possible because it offers a unique vantage point across Earth’s landmass. And as EO data has become more available and affordable, greater numbers of governments are able to access and exploit it for analyzing Earth’s changing conditions.
Near-daily Earth data from Planet brings governments a wide range of opportunities to manage subsidy payouts by allowing them to:
- Flag discrepancies faster: Use automated change detection to identify irregularities, on an ongoing basis.
- Broader their reach: Use PlanetScope and Analysis Ready Data to access remote fields and parcels of all shapes and sizes.
- Enhance transparency: Use Area Monitoring to document compliance with subsidy criteria.
Spotlight: European National Paying Agencies
As part of Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), farmers who undertake certain “greening” practices may be eligible for income support through direct payments. Some CAP payments are area-based, requiring on-the-spot checks, which can pose an administrative burden on member countries.
When the European Union (EU) began allowing governments to use remote sensing to help verify eligibility for direct payments, the Slovenian National Paying Agency (ARSKTRP) launched a country-scale Area Monitoring System (AMS) to help streamline the process of determining subsidy payment eligibility.
However, they quickly discovered that Sentinel data was an incomplete solution. Nearly a quarter of the fields in Slovenia were too narrow for Sentinel-2 to produce reliable time-series data. Additionally, Sentinel-2 wasn’t detailed enough to monitor changes to permanent grasslands and orchards, nor frequent enough to verify when certain events like mowing occurred. It was impossible for ARSKTRP to monitor all declared parcels using Sentinel-2 data alone.
The data quality problem was not the only one. Harmonizing remote sensing, manual follow-ups, farmer declarations, and other data sources into this system is a process and cost burden to the paying agency. Inaccurate results could result in lower subsidy allocations for the next budgeting period.
Looking for another solution, the team turned to Planet Fusion, which produces a consistent, daily stream of accurate radiometric data showing changes in vegetative health. Today, ARSKTRP combines Sentinel-2 with Planet Fusion data to verify subsidy payments. They first use Sentinel data to evaluate if it is sufficient. When Sentinel-2 is inconclusive, they use Planet Fusion. Signals from Fusion enter machine learning (ML)-based models in Planet’s Area Monitoring solution to calculate markers such as mowing and harvest events, crop and land cover type and overall similarity to neighboring parcels of the same type.
Planet Fusion has reduced the number of inconclusive parcels from 246,000 to 66,000 and lowered the cost of follow-up activities by more than €1M. Reducing the need for farmers to submit additional proof of certain activities has also improved public sentiment. ARSKTRP found that Planet Fusion data serves as the best data offering to Sentinel-2 with its daily EU-wide coverage and increased spatial resolution at 3 m per pixel.
In addition, Planet Area Monitoring helped ARKSTRP to identify markers and validate information against compliance requirements, as well as detect compliant and noncompliant parcels and communicate results. The system decreased their operational costs, improved processes, and contributed to more transparency for stakeholders.
Planet Fusion shows detailed changes in the vegetative health of fields, helping the Slovenian National Paying Agency save time and money as they verify eligibility for direct payments to farmers.
Do More With Planet Insights PlatformAs a leader in the EO industry, Planet already helps agencies managing subsidy payouts see change in unprecedented detail. Now our data is becoming more accessible to them through Planet Insights Platform — a powerful set of APIs that bring governments the ability to look broader, look back, look closer, and look deeper.
By combining Planet’s analysis ready data and analytics tools with existing data inputs required by compliance policymakers, analysts can access targeted insights that help plan and distribute farmer subsidy payouts.
Interested in learning more? Learn how Planet can help governments improve compliance. Or, download our e-book, Driving Program and Policy Effectiveness with Planet.
Detect and respond to violations with broad area management.
Governments often lack the resources to frequently monitor changes over vast areas and remote terrain. Regular inspections are designed to promote compliance, but in many regions, labor shortages and funding cuts have reduced inspection frequency.
Delays in discovering noncompliant activities often come with a high price tag. When inspectors discover signs of noncompliant activity like illegal dumping and logging after the fact, multiple agencies are often pulled in to conduct investigations, clean up damage, and enforce sanctions.
In order to improve environmental compliance, governments need to see regional changes on a regular basis and rapidly detect and respond to potential violations.
At Planet, we call this approach broad area management. It refers to the practice of monitoring, measuring, and reporting on changes to natural and human-made assets over vast areas and across multiple time scales.
Benefits of Broad Area Management for ComplianceNear-daily Earth data from Planet brings governments a wide range of opportunities to support environmental monitoring efforts and improve compliance.
- Detect issues faster: Use automated road and building change detection to identify where development is taking place on a weekly basis.
- Cover more ground: Improve pre-planning, optimize routes, and accelerate onsite inspection processes.
- Allocate resources: Prioritize areas of concern and send field labor where it’s needed most.
- Reduce risk: Preview site before visiting, reduce onsite time, and improve safety for inspectors who visit higher-risk areas.
- Improve transparency and accountability: Document compliance and progress toward major initiatives.
Spotlight: New Mexico State Land OfficeIn 2019, the New Mexico State Land Office (NMSLO) reached out to Planet for a solution to help monitor 9 million surface acres of state trust land. Like many agencies tasked with permit compliance and code enforcement, they struggled to track economic activity over vast areas in a timely manner. They knew trespassing and other unpermitted activities were occurring, but they couldn’t pinpoint exactly when and where violations took place.
The Office didn’t have enough field personnel to regularly spot changes across every county, and the imagery they acquired from several different sources was often too outdated for analysis. Instead, they relied on a patchwork of tools that provided only part of the picture, limiting their preparation, planning, and enforcement capabilities to strategic points of interest.
Looking for a way to reduce information gaps and improve compliance, NMSLO turned to sensors in low Earth orbit. Planet was the only provider with the frequency, resolution, and coverage they needed to regularly monitor change over vast areas.
Within a year of utilizing Planet’s monitoring solution, NMSLO identified 53 trespasses and generated $2.7 million in back payments to be dispersed to public schools, hospitals, colleges, and other important institutions. They now use Planet’s automated change detection analytics to identify signs of recent infrastructure development, combining the best of human ingenuity with machine learning to maximize efficiency.
An example detection highlighting road development between May and July.
Do More With Planet Insights PlatformWe’re making it easier for more government users to access Earth data with our unified experience, Planet Insights Platform. It’s a powerful set of APIs that bring governments the ability to look broader, look back, look closer, and look deeper.
Interested in learning more? Download our e-book, Driving Program and Policy Effectiveness With Planet.
UMITRON breaks through blue carbon’s central role in mitigating climate risks and increasing global food security by mapping blue carbon to build sustainable aquacultures with the help of Planet satellite data.
If Earth contains more water than land, are we maximizing its potential to reduce carbon emissions? Enter blue carbon, nature’s way of removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in coastal ecosystems; a natural technology that has been around since time immemorial.
UMITRON, a next-generation deeptech company that develops and provides data platforms to aquafarmers, recognized blue carbon’s potential to advance a food-secure and safer blue planet. They install sustainable aquaculture using their combined expertise in machine learning, IoT, and satellite remote sensing to achieve their vision.
With the vast ocean areas and their restrictions on human activities, mapping blue carbon is not an easy feat. Collecting data is time-consuming, expensive, and labor-intensive. This gap in high-quality functional data affects the industry’s sustainable growth. Aquafarmers have accumulated data from daily operations but are constrained in applying them to actionable insights.
UMITRON’s suite of services focuses on every aspect of the industry’s value chain. This approach led them to focus initially on production-focused solutions such as REMORA and CELL. These solutions tackle vital farming operations like feeding while factoring in the adverse environmental effects of these activities. On a broader level, they have tools such as PULSE, a high-resolution ocean data map with near real-time satellite imagery and historical information on water quality conditions. PULSE utilizes our satellite remote sensing capabilities and UMITRON’s powerful algorithms. This unique combination enhances the aquafarmers’ capacity to monitor surrounding waters and better understand the environmental variability around their coastal farms.
Unlocking Sustainable Aquaculture for Global ImpactWhile working on a blue carbon estimation project, the UMITRON team needed to identify and monitor seagrass growth in an area measuring 100 km2. They started surveying using drones but the coverage and data collected were insufficient. Therefore, they attempted to create a seagrass map from our satellite data.
Creating an accurate seagrass map proved to be complex and challenging. The frequency of photography is crucial because of several factors like the presence or absence of clouds, the state of the ocean, and the timing of the tides. Apart from that, a high spatial resolution is important to identify and include eelgrass areas. They compared several other platforms before choosing the PlanetScope product because of the high-frequency imagery updates and the quality of satellite images.
With the combined deep data from PlanetScope and advanced AI, UMITRON efficiently rendered a seagrass map. Through this pilot project, the team developed a new method to efficiently locate and map blue carbon sinks in large coastal areas. Using the maps they created, UMITRON was able to successfully estimate the amount of blue carbon and support projects with aquafarmers and operators. As a bonus, the estimated content and maps have been used to uncover previously undiscovered seagrass. They have found that PlanetScope “speeds up the cycle for the creation of eelgrass maps, and hope it will accelerate efforts to increase blue carbon on Earth”.
Read more real-world insights on blue carbon mapping and sustainable aquaculture from UMITRON in “Unveiling Aquatic Mysteries: Charting Blue Carbon with Planet Data.”
Ready to create impact but not sure where to start? Connect with us so we can help find the right Planet product for you.
Berlin, Germany is the heart of Planet’s European operations. Our Berlin office has been established as a center of excellence for the company, acting as the hub for our critical operations, including our European space systems, engineering, product development teams, and Mission Operations.
With this in mind, we were proud to host our first Planet On The Road 2024 event this week, kicking-off the year in Berlin with a day full of in-person learning, networking, and inspirational speaking sessions. This event showcased the Planet Insights Platform and the work we do with our customers and partners to address the global challenges of Digitalization and AI, Sustainability and Regulation; and Peace and Security.
The day left us optimistic about the future, and we’ve compiled our top key takeaways from the big day in Berlin:
- Europe Acts as a Global Leader in Earth Observation
- The Planet Insights Platform is in Your Hands
- The Future of Our Planet is Powered by Data
1. Europe Acts as a Global Leader in Earth Observation
Our On The Road Berlin event began with Planet CEO and Co-founder Will Marshall’s keynote acknowledging the vast Planet ecosystem of customers and partners in the room and welcoming those who came to learn more about Planet’s products and services. In his opening remarks, he brought attention to the European EO industry.
“Europe is leading the way in innovation and investment in Earth observation,” said Will. “You have played a pivotal role in tackling key initiatives which have pushed us to innovate faster and be more efficient. And all for good reason.”
Will highlighted Europe’s policy objectives and investments that are working to transform the continent, including Copernicus and the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and he commended the innovative EO technologies and businesses being developed in Europe, noting Planet’s own investment and acquisitions of VanderSat and Sinergise in recent years.
Image of Planet CEO and Co-founder Will Marshall giving his keynote address at On The Road Berlin.Throughout the day, we heard from a number of European industry leaders that are leveraging solutions and Planet satellite data to support government initiatives. Planet’s own VP of Government Affairs, Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, took the stage to dive into the state of European policy and EO regulation in the space sector.
Posing a question to the group to highlight just how important EO data is in our lives today, Agnieszka asked, “What would happen to our economy, to our world, to our daily lives if we turned all the satellites off for 24 hours?” She expanded on how vital satellite data is in the modern world and in what ways it can serve as a critical tool to help address nearly all of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Image of Dr. Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, Planet VP of Government Affairs, speaking at On The Road Berlin.A powerful example of the nature of public-private collaboration in Europe came from the fireside chat with Professor Dr. Paul Becker, President of BKG, the central provider of geoinformation in Germany. BKG leverages Planet data to inform ministries in the German government, including the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Agriculture. Providing Planet insights across the entire government has enabled them to streamline workflows and reduce expenses.
“Our motto is: We provide orientation,” said Dr. Becker. “The acquisition of commercial satellite data for all organizations by one institution is a success story. We obtain the data for all federal institutions. This reduces costs for everyone involved. For the provider, the sales costs are lower and on the user side, the costs for data storage and advice can be kept lower.”
Image of fireside chat with Professor Dr. Paul Becker, President of BKG, and Will Marshall at On The Road Berlin.2. The Planet Insights Platform is in Your Hands
Following the official launch of our Planet Insights Platform in April, our team was eager to present the latest developments and demonstrations to a live audience in Berlin. “The Platform will empower you to be more efficient, cost-effective, and agile to stay ahead in today’s dynamic landscape. We’ve got an ambitious and exciting plan for the future, all geared around making Planet data easier to use and speeding time to value for you,” said Will in his keynote.
Following Will’s remarks, Thijs Van Leeuwen, Sr. Director of Product, showed how the Planet Insights Platform provides users with an all-in-one cloud based environment to accelerate their business. He highlighted that we have now integrated all of Planet’s product offerings, including our PlanetScope monitoring product and robust data Archive, SkySat tasking capabilities, Planetary Variables insights, and Basemaps into a user-friendly workspace, to empower our customers and partners to be more efficient and agile in order to remain competitive in today’s dynamic landscape.
“With these capabilities, you can analyze and act, at scale. You can spend less time manually searching through individual images from different vendors, and instead automatically detect when an anomaly has occurred in order to task a higher resolution view. You can begin to see how teams can become more productive and context-aware when they have the right data, the right tools in one place, and better ways to share what they learn with people who might not be experts in geospatial or remote sensing,” he said.
Image of Thijs Van Leeuwen, Planet Sr. Director of Product, opening the product keynote at On The Road Berlin.Our Director of Product, Customer Platform, Caroline Biermann, then walked our users through a powerful demonstration showing an example of how a user could gain insights about wildfires and disaster risk in Greece. “The Planet Insights Platform helps take remote sensing data and translate it into numbers, rather than just visuals. By looking at those values, we can understand what’s happening over time,” she said as she showed how users can now go deeper to gather layered geospatial insights regarding their topic of interest. She shared how existing APIs can support user workflows and how customers can also create and conduct all of their analyses with new scripts in one streamlined process.
Image of Caroline Biermann, Planet Director of Product, Customer Platform, providing a Planet Insights Platform demonstration at On The Road Berlin.Thijs wrapped their keynote with a call for feedback and suggestions. “It’s our goal to give the right core platform capabilities in your hands, so you can just focus on solving your core problems, representing your niche in your industry vertical. Our platform needs to grow organically, and the input of our customers and partners is key. We need those feedback loops to further improve the platform, we need to learn from you which next problems we need to solve,” he said.
3. The Future of Our Planet is Powered by Data
The most impactful stories we heard yesterday came from our customers and partners, who are all looking to bring innovation, sustainability, and security to this planet that we call home. We’re living in a thrilling time where big data, space technology, and AI are accelerating at rapid speeds. It’s a time for thoughtful opportunity, for deciding to innovate to make the world better.
And that’s what we were honored to hear from all of those who joined us this week. For example, in our fireside chat with Dr. Mojtaba Karami, Geospatial Capability Lead at BASF Digital Farming, we heard how their business has expanded their strategic partnership with Planet to build digital tools, like xarvio ®FIELD MANAGER, to help farmers, across Europe and the world, ensure crop production is more efficient, profitable, and sustainable. This type of work is scaling global operations across the entire agriculture industry – radically changing how we approach farming.
Image of fireside chat with Dr. Mojtaba Karami Geospatial Capability Lead at BASF Digital Farming at On The Road Berlin.Our data is powering unique tools that aim to protect nature and lives. In a breakout session, our partner EOMap shared how they are able to utilize Planet data to identify early warning signs for water quality issues, causing harmful algal blooms in rivers and disrupting water supplies. In another talk regarding the alpine regions of Italy, customers from Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta explained how they are using AI and machine learning alongside Planet data to manage natural disaster prevention, response, and recovery. Early in the day, Alexander Lee, Director, Activity-Based Intelligence at Hala Systems, Inc. took the stage to share how the intelligence industry is combining AI and satellite imagery from Planet to provide mission critical solutions for the the security and defense sector.
Image of Alexander Lee, Director, Activity-Based Intelligence at Hala Systems, Inc. speaking at On The Road Berlin.We believe that the future needs Planet data as it provides transparency at a global scale. We are adapting to new management structures around the world with novel finance mechanisms, such as carbon markets and corporate sustainability programs. At the end of our day, we heard how our partners, like ERM and BeZero are utilizing our newest products, such as the Forest Carbon Planetary Variable to start to bring real, tangible metrics to these evolving marketplaces. This optimistic future is becoming more feasible due to daily Earth data feeds and insights, and we are so deeply proud of our customers and partners that are taking bold steps into these emerging markets with Planet-powered tools.
Demonstration of Planet product capabilities at On the Road Berlin.Overall, we were inspired and energized by the whole day and we hope it was invigorating for all of those in attendance. Our Planet On The Road 2024 work has just begun. We’ll see more of you for the next On The Road in the Washington, DC Area, happening June 12th!
Planet On The Road Berlin was made possible by our partner sponsors – Google Cloud, EOMap, Swift Geospatial, and Earth-i.
Organizers and attendees at Planet On The Road Berlin.
Easily integrate Earth observation (EO) into your data science, application development, and GIS workflows with powerful Planet APIs — register for our webinar to learn more.
Agile EO is a monthly webinar series that keeps you in the know on Planet’s latest product releases and product roadmap updates. We share the latest developments on Planet Insights Platform, as we apply the same agile mindset to our software development as we do to aerospace and satellite development. Each month you’ll get the what, why, and how behind a recent product release in an informative, digestible 30-minutes or less session.
In our upcoming episode, we’ll look into the recently launched Planet Insights Platform. The platform includes capabilities from Sentinel Hub, now owned by Planet, which enable you to process, analyze, and stream EO data to generate useful insights. Here is a sneak peak into what we’ll cover:
- An overview of Planet Insights Platform and introduction to new APIs
- Details on how you can test out and get started with the platform
- A demonstration of the Planet and Sentinel Hub Python SDKs
Register now — even if you can’t make it to the live event, we’ll send you the recording afterward.
Now, let’s dive deeper into these topics.
New Capabilities on Planet Insights PlatformFirst, you’ll see an overview of Planet Insights Platform — the central place where daily Earth data, analytics, and powerful tools combine to create insights. Beyond just Planet data, you can access publicly available datasets as well as your own datasets stored in your cloud. You can efficiently manage and explore data on the platform — and integrate it into your existing workflows. Whether you need streaming OGC web services for a GIS, APIs to integrate into web applications, or cloud-processing to scale data science workflows, you can use Planet Insights Platform.
Getting Started With Planet Insights PlatformWe’ll also look at how you can get started with Planet Insights Platform. If you are already a Planet user, you have access to these new capabilities through your existing Planet account. Planet users have complimentary access to Sentinel Hub for six months with a limited number of Processing Units. Processing Units are a unit of measurement that represents usage of the platform. We’ll discuss how Processing Units relate to new platform capabilities.
Once you set up your trial, you can explore sandbox data for all of Planet’s data layers. Sandbox data is pre-loaded into Sentinel Hub so that you can immediately see how to use the platform. With sandbox data, you can test and experience a substantial amount of Planet data samples made available under a CC-BY-NC license to all active Planet and Sentinel Hub users with a paid subscription.If you’re not already a Planet customer, you can still join us for the webinar to see platform capabilities and powerful applications of our APIs. Or, you can get up to speed on our platform offerings or get in touch with our team to learn how Planet Insights Platform can empower you to take action and make change happen.
Catch a DemonstrationAnd when you are ready to use the platform yourself, you can order your Planet data and deliver it to Sentinel Hub. In this webinar, you’ll learn how to use these new capabilities with the Planet and Sentinel Hub Python SDKs. With the Python SDKs, you’ll see how Planet Insights Platform can fit into your workflows whether you’re building a data pipeline for EO data or doing analysis in Python.
In the demonstration, you will learn how to use Planet data with the Sentinel Hub APIs to:
- Search for data with the Catalog API
- Visualize imagery with the Process API
- Analyze imagery with the Statistics API
See You at the Webinar!Join us for 30 minutes at the next Agile EO webinar to learn about all of this and more! It’s on June 5, 2024 at 9:00 a.m ET / 15:00 CET and you can register here. If you can’t make it live, you can still register to receive the recording.
Interested in watching recent Agile EO webinar recordings? In our archive you can catch up on recent updates about new datasets like Field Boundaries or Forest Carbon Diligence, or new APIs like the Features API.
We are proud to announce the formation of the Nature Tech Alliance, a new initiative poised to help companies tackle urgent biodiversity challenges. Planet, ERM, Salesforce, and NatureMetrics are pioneering this global alliance to transform how global corporations measure and manage their impact.
The Nature Tech Alliance, formed at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos, aims to accelerate and scale the assessment, management, and disclosure of biodiversity impacts, and dependencies on nature to help drive a sustainable future for nature, people, and economies. The initiative will enable companies to develop a comprehensive understanding of the impact of their business on nature and prepare accordingly to report against new and impending nature regulations and frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
We, at Planet, are working with the other members to deliver insights for industries looking to make data-informed decisions. Through this alliance, our satellite data and analytics will be leveraged, alongside the tools and expertise of all members, to build an integrated toolkit for biodiversity assessment, aiding in value chain assessments, supplier engagement, and reporting and compliance requirements.
Our collaborators in the alliance each bring a unique set of knowledge and critical competencies to support this comprehensive biodiversity management and reporting offering. ERM provides the sustainability consulting and global delivery capabilities to help organizations to integrate biodiversity into their business strategies and operations. Salesforce offers its powerful technology, including Net Zero Cloud,and ecosystem reach, which is already supporting critical business technology processes for over 200,000 customers. Finally, NatureMetrics brings its unique eDNA technology and scalable, on-the-ground biodiversity measurement prowess.
Curious to hear about the future of biodiversity and from the thought leaders of this alliance?
Andrew Zolli, Chief Impact Officer at Planet:
“We are at a critical moment in history where we both need to start quantifying, monitoring, and valuing our biodiversity and actually have the technology and tools to do so – from satellite technology, artificial intelligence, and huge data infrastructures. What’s next is this. True collaboration where all of the tools and places of knowledge collaborate to make the change happen. We’re thrilled to be taking this next step in how we monitor and protect our world with such incredible organizations.”
Matt Haddon, Global Leader for Biodiversity, Water & Nature at ERM:
“ERM’s partner ecosystem is key to helping us to accelerate progress on sustainability for our clients. We have built successful collaborations with Salesforce, Planet and NatureMetrics, and we now have the opportunity to maximize our collective impact through the Nature Tech Alliance. This comes at a critical time as large corporates are grappling with the next two waves of the triple threat of climate change, nature loss and water scarcity as a matter of urgency. By combining our capabilities, we can help more organizations to develop a comprehensive understanding of their nature-based risks and dependencies, which will enable them to effectively integrate nature into their business strategies and operations at the pace and scale required.”
Tim Christophersen, VP, Climate Action at Salesforce:
“Action on climate and nature must go hand in hand. To accelerate a successful transition to a net-zero and nature-positive future, businesses must measure, manage and disclose their impact and reliance on nature. Salesforce launched its Nature-Positive Strategy and actively participated in the pilot phase of the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. We’re proud to form the Nature Tech Alliance and leverage Net Zero Cloud, Tableau, and our other technologies to help other companies make a positive impact.”
Dr. Kat Bruce, Founder of NatureMetrics:
“This is a milestone moment: a dream team collaborating to provide full-spectrum biodiversity measurement, management and disclosure for global corporations. We’re excited to build on existing relationships to deliver something that’s more than the sum of its parts. Collaborations between those that bring different parts of the puzzle is going to be critical for accelerating the implementation of solutions at scale and translating promising talk into real action on the ground.”
Original announcement can be found at Nature Metrics.
Learn how to bring Planet data into your GIS workflow through three simple integration pathways: desktop application plugins, API-first platform, or streaming web services.
Authors: Madeline Dahm and Matt Ballard
Planet data can be integrated into your geographic information system (GIS) of choice — be it ArcGIS, QGIS, or Google Earth Engine — to help you uncover new insights and perform rich analysis.
There are three simple integration pathways to bring Planet data into your GIS workflow:
- Desktop GIS Integrations: Search, access, and analyze Planet’s catalog of daily, global imagery directly from ArcGIS Pro or QGIS – just download the plugin.
- API-First Platform: Planet offers extensive APIs that allow you to build data pipelines and design custom integrations, whether it’s built on ArcGIS, open source software, Google Earth Engine, or cloud and web mapping platforms.
- Streaming Web Services: If you are working with GIS software and looking for the simplest way to access Planet imagery, consider streaming Planet data to any software that supports the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) WMS or WMTS standards.
This blog will help you decide which of these integration strategies is best for you and provide resources to help you get started.
Why Integrate Planet Data Into Your GIS Workflow?Planet is a leading provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions — with a mission to image the world daily, making change visible, accessible, and actionable. Founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists, Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest Earth observation fleet of imaging satellites. Today, Planet’s global daily Earth data, analytics, and powerful cloud-based tools are all accessible through Planet Insights Platform.
You may want to add Planet’s near-daily data and insights to your GIS workflow for a number of reasons, including:
- Mapping: You want to enrich your maps with more current satellite imagery than what’s available in off-the-shelf basemaps so that your imagery matches other GIS data more closely.
- Sharing: You have Planet imagery, and you want to make it available on your GIS platform so that the rest of your organization can access the imagery for their workflows.
- Analysis: You want to use your preferred remote sensing analysis tools (e.g. for machine learning or spectral analysis) available in your GIS software to generate insights from Planet data.
Note: If you want to focus only on integrating with ESRI ArcGIS software, you can also watch our on-demand webinar, Integrating Daily Imagery From Planet With ArcGIS.
1. GIS Desktop IntegrationsIf you use the ArcGIS or QGIS desktop applications, you can download a Planet plugin that enables you to discover, preview, stream, and download PlanetScope, Planet Basemaps, and SkySat imagery.
You can seamlessly integrate these datasets into your GIS workflows and leverage all your favorite analysis tools in QGIS or ArcGIS Pro to accomplish these tasks:
- Search for PlanetScope® and SkySat® imagery in Planet’s archive
- Place orders and download imagery to use with ArcGIS and QGIS analysis tools
- Stream and download Planet Basemaps
- Select coordinates to task SkySat and link to the Planet Tasking Dashboard
Check out this short demonstration that shows you how to access daily PlanetScope imagery, Basemaps, and order SkySat imagery in ArcGIS. If you are a Planet customer and want to get started, you can download the ArcGIS Plugin directly, or check out the developer resources page for the Planet Add-in for ArcGIS Pro to learn more about what you can do.
Similarly, the Planet QGIS Plugin provides access to Planet’s satellite imagery directly from QGIS. If you are a Planet customer, you can start right away by downloading the Planet QGIS Plugin or learn more on the developer resources page for the Planet QGIS plugin.
Sentinel Hub — now part of Planet Insights Platform — also offers a plugin for QGIS, and can be used together with the Planet plugins to enable imagery analysis and streaming in QGIS. Using the Sentinel Hub Plugin, you can bring satellite imagery — including Planet imagery — into your GIS for visualization purposes, including evaluating accuracy, detecting change, assessing land cover based on time series, and more with a Sentinel Hub account. If you are a Planet customer, you can get started now with 6 months of access to Sentinel Hub to try out these new capabilities.
Web Services-Based Integrations The desktop GIS plugins remain a great option for accessing Planet data, however, you may want to consider web GIS integration options, including our API-first and web services-based integrations for a number of reasons, including:
- Scalability: These are typically more scalable, especially when using cloud platforms (especially if you are working with very large datasets like PlanetScope).
- Shareability: These approaches make data more easily shareable through Web GIS tools.
- Speed: They offer the lowest-latency path to imagery – lowers the amount of time and steps between when the image is captured by the satellite to the user’s workflow.
2. API Delivery IntegrationPlanet Insights Platform is designed to be API-first so that developers can build workflows that scale and integrate with their choice of software. When your use case requires more advanced GIS capabilities, the Planet Insights Platform offers extensive APIs that allow you to build your own imagery pipeline into your ArcGIS environment or Google Earth Engine.
Hosting Planet imagery in your GIS application enables you to use advanced tools, store imagery in your cloud of choice, or utilize 3rd party imagery management tools, such as mosaic datasets and image services in ArcGIS.
Planet does this through delivery to your cloud storage destination; we support Google Cloud Storage, AWS, Azure, and more. In addition to cloud delivery, you can use our APIs to work with remote sensing analysis platforms, such as:
- Sentinel Hub: Part of Planet Insights Platform, Sentinel Hub is a scalable Earth observation platform that provides tools for advanced remote sensing analysis, customizable visualization, and simple OGC streaming.
- ArcGIS Image: You can deliver data to your cloud storage to be used with ArcGIS Image Server, or you can create custom data pipelines to ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online by downloading and uploading to ArcGIS Online to be used with ArcGIS Image for advanced imagery analysis. Here is a code sample that you can use to publish PlanetScope Imagery to ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online.
- Google Earth Engine: Directly deliver data to Google Cloud Storage to be used with Google Earth Engine. Learn more at the Google Earth Engine Delivery Integration page on our developer page.
When you choose to deliver data to your own cloud storage destination or off of Planet Insights Platform, there are a couple extra steps to make the imagery usable in your workflow. For example, you may need to configure GIS software to read images from cloud storage.
Or, if you choose to build your own imagery technology stack, you’ll need to:
- Implement event-driven processes to handle cloud deliveries and index the imagery in a catalog, such as STAC
- Manage tile server infrastructure for serving imagery that handles compositing and dynamic rendering server-side
- Build an analysis service for imagery processing to handle workflows like compositing, data fusion, and multi-temporal analysis
- Create security and authentication to manage access to imagery
However, you don’t have to build this yourself — Planet Insights Platform can manage all of this for you, and you can use easier APIs to immediately start to analyze, visualize, and stream satellite imagery when you choose to deliver data to Sentinel Hub. Once you order your data to be used on the platform, you can use it with APIs including the Catalog, Process, and Statistics APIs.
3. Streaming Web ServicesOur cloud-native web services integration is one of the most flexible pathways to integrate Planet data into your GIS workflow.
If you are working with GIS software and looking for the simplest way to access Planet imagery, leverage the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) API to stream WMS and WMTS services directly into your application of choice — be it any ArcGIS software, QGIS, Felt, or any other web mapping platform.
Planet Insights Platform provides ways to set up customized OGC services in a serverless environment that makes for a much simpler implementation — no need to download, rehost imagery, or use cloud storage — just stream imagery directly from the platform into your applications.
On the Planet Insights Platform, you’ll find all kinds of great tools, customizable rendering options to filter clouds, display spectral indices, false color composites, and more. You’ll find extensible and flexible APIs for developers to customize interaction with OGC services to filter through time, change visualizations, and view analysis outputs in GIS software. For example:
- ArcGIS: ArcGIS Online and Enterprise support working with WMTS and WMS services — simply add the URL to your imagery from Planet and you can have imagery in your maps in minutes. Check out this mini-demo to see what this looks like in action.
- QGIS: Sentinel Hub offers an integration for QGIS users. Sentinel Hub can create a remote sensing infrastructure where local analyses aren’t scalable. In the integration, you can:
- Access all of your configurations for customizable visualizations
- Dynamically generate OGC services for given date ranges to compare over time
- Share data and maps without embedding API keys
You can learn more about Planet Insights Platform capabilities on our website.
Getting Started With PlanetPlanet has flexible integration options for any workflow, be it through the desktop application plugins, the API-first platform, or our OGC streaming web services. Find the workflow that works best for you, and get started today.
- Download the Planet add-in for ArcGIS Pro
- Access the Planet Experience Builder Demo Widget
- Read our blog, Imagery Delivery in the Subscriptions API
Mapping trees from space is a technically challenging endeavor. It may seem straightforward at times — what’s so hard about counting all those round green things in satellite images? It may also seem like a solved problem, since the foundations of forest monitoring were established in the 1980s. But like the history of most technologies, the story of mapping forests from space is the story of uncovering layer after layer of complexity in the patterns we find.
Major technological breakthroughs are often paired with competing discoveries that challenge or invert the paradigms that lead to the initial breakthrough. The publication of the Global Forest Change dataset revolutionized forest monitoring at the time, revealing 2.3 million km2 of tree cover loss over the first decade of the 21st century using high resolution imagery. But that wasn’t the whole picture. A couple of years later, researchers from the same team zoomed out, analyzing trends over three decades, finding that global tree cover has actually increased globally by 2.24 million km2 since 1982 (+7.1% relative to baseline). Each new advance in this domain is bound to include some additional caveat, some amount of uncertainty, and us scientists are constantly refining our methods to improve signal quality and reduce noise when measuring how the world’s forests are changing.
Today we want to share more about the technological advances we’ve made at Planet in building the Forest Carbon Diligence products, as well as the caveats and uncertainties that accompany these products. The suite of Diligence products includes a 10-year historical time series with estimates for aboveground carbon density, canopy height, and canopy cover provided globally at 30 meter nominal resolution. You can think of Diligence as a multi-year, GEDI-like forest carbon data product with wall-to-wall spatial coverage. It is worth distinguishing Diligence, an historical archive product built using public satellite data sources, from our Forest Carbon Monitoring product. Monitoring is built on PlanetScope, provides quarterly updates, and is coming soon. The Diligence product established a baseline of quality upon which we are building the Monitoring products, and we’ll discuss this baseline below.
Planet recently released the Diligence Validation and Intercomparison Report, which includes comparisons with 8 independent forest biomass datasets around the globe, including NASA and ESA data, national forest inventories, field plots, and airborne LiDAR. It’s the companion to the Diligence Technical Specification, which describes our model training methods and training data performance. These numbers reflect model performance using Version 1.1 of the Diligence data, which was just released. There’s a lot of material in these documents, so we’re breaking down what we believe are the most important things you might want to know.
We’ll address the following questions in this post:
- What’s in the report?
- What are the key takeaways?
- How were the models trained?
- What are some of the biggest current challenges?
- How does Diligence compare to other emerging commercial products?
- What’s next for the Forest Ecosystems team?
Let’s get started.
Aboveground carbon density in the Amazon Basin, one of the most carbon-dense regions of the world, whose network of rivers and terraces evoke comparisons to the circulatory system of the earth.What’s in the report?The report details intercomparisons with an array of independent biomass datasets. The analyses were designed to be reproducible by others, benchmarked with high quality reference data.
Why is the focus on intercomparison instead of validation? Because validation exercises assume that one source of data is an error-free measurement. Nearly all sources of biomass data are modeled estimates, not measurements, and all models include uncertainty. Even field plots use models to convert straightforward measurements like tree height and stem diameter into estimates of total biomass (which many field ecologists prefer over the direct measurement, which includes figuring out how to weigh each tree on a scale). Aggregating biomass estimates over large areas — in national forest inventories, for example — introduces additional sources of uncertainty.
Uncertainty is an inherent part of biomass modeling, and we embrace that. Since no one measurement method provides an error-free source of truth, we believe the best way to understand the quality of a biomass data product is to compare it to as many different types of data as possible, providing multiple views into where our data performs well, and where it faces challenges.
We modeled this intercomparison after a series of studies evaluating the quality of other global satellite biomass maps (Hunka et al. 2023, Armston et al. 2023, Dubayah et al. 2022). These authors designed their analyses so that satellite data producers can convey a comparable, reliable, and consistent message on global biomass estimation methods to create actionable policy impacts. Our team is aligned with this approach, and this report provides readers with direct comparisons to the analyses performed by these scientists.
Pairs plot comparing mean AGB at the ecoregion level between Diligence, GEDI L4B, and ESA CCI. Plots along the diagonal show marginal distributions of AGB, and plots below the diagonal show ecoregions as points with Pearson correlations and dashed 1:1 lines. Each point represents one ecoregion.What are the key takeaways?* Model performance increases with spatial and temporal aggregation. Comparisons at the jurisdictional-scale and offset project-scale performed the best, which are the primary intended use cases. * Performance is lower in pixel-level comparisons at US-NEON field plots, finding a bias towards low predictions in the most carbon-dense forests. * Diligence shows strong agreement with global datasets, including NASA-GEDI, ESA-CCI Biomass, and UN-FAO country-level statistics. * We find strong agreement with field- and project-based carbon estimates that aggregate over multiple pixels, like US forest inventory and project-level carbon offsets data. * Model performance is not geographically uniform. Users are discouraged from interpreting performance numbers as indications of the expected accuracy for every pixel, and encouraged to interpret performance metrics as the expected accuracy of the global dataset.
How were the models trained?Global maps of Forest Carbon Diligence data (left) and training data performance numbers for each metric (right). We report strong performance across all metrics relative to the data we trained the models on, but comparisons to independent datasets provide a better estimate of generalization in model skill.Diligence models were trained using several machine learning approaches.
We modeled canopy height and canopy cover first using a deep learning model, a custom U-Net designed for multi-sensor fusion, integrating satellite multispectral and SAR measurements. Because we build custom network architectures that span beyond the spectral depth of popular open-source pretrained networks, our models require lots of data to effectively learn the complex feature representations of global EO data. To feed this need, we processed a huge archive of permissively licensed airborne LiDAR data from around the world, working to ensure data representation along key global ecological gradients: latitude, elevation, biome, and land use intensity. This archive of training data is not totally unbiased, but we show our expected biases in the Diligence Tech Specs (figure 3), and are continuing to process new data over time, which will lead to future product improvements.
Boosted regression trees were used to model aboveground carbon density, but not directly from satellite multispectral and SAR observations. Let me clarify. The target response variable — footprint-level biomass data from the NASA GEDI mission — is indeed a satellite measurement. But we modeled biomass as a function of canopy height, canopy cover, elevation, and geographic location. This aligns our approach with traditional methods of carbon estimation, built on fundamental ecological theory, predicting that biomass varies directly in response to variation in forest structure. This approach allows the relationships between structure and biomass to vary with space and topography, which we estimate empirically based on the near-global footprint of GEDI measurements.
I refer to this approach as biomimicry: selecting, designing, and training machine learning models to approximate mechanistic ecological models. Our deep learning approach leans heavily on lessons from radiative transfer modeling, learning the multi-scale spatial relationships between spectral reflectance, backscatter coefficients, and forest structure. The regression tree model can learn to approximate allometric relationships in a way that is sensitive to multiple components of forest structure. This is easier to interpret, more mechanistically-driven, and more generalized than a model that estimates biomass from reflectance data.
Ten-year time series of aboveground carbon density over Amazonas, Brazil showing trends in forest loss in response to agricultural expansion. Year-to-year variation in undisturbed landscapes is also observed, an example of the temporal variance discussed in the section above.What are some of the biggest current challenges?Building global remote sensing products spanning a decade of data is tough. The team had to make a lot of design decisions that all involved tradeoffs in quality, cost, and complexity. We made choices to build the best product possible, but it is not perfect. Let’s talk about some of these challenges, and how we advise users to address them.
Removing clouds and haze from multispectral imagery is a perpetual challenge. We built an aggressive cloud masking algorithm for clear sky observations. This included a pixel selection algorithm that prioritized high quality observations and down ranked observations close to cloud edges. As a result, users can see circular buffers in areas where pixels were backfilled with lower quality observations. To mitigate this effect, we provide a pixel quality score dataset, as well as a day-of-year asset, which can be used to filter and remove low quality observations, or observations from distant points of the year.
Ranking pixel quality over many years means that some years will have higher quality predictions than others, meaning model predictions exhibit some amount of year-over-year variation. This variation was more pronounced on the initial Diligence product release, but these were mitigated to a large degree by the v1.1 release. We’ve found that the year-over-year variability is often within the model’s upper and lower prediction intervals, which are provided as an additional data layer. Users are advised to leverage the QA and uncertainty layers when interpreting these data, filtering observations by quality, and sampling statistically.
As a know-it-all grad student I used to grouse about global data products that looked right everywhere but weren’t right anywhere. In practice it is very difficult to build a global product with uniform quality, owing to the complex interplay between spatial and temporal biases, measurement variance, and parameter optimization approaches. We have approached this practical problem with practical guidance, providing detailed analyses of where prediction performance is lowest. This includes mapping prediction uncertainty at global scales, showing high uncertainty in the Asian Paleotropics, for example. We also share prediction uncertainty at local scales, showing model skill is lower when comparing field plot performance site-by-site as opposed to comparing all sites together.
As a result, users are discouraged from interpreting performance numbers as indications of the expected accuracy for each pixel, and encouraged to interpret performance metrics as the expected accuracy of the global dataset. One way that users can mitigate these risks is to fit their own biomass models using the Diligence canopy height and canopy cover layers, providing local precision that the global model may not capture.
Finally, the value of transparency goes two ways. These analyses have elucidated clear opportunities for future product improvements, and our team is committed to continuously updating this product with new scientific advancements and in response to user needs.
Canopy cover patterns across Europe reflect the complex geography of the region and are shaped — as all forests are — by interactions between climate, topography, people, and evolutionary history.How does Diligence compare to other emerging commercial products?It’s hard for us to say without bias. We’ve worked hard to build the best product available — innovating on the frontiers of earth observations, artificial intelligence, and forest carbon science — and we share this report to let users evaluate whether we hit the mark. As mentioned before, we designed our analyses to align with the global effort among satellite data producers to convey a comparable, reliable and consistent message on global biomass estimation methods in order to create actionable policy and market impacts.
This approach to open reporting is fundamentally important for establishing operational forest carbon MRV standards (monitoring, reporting, and verification). The release of an in-depth validation and intercomparison report should signal to users that the Forest Carbon Diligence product was designed to support this approach, and that we believe it is highly competitive with other products.
It is worth articulating that Diligence is designed and built as a product, which will change over time. The results in the Validation and Intercomparison report represent the quality of the product with this release, which we view as a baseline for future improvement. Our team will continue to innovate at the intersection of earth observations and forest carbon science to address the needs of our users.
Canopy height patterns spanning the Paleotropical forests of the Congo Basin, one of the cloudiest regions in the world, and home to a stunning array of mammal biodiversity.What’s next for the Forest Ecosystems team?We’ll keep mapping forests in finer and finer detail, with more and more precision. The team is working now to build the Forest Carbon Monitoring product — which integrates data from Planet’s unique constellation of monitoring satellites — to produce regularly-updated, high resolution maps of forest carbon and forest structure.
Planet recently announced the Planet Insights Platform, which combines our analysis-ready data with cloud-based tools to allow users to efficiently analyze, stream, and distribute data at scale. Users can build workflows that solve important domain-specific problems, reducing the need to build complex analysis downstream from our data.
We see a ton of upside to integration with other Planetary Variables like Land Surface Temperature and Soil Moisture, which can help characterize drought stress and forest health. Integrations with Planet Monitoring data can provide additional visual and analytical data, providing users with additional contextual information.
Each of these advances should provide more high quality insights into how forests around the world are changing, equipping users with the insights they need to make informed decisions.
But in the short term? I think a stroll in the woods sounds pretty nice.
What’s the meaning of life? Why are we here? We have no idea, to be honest, but we have a firm suspicion that the answers to these questions have to do with our one and only home: Earth. Planeteers star-gaze a lot (you have to when your satellite office is in orbit), and we believe in using space to help life on Earth. But we also believe something else: the deeper you look into the depths of space, the more you appreciate just how special our bright blue marble really is.
The planet is in peril. We spend 51 weeks of the year discussing this fact in detail and sharing the ways we support initiatives combating environmental degradation. To balance this doom and gloom we also share beautiful scenes like spring blooms. The sad fact is it’s not easy. We often see more destruction than restoration. Part of that has to do with time: a forest burns faster than it grows for example. But most of it has to do with the reality that our destructive practices continue largely unabated. Our mission, in part, is to help reverse that trend.
We don’t just share beautiful images of the Earth because, well, Earth is photogenic. We share them because we believe in the overview effect: a transcendent cognitive shift that occurs when viewing the Earth from above, notably experienced by astronauts. A bit of distance helps us realize that we’re all connected and inspires feelings of awe—another life-changing emotion sparked by phenomena like the eclipse or a murmuration of starlings. Together, we believe that awe-inspiring images from space can induce greater feelings of compassion and admiration for the diversity of life around us. And, if you ask us, caring for the planet seems like a likely answer to the meaning of life.
PlanetScope • Alaska, USA • October 7, 2022PlanetScope • Sand dunes, The Bahamas • February 28, 2024SkySat • Salt pan and dunes, Sossusvlei, Namibia • May 15, 2022SkySat • Mountains and ice, Greenland • March 23, 2023 SkySat • White sand dunes and lagoons, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil • April 9, 2024SkySat • Antarctica • March 12, 2019 PlanetScope • Amazon River, State of Pará, Brazil • July 22, 2023PlanetScope • Kimbolton, Australia • June 8, 2023SkySat • Salar de Maricunga, Chile • May 12, 2023SkySat • Tulip fields, Hillegom, The Netherlands • April 10, 2024
Look deeply into a place, event, or object in a way that characterizes its physical attributes over time — which are sometimes invisible to the naked eye.
Earth observation (EO) data has revolutionized how governments, companies, and organizations understand the climate patterns, human activity, economies, and natural resources that matter most.
This includes the ability to look deeply into a place, event, or object in a way that characterizes its physical attributes over time, which are sometimes invisible to the naked eye.
In previous posts we’ve explored how EO imagery allows us to look back, more broadly, and more closely at our planet’s complex systems. Now let’s focus on how satellite imagery can also allow us to look deeper, through the analysis of multi-spectral bands.
EO Data and Broad Area ManagementEO data is central to broad area management, which is the practice of monitoring, measuring, and reporting on assets, whether natural or man-made, across broad geographies and timescales.
But EO data is almost always more than meets the eye. Most optical satellites image in multiple spectral bands — they’re capable of not just “true color” imagery, or imagery that looks like what a human eye would see — but probe various segments of the electromagnetic spectrum.
This approach means that satellite data contains hidden layers of information, enabling analysis of myriad processes and developments — from land cover identification and vegetation health to classifying sediments in lakes and rivers and detecting algal bloom.
Flooded areas, indicated in light blue, are easier to identify in a false color composite using data from the near-infrared, red, and green bands (right image) than in true color imagery (left image). Both of these images were collected by the same satellite on May 4, 2023, near Conselice, Italy.
And when this capability is applied to broad area management, we’re able to understand physical attributes across the Earth in a much more sophisticated way. Through multispectral analysis across space and time, we’re able to look deeper and convert raw observations into quantifiable metrics.
From Imagery to Measurements: Planetary VariablesPlanetary Variables data reveals biophysical properties, measured over time from a range of satellite data missions. This data is powerful because it measures phenomena — Soil Water Content, Land Surface Temperature, Crop Biomass, and Forest Carbon — translating raw observations into quantifiable metrics.
Multiple public satellite missions scan the globe from across the electromagnetic spectrum, with techniques ranging from optical, radar, passive microwave, and lidar sensors, revealing different aspects about the physical properties of earth. The Planet team has developed advanced algorithms that process satellite data from Planet and from public constellations to produce information that is usable without the need for extensive data cleaning and processing.
Above ground forest carbon near the Tapajós River in Brazil.
By fusing these distinct sources together, Planetary Variables data unlocks information about key characteristics about the Earth. These datasets offer concrete data points for evaluating ecosystem services, assessing agricultural productivity, and monitoring climate change impacts, bridging the gap between satellite observations and practical applications.
Planetary Variables in PracticeLet’s look at the ability to look deeper, in practice. For a government water agency monitoring agricultural areas, for example, this ability becomes a pivotal tool — especially when assessing water demand, water availability, or soil moisture conditions amidst the challenges of droughts or floods.
Rather than relying solely on in-situ sensors or conducting time-consuming on-site visits, the agency can evolve to have a more efficient and comprehensive monitoring approach. Harnessing remote sensing that draws on microwaves, Planet produces a reliable measurement of the amount of water in the soil with its Soil Water Content data layer.
Measurements of soil water content near Ahlen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Soil Water Content allows organizations to monitor complex water systems by providing insights in water demand and storage capacity. Planet processes data from satellite sensors that measure passive microwave radiation, delivering near-daily measurements.
With two decades of measurements in the archive, water resource managers can understand what’s normal and what’s not, tracking droughts, measuring soil saturation, and assessing the effects of interventions with tangible, meaningful data points. The agency not only keeps abreast of current conditions, but also gains the ability to predict and prepare for future water needs, safeguarding both ecosystems and agriculture.
These datasets offer concrete data points for evaluating ecosystem services, assessing agricultural productivity, and monitoring climate change impacts, bridging the gap between satellite observations and practical applications..
Looking Deeper With PlanetAs we confront the escalating challenges of a changing world, the role of advanced EO technologies becomes increasingly critical. The impact oflooking deeper with Planet’s technology is profound — spanning multiple sectors and disciplines — and is one of the core superpowers behind broad area management.
Interested in learning how deeper insights can enhance your understanding of activities across the Earth’s surface? Watch our on-demand webinar that showcases how Planet can help your team achieve broad area management, at scale.
Look at a place, event, or object in much closer detail than previously captured.
Earth observation (EO) satellites have revolutionized our understanding of our planet, providing invaluable data for various applications. Satellite data allows organizations to see and monitor change across broad geographies and timescales — and take informed action.
However, sometimes the devil is in the details; and in these cases a more precise view is needed. High-resolution satellite imagery captures images with incredible clarity, revealing features as small as a tree. Let’s take a look at how this data allows organizations across private and public sectors to look closer at the areas that matter most.
EO Data and Broad Area ManagementEO data is central to broad area management, which is the practice of monitoring, measuring, and reporting on assets, whether natural or man-made, across broad geographies and timescales.
And when broad area monitoring is combined with high-resolution tasking, organizations are able to have a comprehensive and detailed view — allowing them to see and understand the unknowns.
Planet provides solutions that support both — PlanetScope® Monitoring offers a continuous, daily view of the world; and Planet SkySat® Tasking captures images with exceptionally high resolution. Together, they create an invaluable view of activity across the Earth.
This pair of PlanetScope images, from August 17 and 26, 2023, captures wildfire damage (dark purple-black areas) across the Alexandroúpolis region in Greece. The white box indicates the town of Pefka, featured in the next set of images.
The Power of High-Resolution TaskingAt 50 cm resolution, SkySat Tasking provides organizations with near real-time intelligence to proactively identify blind spots, anticipate events, and have confidence in the next mission-critical decision.
- Precision and detail: High-resolution satellite imagery offers unparalleled detail, allowing users to zoom in and analyze objects as small as vehicles or individual trees. This level of precision is important for applications that require fine-grained insights, such as infrastructure planning or archaeological surveys.
- Timeliness and responsiveness: With the ability to task satellites on-demand and rapidly capture high-resolution images, users gain access to near real-time information when they need it most. This agility is particularly critical in emergency response scenarios, where every minute counts in decision-making and resource allocation.
- Comprehensive coverage: By complementing high-resolution SkySat imagery with rapid-revisit PlanetScope data, operators can provide comprehensive coverage of vast areas while still capturing important details. This hybrid approach ensures that users have access to both the big picture and the finer details they need to make informed decisions.
A comparison of PlanetScope and SkySat images of Alexandroúpolis, Greece illustrates the value of looking closer, in a higher resolution.
High-Resolution Tasking in PracticeBy harnessing satellite imagery and advanced analytics, authorities have the ability to monitor and detect illegal activities such as deforestation, illegal mining, and wildlife trafficking. With global, high-frequency data, authorities are able to constantly monitor and identify suspicious behavior in remote areas, leading to more effective enforcement efforts.
Once the suspected activity is detected, high-resolution images can be easily tasked and received within hours, empowering policy makers and conservation organizations to see with more detail, make more informed decisions and take proactive measures to protect natural resources.
This tasking dashboard displays the area of interest (AOI) focused on Alexandroupolis, Greece.
This process of constant monitoring with always-on Earth observation data paired with on-demand high-resolution tasked imagery is called “tip and cue,” and it can be a powerful tool for organizations across industries.
- Urban planning and infrastructure development. High-resolution SkySat imagery provides urban planners and developers with a bird’s eye view of cities and infrastructure projects. From assessing land use patterns to monitoring construction progress, these images offer invaluable insights for decision-making and efficient resource allocation.
- Agriculture and land management. In the agricultural sector, precise and up-to-date information is crucial for optimizing crop yields and managing resources effectively. High-resolution SkySat imagery enables farmers to monitor crop health, identify areas of pest infestation or irrigation issues, and make data-driven decisions to maximize productivity.
- Environmental monitoring and conservation. For environmentalists and conservationists, high-resolution SkySatimagery is a powerful tool for monitoring changes in ecosystems, tracking deforestation, and assessing the impact of human activity on natural habitats. This data is instrumental in designing conservation strategies and advocating for sustainable practices.
- Disaster management and emergency response. During natural disasters such as floods, wildfires, or earthquakes, timely and accurate information can save lives and mitigate damage. High-resolution SkySatimagery provides emergency responders and relief organizations with real-time updates on the extent of damage, helping coordinate rescue efforts and allocate resources effectively.
- Defense and intelligence. In the realm of defense and intelligence, high-resolution SkySat imagery plays a critical role in national security and strategic planning. From monitoring adversary activities to assessing the readiness of military installations, these images provide decision-makers with actionable intelligence to safeguard national interests.
Looking Closer With PlanetHigh-resolution SkySat satellite imagery provides the unprecedented ability to look closer at any area of interest. This is one of the core superpowers behind broad area management.
Interested in learning how looking closer can empower your organization to make better decisions? Watch our on-demand webinar that showcases how Planet can help your team achieve broad area management — and ultimately create a safer and more secure future.
In November 2023, Planet launched Pelican-1, the first technology demonstration small satellite of our next-generation, high-resolution Pelican constellation that is expected to be deployed over the next few years. The primary mission of Pelican-1 is to validate the hardware and software aspects of Planet’s small satellite bus platform, which we call the Smallsat Platform. This platform is common between our Pelican and Tanager constellations, and is designed, manufactured, integrated, and tested entirely in-house at Planet HQ.
The Smallsat Platform is only the tip of the pyramid. It consists not only of the satellite bus, but also Planet’s global network of ground stations, mission control, and autonomous mission operations. This vertically integrated infrastructure represents Planet’s decade-long investment in multi-mission operations and lean, just-in-time manufacturing and testing.
Pelican-1 was launched to orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in November 2023. Credit: Planet, SpaceXPelican is a very high-resolution and high-agility optical imaging satellite, designed to supplement and improve upon Planet’s existing SkySat constellation as it comes online in the coming years. The Tanager constellation will carry a hyperspectral instrument equipped with around 400 spectral bands, delivering hyperspectral data at 30 meter resolution that will help customers reveal social, environmental, and climate risks in unprecedented detail.
Pelican and Tanager renderings The Smallsat Platform combines best-in-class performance aspects of both our flagship Dove satellites and advanced SkySat constellation. It is modular, flexible, and extensible, and is compatible with multiple launch providers. Further, the Smallsat Platform capabilities include: a 600W power system, a high agility platform that can hold arc-second pointing accuracy and stability, multiple space qualified processors including state-of-the-art FPGAs, GPUs and multiple terabytes (TBs) of onboard storage capacity, low and high speed comms busses (CAN, Ethernet, SpaceFiber, PCIe), TT&C radio, high speed uplink and downlink radios, and advanced features such as real time intersatellite-link connectivity, forward looking wide-field-of-view secondary cameras, and an onboard edge compute platform. This platform is interoperable with the entire Planet infrastructure from order management to ground operations to our imagery pipeline and analytics.
A Planet ground station installationWith a planned peak downlink rate of 10Gbps, each satellite is expected to be able to downlink 1-2TB per day via a flexible global ground network. This data will be backhauled from our globally distributed ground stations to our cloud platform for image processing, insight extraction, and dissemination to customers. Three sites are already operational and actively supporting Pelican-1 and Eight Ka-band ground sites are planned with phased deployments through 2025 to support Planet’s upcoming missions. Ground stations location will be optimized to meet coverage and latency goals for our customers in a cost-efficient manner.
Check out the Key Specifications of the Smallsat Platform here.
Vertical Integration
Planet has over a decade of vertically integrating and delivering best-in-class manufacturing and mission automation. Planet’s manufacturing lab spans over 35,000 square feet, which includes state-of-the-art environmental testing labs, cleanroom facilities ranging from ISO 7 to ISO 8, and a research and development (R&D) facility. With fully integrated space qualification labs, our current factory can manufacture up to 24 small satellites per year, like Pelican, in addition to 80 cubesats, like our SuperDoves. Lean, just-in-time manufacturing and test automation means that all of our processes, designs, and supply chain are built for scalable and agile engineering. We are currently testing the next generation of fully automated satellite operations via our world class mission control and ground station network.
Check out the Key Specifications of our state-of-the-art manufacturing lab here.
The interoperability and adaptability of the Smallsat Platform brings faster evolution to each mission, improving resilience and reliability in our mission architecture and enabling us to support new instruments that deliver new capabilities to the market. To learn more, visit our website.
Deliver Planet data layers on Planet Insights Platform so you can leverage scalable and customizable imagery analysis tools.
A subscription is one way that Planet delivers data for you to use in your workflows. You specify an area of interest, a time of interest, and a data resource; in turn Planet will deliver all the data that matches your criteria. You can subscribe to receive historical data from the archive — or to receive imagery for ongoing monitoring as it is captured. You can use the Planet Subscriptions API to subscribe to Planet data layers including PlanetScope, SkySat, and Planetary Variables.
To make use of subscriptions in tandem with the full suite of imagery and statistical analysis tools on Planet Insights Platform, we have released a new capability that allows you to create subscriptions that deliver Planet data into imagery collections on the Planet Insights Platform.
To deliver Planet data to a collection on the Planet Insights Platform, you simply need to add a hosting block in your Subscriptions API payload that specifies “Sentinel Hub” as the destination for delivery. If you are currently using the Subscriptions API to deliver to your cloud storage, you will need to remove the cloud delivery block from your payload.
```
Planet Python SDKimport planetfrom planet.clients.subscriptions import SubscriptionsClientauth = planet.Auth.from_key(os.getenv("PL_API_KEY"))geometry = { "type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [ [ [2.31, 47.10], [2.31, 47.13], [2.35, 47.13], [2.35, 47.10], [2.31, 47.10] ] ]}payload = planet.subscription_request.build_request( name="Name of Subscription", source=planet.subscription_request.catalog_source( start_time=datetime(2023, 1, 1, tzinfo=timezone.utc), end_time=datetime(2024, 4, 30, tzinfo=timezone.utc), item_types=["PSScene"], asset_types=["ortho_analytic_8b_sr", "ortho_analytic_8b_xml", "ortho_udm2"], geometry=geometry, ), hosting=planet.subscription_request.sentinel_hub(), #Use for existing collection: #hosting=planet.subscription_request.sentinel_hub(collection_id="collection_id"), )async with planet.Session(auth=auth) as sess: cl = SubscriptionsClient(sess) subscription = await cl.create_subscription(payload)
``` When you do this for the first time, a Sentinel Hub collection will be created for you. If you have an existing Sentinel Hub collection, you can select it as the destination instead. Check out the Planet Developer Center for all the specifics on how to use Sentinel Hub delivery in the Subscriptions API.
Note: Planet also offers the Orders API for discrete imagery orders as opposed to the continuous delivery that the Subscriptions API offers. The Orders API does not support direct delivery to Sentinel Hub today. If you need to use the Orders API with Sentinel Hub, please use the Third Party Data Import API ordering workflow.**
Why Deliver Planet Data to Sentinel Hub?If you are new to using Sentinel Hub, but are familiar with using the Planet Subscriptions API — here’s a quick overview of some of the reasons why you should deliver Planet data to Sentinel Hub.
Cloud Imagery ManagementSentinel Hub is a cloud-based and API-first platform for analyzing Earth observation data at scale. After delivering data to Sentinel Hub, you can use the platform to immediately start analyzing Planet data. You don’t need to worry about building cloud infrastructure for data storage, ingestion, cataloging, analysis, or streaming.
Once data is ingested into Sentinel Hub it’s first indexed and cataloged in a STAC-compliant Catalog API that you can use to search for data spatially and temporally.
Imagery ProcessingOnce data you order is delivered to the platform, you can start to analyze it immediately. You can write scripts that can be used to filter data, mosaic images, perform band arithmetic, and more. You have full access to a JavaScript code editor where you can customize the output of your analysis. You can find inspiration for types of analysis that are possible from our custom scripts webpage.
Burned area from a wildfire in Greece delineated using a custom script in EO Browser.Statistical AnalysisPlanetScope provides daily imagery, making it useful for monitoring change over time. One way to do that is through spectral indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). But you can also access all eight spectral bands of PlanetScope, and the Usable Data Mask, to calculate any spectral index.
With a spectral index calculated, you can process it to generate a map — or you can request summary statistics over a smaller area of interest, like an agriculture field, to get the average of your index. If you want to learn more about agriculture indices with Sentinel Hub and PlanetScope, check out this webinar about updates in Sentinel Hub. Or if you prefer to learn by doing, you can use this code sample to see how to generate a chart like the one below.
Planetary Variables are another type of Planet data that you can subscribe to in Sentinel Hub. These are data layers for Land Surface Temperature, Soil Water Content, Crop Biomass, and Forest Carbon. Each of these provide a deep archive going back several years with high-temporal resolution (except Forest Carbon which is an annual dataset).
In order to make sense of these broad datasets with large time stacks, you can use the Statistical API to summarize the data. For example, you could use these datasets to monitor deforestation over time in a rainforest, track the impacts of drought due to climate change, quantify the effects of regreening efforts on temperature, or measure crop productivity.
Below is an example of statistical analysis with Land Surface Temperature data to look at climate anomalies. The land surface temperature of 2023 is compared to the prior four-year mean to highlight months that are abnormally warmer or colder. To learn more about how this analysis was done check out our blog on Planetary Variables in Sentinel Hub.
Time series plot (left) for the area of interest outlined on the map (right). The map shows the temperature anomaly on a given day for that location compared to prior four years.OGC StreamingIf you need to integrate imagery into your GIS or mapping workflows, you can use the OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) API to stream imagery into clients that support WMTS and WMS standards.
The OGC API is extensible — allowing you to dynamically adjust the range of dates and the renderer that should be drawn on your maps. This means you can easily build cloud-native integrations, streaming imagery directly from Planet Insights Platform into your applications. Below is an example of streaming OGC services into ArcGIS Experience Builder. You can find the code sample for this demo or watch our webinar to see the demo.
Planet OGC API being used to stream SkySat imagery into ArcGIS.How to Get StartedIf you already have a Planet account and are using the Subscriptions API you can get started with Sentinel Hub right now by creating your account.
If you don’t already have a Planet account you can reach out to talk with us. Or you can get started by purchasing access to Planet data.
And if you have questions about using APIs with Planet Insights Platform, reach out on Planet Community!
Look back in time and space in order to establish a historical baseline across broad areas.
Albert Einstein said it best: “If you want to know the future, look at the past.”
Understanding any kind of change often begins by examining historical patterns. This is certainly true for developments across the Earth’s surface, whether natural or human-driven.
And as Earth observation (EO) data becomes more available and affordable, greater numbers of governments and businesses are using it to track change over time and identify trends that help predict how the future will unfold.
EO Data and Broad Area ManagementEO data plays a key role in broad area management, which is the practice of monitoring, measuring, and reporting on assets, whether natural or man-made, across broad geographies and timescales.
Broad area management is best achieved with data, analytics, and software that can scale globally, show real-time updates, and capture multiple dimensions of information (location, time, and physical characteristics). This includes EO data, which offers a unique vantage point across Earth’s landmass.
Planet has been at the forefront of providing broad area management to customers and partners across the globe. And with nearly a decade of data, the Planet Archive is an unprecedented, living dataset of global change.
*Using Planet Data to Travel Back in Time* Planet operates hundreds of satellites that index the entire surface of the Earth nearly every day and feed the ever-growing Planet Archive — composed of more than 300 billion sq km of imagery, with proprietary datasets back to 2009 and public datasets back to 1972.
This means that for any given location on Earth’s landmass, the archive has an average of over 2,700 images of that area.
Always-On Monitoring: The Key to a Comprehensive ViewUsing EO data to compare and analyze change over large timescales presents new ways of gaining historical context. Planet’s always-on coverage unlocks the ability to not only analyze broad areas, but also to hone in on a specific area and analyze it through time.
With best-in-class imagery that reaches deep into the past, you can understand patterns in your areas of interest, validate hypotheses of what is happening on the ground, and model future scenarios with confidence thanks to the vast amount of reference data.
The construction of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport near Mexico City between January 14, 2017 and January 27, 2024 — captured in 364 PlanetScope scenes.
Archive Data in PracticeLet’s dive into an example to see this in practice. In public land management, protecting areas from misuse and environmental harm is an ever-present challenge.
This can be done with change detection analysis, enabling analysts to compare baseline to current imagery in order to identify potential violations or infractions such as illegal mining, deforestation, or encroachment.
Planet Road Change Detection Analytics (highlighted in yellow) show new roads as they are constructed in a forested area of eastern Bolivia between January 2023 and March 2024.
With an ever-growing archive of data, organizations can look backwards in time to establish that baseline. Planet is uniquely able to provide this ability over broad areas with our always-on, global PlanetScope Monitoring®.
With a baseline established, change detection analytics can be used to automatically detect new road or building construction in the proximity of the areas that need to be managed. When changes are detected, those areas can be investigated further by looking backward in time to understand how a place has evolved over the years.
In addition, this information can alert analysts to look closer by leveraging higher-resolution, on-demand SkySat® tasking to get more precise insights when and where they are needed.
Looking Back With PlanetWith the ability to detect change and initiate on-demand tasking, teams can use imagery from the past to make more informed decisions and mitigate risk. Being able to look back across time is one of the core superpowers behind broad area management.
Interested in learning how a rich historical context can enhance your workflow? Watch our on-demand webinar that showcases how Planet can help your team achieve broad area management, at scale.
Look across vast, far-reaching geographies and timescales to gain a full picture of events.
The age-old expression “you can’t see the forest for the trees” reminds us that seeing things up-close can compromise the greater picture. In addition, it necessitates the practice of zooming out to gain a broader perspective and see larger patterns.
In Earth observation (EO), an area of interest may only reveal part of the story. Perhaps there’s a trail of smoke, which begs the question, “Where is the source?” Or evidence of building damage after a storm, which leads us to ask, “How widespread is the destruction?”
As EO data becomes easier to access, greater numbers of governments and businesses are using it to track and analyze Earth’s changing conditions over time — and gain invaluable context.
Let’s explore how it’s possible to use EO data to see a more broad, complete, and accurate picture.
EO Data and Broad Area ManagementEO data is central to broad area management, which is the practice of monitoring, measuring, and reporting on assets, whether natural or man-made, across broad geographies and timescales.
This practice is best achieved with data, analytics, and software that can scale globally, is real time, and captures multiple dimensions of information (location, time, and physical characteristics).
Planet provides solutions that support broad area management to customers and partners across the globe. With always-on, daily monitoring, the Planet dataset offers an up-to-date view of changing conditions across the Earth.
Using Planet Data to Expand Your ViewBasing decisions on data that is too narrow can have negative and even dangerous consequences — ranging from the loss of precious resources and funds to unnecessary suffering.
In early June 2023, the Nova Kakhovka dam across the Dnipro River in Ukraine collapsed, flooding several downstream cities. This high-resolution SkySat® image taken on June 6 captures the aftermath of the collapse in great detail. But it lacks the broader view — demonstrated by the background map.Planet’s fleet of 3.7 meter resolution (GSD) Dove® satellites orbit the globe approximately every 90 minutes, capturing Earth’s landmass and coastal areas on a near-daily basis. This continuous global coverage means there is PlanetScope® data available almost anywhere you need it, so you can broaden your focus to include adjacent geographies immediately. This additional context can eliminate assumptions in choosing the path forward — allowing teams to act with confidence and agility.
This time series of Planet Basemap images spanning May to July 2023, gives insights into the broader and potential downstream consequences of the collapse.
Always-On Monitoring in PracticeIn today’s ever-evolving geopolitical landscape, government defense agencies rely on Planet’s global, daily imagery to monitor broad areas for anomalous activity and solve for known unknowns. This increases contextual awareness over broad areas and decreases the potential for strategic surprise.
“The global collection and daily coverage provided by Planet makes it a great addition to the defense and intelligence sector’s evolving capabilities,” says Kei Shibuya, Head of Business Development for SNET.
Historically, many defense and intelligence agencies relied largely upon tasked satellite imagery, which is limited to a small area of interest. And while tasked imagery offers superior resolution, it often doesn’t tell the whole story.
The footprints of SkySat images captured in June 2023, after the dam burst. Tasking satellites make covering broad areas a challenge, which can leave out context that can be crucial for intelligence.Defense and intelligence agencies can gain strategic and operational advantage by leveraging always-on monitoring data to gain a broader understanding — which can in turn, inform their tasking strategy. Afterall, you cannot look closer until you know where you want to look.
Looking Broader With PlanetHowever you plan to take action, it’s critical that the information you have is flexible and keeps up with the speed of change in today’s world. Being able to look more broadly is one of the core superpowers behind broad area management.
Interested in learning more? Watch our on-demand webinar that showcases how Planet can help your team achieve broad area management, at scale.
The global Planet community gathered to explore how Earth data, analytics, and powerful tools can be used to create insights that characterize our changing physical Earth.
On April 11, 2024, Planet’s ecosystem of customers, prospective customers, partners, and employees came together online for a virtual launch of Planet Insights Platform, featuring presentations and demos from the Planet executives and the Product teams who are bringing the platform to life.
Planet co-founder and CEO Will Marshall kicked off the event with a big thanks to our global community of customers and partners who are innovating every day with Planet. This community is at the nexus of many challenges our society faces: peace and security, sustainability, and digitization; all of which need a more streamlined process to look broader in area, look backward in time, look closer with high–resolution imagery, and look deeper with analytics.
“You can think of Planet Insights Platform as your central hub for a vast array of data and tools that can provide new capabilities, create new insights, and build innovative products. [It] is the all-in-one place where you can achieve multidimensional Earth insights.”
Paving a Better Path to Broad Area ManagementToday, organizations face significant pressures to reduce risk, remain compliant, and stay competitive in a time of rapid global change. Making sense and taking action in the face of global challenges requires information that reveals what is happening now, what happened in the past, what happened thousands of miles away, and what may happen in the future.
“These are tricky challenges to solve when narrowly defined, but even more complex to manage when the scope is global and change is frequent. The potential for blindspots multiplies,” said Donna Prlich, Chief Marketing Officer at Planet. “We believe our job is to remove those blindspots and give you insights that are multi-dimensional.”
She then explained how Planet Insights Platform gives organizations the ability to look more broadly, backward, closer, and deeper — to better inform decisions and manage risk. These are the core superpowers behind broad area management.
What to Expect From the Planet Insights Platform: Easier, Faster, and More Cost-Effective InsightsTroy Toman, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Planet, explained that the goal of the platform is to make it easier, faster, and more cost-effective to get information in one place.
“Planet Insights Platform unifies our core offerings into a single experience for our customers and partners, helping them embed Earth data and analytics into their workflows to become more productive and efficient.”
Some of these new and improved capabilities include:
- A unified account experience across Planet and Sentinel Hub
- Enhanced analysis-ready PlanetScope data
- Updated global Road and Building Change Detection
- New and improved Planetary Variables
- New time series and statistical analysis
Additional details on specific changes can be found in the announcement blog.
Toman explained how the Platform is designed to address many hurdles that traditionally come with using Earth observation (EO) data — like insufficient image resolution and cadence, and cumbersome dataset formatting and application switching — and make it easier to find that “needle in the haystack.”
He shared examples showcasing how three very different users — an analyst, a scientist, and a software developer — “may become more productive and context-aware when they have the right data, the right tools in one place, and better ways to share what they learn with people who might not be experts in geospatial or remote sensing.”
Jump Inside Planet Insights Platform: Three DemosPlanet experts then showcased what’s possible with Planet Insights Platform through a series of demos.
- Accessible APIs: Caroline Biermann, Director of Product for the Customer Platform, showed how the platform can help users more easily see change and manage broad areas with reliable data, scalable analytics, and accessible APIs.
- Time-series analysis: Nasim Farsinia, Director of Product for Customer Growth at Planet, showed how the platform makes it easy to leverage Analysis-Ready PlanetScope and Planetary Variables data for accurate time-series analysis.
- Change detection: Justin Davis, Senior Product Manager for Applied Machine Learning at Planet, highlighted the platform’s Analytics Feeds, and Road and Building Detection tools. He explains how to leverage PlanetScope to produce change detection and manage large volumes of data using ML and AI.
Monitor. Identify. Analyze: A Platform for All UsersHere are a few questions we’ve received from customers, about Planet Insights Platform.
- How can universities and social impact organizations work with Planet to expand access to the data and analytics to organizations that face significant resource constraints?
Education and Research users can access the Planet Insights Platform for free! First, apply to our Basic Education and Research Program! Once you have an account, you can learn how to get started with Planet Insights Platform. Look for the Planet Open Data Sandbox. * How will the new platform be for conventional users of the previous Sentinel Hub? (How easy/hard would the learning curve be?)
Easy. Planet Insights Platform carries over a similar user experience as EO Browser in Sentinel Hub — the login is just unified.
By consolidating the datasets and tools into one Platform, customers no longer have to spend time managing multiple systems. Whether you are new to Planet or an advanced user, our goal is that you will be able to navigate the platform easily and derive meaningful insights from the data. We will provide you with a wide range of enterprise support and services, including trainings and online resources to maximize the value of the Platform. * How far back does your imaging data go?
Planet Insights Platform has a 7+ year archive of near-daily data. This dataset can help users understand unforeseen events or establish baselines of activity and is a fundamental part of our unique broad area management offering.
Learn More About Planet Insights PlatformWill Marshall closed out the event by inviting attendees to join us at one of our Planet On The Road events in Berlin, Washington D.C., and Colombia this year. “These are one-day events across the globe where you’ll learn more about how our customers and partners are leveraging Planet Insights Platform, and hear about new product releases that will continue to make it easier for you to get insights and take action,” said Will.
Interested in learning more about what’s possible with Planet Insights Platform? Watch the full virtual event on-demand.
Or, register for our upcoming webinar, Improving Program and Policy Effectiveness With Scalable Earth Observation Insights (AMER time zone, EMEA time zone) — we’ll explore how Planet Insights Platform supports key policy issues, incluing hazard mitigation, resource management, and permitting and enforcement.
Already a Planet customer? Get started with Planet Insights Platform or join the Sentinel Hub forum on Planet Community to connect, ask questions, view product announcements, and learn more.
Learn how these analysis-ready data feeds can be used to measure a range of important conditions.
Earth is in a constant state of change, from natural processes like the water cycle or seasonal temperatures to human activities like deforestation or agriculture. Governments and businesses alike who are responsible for managing broad areas need to monitor, measure, and report on these dynamic systems to mitigate risk, optimize their operations, and protect the environment.
Earth observation (EO) enables organizations to manage broad areas so they can respond efficiently to changes that matter. But for use cases where you need to monitor large areas such as states or countries, not all EO data is equal. You likely need data with broad and continuous coverage and a deep archive to create a baseline to monitor against. You also likely need high-temporal frequency to monitor changes promptly.
Most importantly, you need measurements that relate to what you are concerned with monitoring. If you are looking to understand a drought’s impact on fire risk or irrigation activities impact on water resources, ideally you would use measurements of soil water content. If you are concerned with deforestation or and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) for carbon accounting, ideally your inputs are related to tree cover and aboveground forest carbon. And these measurements should be reliable and transparent.
Planetary VariablesPlanetary Variables are analysis-ready data feeds that measure important conditions on the surface of the Earth including: Soil Water Content, Land Surface Temperature, Crop Biomass, and Forest Structure and Carbon. They draw on observations from numerous public and commercial satellite missions to generate datasets that have broad, continuous geographic coverage, high-temporal resolution, and a deep archive.
Planetary Variables can be used for a variety of purposes:
- Compare current and historical Soil Water Content to highlight areas experiencing drought to manage water resources more efficiently.
- Evaluate how Land Surface Temperature has changed to quantify the impacts of regreening efforts or to look at crop stress due to high temperatures.
- Model crop yield estimates or detect crop harvesting events through cloud–free crop monitoring with Crop Biomass.
- Measure, report, and verify on forest carbon projects with Forest Carbon Diligence.
Planetary variables are rigorously tested and validated — and you can read more about their accuracy and reliability in their respective technical specifications and scientific literature. They are designed to make Earth observation more accessible by reducing the need to build sophisticated data fusion and machine learning models that translate esoteric datasets into measurements of variables that matter.
Planet Insights PlatformTo make use of Planetary Variables you need a platform to turn the data into information that solves a problem or answers a question. For example, how does this year’s land surface temperature compare to the historical average? Or where in a country has forest cover changed the most over the last several years? Such a platform should be scalable to broad areas, capable of handling statistical analysis, and be interoperable with your workflows.
To analyze these Planetary Variables you can use Planet Insights Platform, the all-in-one place for multidimensional Earth insights. The platform is cloud-based and API-first, empowering developers, data scientists, and GIS teams to host, analyze, and stream imagery at scale. Planet Insights Platform enables you to perform planetary-scale analyses with multi-temporal statistical analysis of EO data and is designed to analyze deep archives of data.
The temporal resolution or revisit rate of Planetary Variables like Soil Water Content, Land Surface Temperature, and Crop Biomass can create a deluge of data. It can be challenging to make sense of 1,000+ images or measurements over the same region. Sentinel Hub solves this with a fast and scalable Statistics API which summarizes the dataset with descriptive statistics.
Climate AnomalyA common type of analysis for Planetary Variables is to look at how much current year values deviate from historical means, commonly referred to as the anomaly. Sentinel Hub’s multi-temporal statistical analysis tools allow you to efficiently extract statistics from deep time stacks of data using cloud processing.
For example, the chart below shows how the current year’s Land Surface Temperature compares with the prior four-year average. The land surface temperature was colder than usual at the end of February and beginning of March, when compared to the prior years. For agriculture, soil temperature is an important variable for crop emergence. For urban areas, this can highlight areas of urban heat islands.
Land Surface Temperature near Hanover, Germany. Current year (teal) is compared to the mean (black) and range (grey) for 2019–2022.This time series chart represents a specific place and how the current year relates to previous years. What would happen if you applied this analysis across broad areas? You could identify geographical locations experiencing statistically significant anomalies from mean temperatures or water content. For example, this globe shows regions spent in low and rapidly dropping soil water content conditions. You can read more about our analysis here: Flash Drought Hotspots — Iberian Peninsula.
Isolating flash drought risk hotspots by measuring the number of days a region experienced the rapid change conditions. This map designates each pixel with a color based on the number of days it showed low and decreasing conditions from February 1 to May 12, 2023. In this visualization, 1 = 1 day, 30 = 30 days during that period. Areas that are darker red were in hotspot status more frequently.How it WorksPerforming analysis like this climatology example can be done with Planetary Variables inside Planet Insights Platform. It works like this:
- Planetary Variables data is hosted in the Planet cloud — ready to be analyzed by our processing and statistical APIs.
- You use and customize scripts which determine how data is rendered on maps and calculated in statistics.
- Leveraging the Sentinel Hub Python SDK, you can integrate these analytics into data sciences workflows or a data pipeline you are building to integrate into your solution.
- You can iterate over small areas until you are ready to scale your analysis across broad areas with batch processing capabilities.
Learn More About Planetary VariablesPlanetary Variables make monitoring a dynamic Earth and managing broad areas feasible through analysis-ready insights into measurements that matter.
No longer do you need to build your own machine learning models or build complex imagery management systems — just start analyzing reliable data at scale with the multi-temporal data analysis tools available in Sentinel Hub.
The NICFI Satellite Data Program provides comprehensive access to Planet’s high-resolution satellite monitoring to help reduce and reverse tropical forest loss. This program has enabled successful forest monitoring and conservation across the world’s tropical forests. Today, we are highlighting the powerful work from our NICFI data users at the UN FAO from their blog cross-posted below:
# # #
PUBLISHED ARTICLE FROM UN FAO || LINK
On March 21st, the International Day of Forests celebrated the pivotal role of innovation in transforming forest monitoring. A key aspect of FAO and partner countries’ innovative work is the utilization of Planet’s high-resolution satellite imagery through the NICFI Satellite Data Program. This initiative is driving impactful change across diverse landscapes.
Let’s delve into some key statics that underscore the success of the NICFI Satellite Data Program in recent years:
- Over 26,000 registered users across 158 countries worldwide.
- A staggering 280 million tiles streamed for high-resolution tropical forest monitoring. Users are advancing innovations across various fronts, including land use conversion detection and classification, forest area change, and deforestation detection and alerting.
- 72% of users acknowledge the instrumental role of the NICFI Satellite Data Program in achieving their conservation goals, with 90% expressing willingness to recommend the Program to others.
Furthermore, the FAO statistics reveal:
- More than 90 million of tiles streamed by FAO, including Open Foris’s Collect Earth and SEPAL.
- Approximately 2.3 million daily data tiles streamed.
- Approximately 7.4 million square kilometers of daily imagery downloaded.
Here are some examples of how FAO is enabling forest monitoring through the NICFI Satellite Data Program in different countries:
Satellite image of the Democratic Republic of Congo captured by Planet on March 29, 2024.In the heart of Africa’s lush Congo Basin, six countries are embarking on a transformative journey. Through the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), they are harnessing the power of NICFI Satellite Data Program Planet Basemaps. With unprecedented insights, these nations are unraveling the complexity of deforestation and degradation drivers, guiding the formulation of robust policies to safeguard their invaluable natural heritage.
Read more
Technological innovation driving transparent forest monitoring and reporting for climate action. Landsat, Sentinel and Planet imagery used in UNFCCC reference level submissions.Technological innovation driving transparent forest monitoring and reporting for climate action. Landsat, Sentinel and Planet imagery used in UNFCCC reference level submissions.
Meanwhile, across the globe, partner countries engaged in reducing deforestation are leveraging high-resolution data in their Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) efforts. Countries like Costa Rica, Cameroon, Mozambique, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ethiopia are witnessing innovative solutions taking root. Consequently, these nations are securing performance-based payments for their efforts in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
Learn more
Ecuador, nestled within the vast Amazon rainforest, exemplifies the transformative power of innovation. The Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition (MAATE) has utilized satellite data to enhance the accuracy of historical deforestation maps. These refined baselines are fundamental to Ecuador’s MRV framework, facilitating more effective conservation strategies.
Learn more
Image provided by UN FAO. In Gabon, AGEOS workshops in partnership with FAO have trained stakeholders in utilizing the NICFI Satellite Data Program to gain insights into direct drivers of deforestation. This has paved the way for targeted interventions and sustainable land use practices.
Read more
Image provided by UN FAO. On another front, Ghana a pioneer in reshaping climate action, is leveraging the NICFI Satellite Data Program within FAO’s Open Foris and SEPAL platforms. The country has unlocked a wealth of data-driven insights, enabling Ghana to secure approximately $5 million in performance-based payments from the World Bank’s Carbon Fund. Recently it has also submitted forest-related emission reductions to ART-TREES, making it the first African country to do and the third worldwide. This achievement highlights the crucial role of innovation in driving tangible results and catalyzing positive change.
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These examples show how through collaboration, innovation, and steadfast commitment, partner countries, with FAO support, are transforming forest conservation. With the use of Planet’s high-resolution satellite imagery, through NICFI Satellite Data Program imagery, and a common goal of sustainability, these countries are leading the way in innovative forest monitoring practices.
At Planet, we are passionate about empowering small businesses and nurturing an entrepreneurial spirit. Small businesses play a vital role in economic growth and job creation, yet they often face challenges in scaling, navigating complex government procurements, and accessing capital. Recognizing the importance of supporting these engines of innovation, we will continue […]
By: Varidhi (Ria) D’cruz, Planet Communications Intern
In a small village in the Netherlands, under the embrace of towering forests, Amber Mulder’s journey began. A software engineer working on Planetary Variables at Planet’s Haarlem office, Amber’s life is fueled by a curiosity for the cosmos and the natural world. As the Communication Intern at Planet, I had the honor of delving into Amber’s narrative, a story of passion and perseverance.
“I love space and diving feels like a spacewalk beneath the waves—just as intriguing and unknown. It’s like discovering a new universe,” says this devoted divemaster who keeps a record of each dive and the mesmerizing encounters within. “The most unforgettable moment for me was in Fiji, encircled by around 20 bull sharks,” Amber shares with excitement.
Amber scuba diving in a cenote in Tulum, Mexico“After high school, I volunteered at a shark conservation project in Fiji where I learnt diving. Encountering sharks along the way, I plunged into the underwater world, conducting dive surveys and gathering data.” It was amidst these aquatic marvels that Amber recognized the intricate balance between humanity and nature, and the impacts that we wield on our environment. This revelation continued to guide her as she chartered her academic journey.
Amber studied ‘Future Planet Studies’ at the University of Amsterdam where she weaved her passions and coursework into a tapestry of topics, including climate, energy, sustainability, and innovation. “What truly intrigues me is nature’s remarkable power, even during natural disasters, it is a force both mesmerizing and impactful.” During her time at the university, she researched the influence of terrestrial erosion on specific coral species. “Diving deep into this subject reaffirmed my commitment to contribute to fields that connect humanity and nature.”
Initially drawn towards marine biology, her heart shifted its course as her fascination with programming grew. She pivoted towards a field that could bridge her passion for nature and technology. This led her to pursue a master’s degree in Geomatics at Delft University of Technology. “From an early age, the world of aerial and satellite imagery amazed me. I can still recall spending countless hours as a child exploring Google Earth. I wanted to analyze this Earth data and program solutions for it.”
Amber joined Planet on the Soil Water Content Planetary Variables team, and she found our mission to observe Earth from space aligned perfectly with her reverence for both nature and tech. “My role involves creating and optimizing the software that gathers, transforms, and analyzes data related to soil water content. Alongside my team, I ensure a seamless journey from raw data to end-product, guaranteeing the delivery of a dependable and valuable Soil Water Content product for our users,” she explains. Amber’s work here gives her the opportunity to deploy solutions that impact the world. “I am happy to work within a company that is driven by a collective mission to contribute to the better understanding of our world. Knowing that our efforts yield tangible solutions that confront global challenges adds purpose to my day to day coding and brainstorm sessions,” she says.
Amber enjoying the ocean view on Milos, GreeceAmber’s time at Planet has been more than professional; it’s personal. As Amber reflects on her journey, she shares, “Belonging to me is to comfortably be myself and I am truly experiencing that at Planet. I feel appreciated in my team for the way I am. It sounds easy but you don’t get that anywhere, actually. My team genuinely listens to what I have to say and my contributions are valued.”
Amber’s perspective on life, work, and Belonging are deeply anchored in a guiding maxim: ‘Whoever is on the canoe is responsible for the journey, whether having a paddle or not.’ She believes in taking responsibility for choosing her own path — a principle she has embraced in crafting her own unique career journey. Amber’s vision for the future is a place where women in tech rise to prominence, and where the concrete jungle harmonizes with the vibrant hues of nature. She envisions a world where humans and the environment coexist seamlessly.
From coding to diving, Amber’s adventurous spirit helps her navigate the fast paced world of tech and the ethereal space of the ocean. Amber teaches refresher courses at a scuba diving school in Amsterdam, and as she puts it, “I’m here to remind people that they’ve got it in them, that they can do it all over again. The most rewarding part of this journey is watching hesitant individuals transform into confident divers.”
Amber reminds us all at Planet about our dreams of exploration and impact. This Planeteer and divemaster concluded, “My mother taught me to encounter obstacles head-on, rather than waiting for them to pass. I am happy that’s what we do at Planet.”
We tend to think of the seasons as fixed in time. But when it comes to pasture management, the duration of each vital spring growth period is determined not only by the calendar but by the quality of your decisions.
Pushing that seasonal curve forward to help farmers optimize their grazing pasture is the ultimate goal of Pasture.io, an automated decision support platform initially developed for CEO Ollie Roberts’ family dairy farm. “It’s about taking pasture measurements and making the best informed grazing decisions,” said Ollie. “The pasture itself is a life form that responds positively to good pasture management. Looking after pastures better in the winter allows farmers to get out of the blocks quicker when the air gets warmer, which can lead to four to six extra weeks of spring growth.”
But getting there isn’t easy. Pasture management is a delicate balancing act. “If the pasture is grazed too heavily, it doesn’t have time to keep restoring its energy and carbohydrate reserves,” explained Ollie. “That means it will thin out and die.” This sets off a negative cycle, where there is less pasture on the next grazing rotation because it hasn’t had time to grow back, which means it is even less likely to meet the livestock’s feed demands.
Likewise, under-grazing can be a problem. As Ollie noted, “If you are underutilizing the pasture, it starts to build up dead leaves in its understory and rot underneath.” As a result, the plant changes, becoming less nutritious, providing your livestock with less energy and protein.
Farmers must find the ideal balance by carefully influencing where and when the herd grazes. Pasture.io developed machine learning models to process a range of data on things like grazing events, fertilizer applications, and nutrients in the ground, ultimately providing decision support to farmers to ensure their pastures grow through an optimal life cycle.
Despite the potential, farmers were still skeptical that the time it would take to gather and enter the data into the platform was worth it. “Early on, we hit a snag trying to sell a service where farmers had to go out and measure their pastures manually and then record that measurement into the platform,” Ollie explained. To win over farmers, they had to find a way to deliver quality data automatically.
Using Planet’s API, Pasture.io programmatically processes our PlanetScope 8-band satellite data and runs it through its machine learning models to be analyzed with other data (atmospheric data, weather information, fertilizer applications, etc.). The system then presents the farmer with a given pasture’s biomass, growth rates and other essential pasture metrics. “We deliver a satellite-backed pasture measurement more than twice a week and a pasture update daily with our advanced algorithms, which means the farmer has more data flowing into their system,” Ollie said. “That allows them to adjust where they’re grazing and choose which paddock is next, culminating in more profit for our farmers.”
Many farmers want to see things with their own eyes, and in the Pasture.io platform, satellite data gives them a unique perspective. “They can use that spatial data in the platform and interpret it the way they want, laid over the top of their paddock maps,” Ollie explained. “The farmer might notice, for example, that they’ve got a clogged irrigation nozzle on a center pivot because they can see the dry circle going around the paddock where the color looks different to the rest, or they can get a better understanding of which areas of the paddock grow more pasture. ”
Our satellite imagery can be particularly valuable in high-rainfall areas like New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, where heavy cloud coverage makes visibility a perpetual problem. Before using Planet satellite data, Pasture.io noted that sometimes they had to wait 56 days before receiving a clear, cloudless image. But with Planet, the high-frequency and resolution quality fixed that problem. “We’re delivering our customers a satellite-backed pasture reading on average every 2.8 days and they receive many consecutive days of satellite images. That’s phenomenal and made possible by Planet,” Ollie exclaimed.
As for the future, Ollie believes Pasture.io will only gain more from Planet data. “As a longtime partner, Planet just keeps getting better to work with,” Ollie said. “Its development of new services and features helps us continue to deliver a better product to our farmers, who are some of the best regenerative grazing farmers in the world.”
It’s my pleasure to welcome Tramayne “Trey” Whitney to the Planet team as our Chief People Officer (CPO). Planet represents a global and culturally diverse company and Trey’s advanced leadership in building cohesive teams will be instrumental as we continue to invest in our organizational health, and our most valuable asset, our people.
Trey brings over 20 years of experience as a Human Resources (HR) expert, global business advisor, and career coach, and will be critical in helping us build a strong and robust global team. Trey is a firm believer that people are the top asset of any business, and I couldn’t agree more with him. Planet has over 1,000 employees committed to producing accurate and timely data and insights that can enable our users to take positive action. I feel an incredible sense of pride for our Planeteers’ belief in, and contributions towards our mission, and to helping our customers make timely and insightful decisions. I’m confident that Trey’s experience in building and managing collaborative teams will help us to drive even greater value across our organization.
“Planet’s mission to use space to help life on earth and the passion I felt from the team made it clear to me that this was a special company full of special people,” said Trey. “I’m eager to lead the Planet team in creating an engaged, diverse and inclusive workforce across our global offices.”
Trey’s expertise spans leadership and culture, organizational strategy, and development. Most recently, he served as the Interim CPO at Splunk, where he led a global team through a transformative phase of rapid growth, establishing a robust 3-year HR strategy and employee experience roadmap. Before being appointed interim CPO, Trey was Vice President of HR for Corporate Functions at the organization. Trey has also held senior roles at Google, Siemens Healthineers, Kellogg’s, Sara Lee, Chiquita, and Hershey’s, among others.
We are consistently working to build a team of enthusiastic Planeteers, committed to solving hard problems and making a lasting impact on our world. I could not have more conviction in Trey’s abilities to help us in this important mission.
Welcome to Planet, Trey!
How much does healthy soil impact our climate resiliency? It turns out quite a lot. Optimizing best practices in land management can increase biodiversity, enrich soil, and protect water quality, ultimately making our soil more resilient to climate instability. This practice, known as regenerative agriculture, is a critical tool for agriculture experts […]
If a tree grows in the forest, but nobody’s there to see it, does it justify widespread reforestation investments? That’s the conundrum One Tree Planted faced as its operations have rapidly expanded in the last few years. The organization helps local communities plant trees to restore habitat for biodiversity, promote cleaner air, […]
A conversation with Ben Allard While we’ve explored a number of industries in which satellite data can be used to monitor and verify what we see on the ground based on what we can see from space in this “Getting to Ground-Truth in Asia” series, we now turn to what we believe […]
Welcome Sinergise and the Sentinel Hub Community! Planet has acquired the business of Sinergise, including Sentinel Hub, marking a significant step forward in our mission to make Earth observation (EO) data more accessible and impactful. We are excited to welcome Sentinel Hub users to the Planet community, and are eager to accelerate […]
Authors: Ryder Kimball & Steve Levay Special thanks to: Max Borrmann, Arjan Geers, and Megan Zaroda This blog is part of a series on the effects of rapid dryness on regions around the globe. For an introduction to Planet’s approach, read this post. For those of us in the U.S., the very […]
Reflexiones sobre el futuro de la observación de la Tierra en América Latina Una conversación con Ricardo Guerra Siéntese con Ricardo Guerra, Director Regional de Ventas de Planet para América Latina, durante cinco minutos y seguramente surgirá el concepto de “colaboración”. Algunos días, puede parecer que se integra el equipo de casi […]
Reflexões sobre o futuro da observação da Terra na América Latina Uma conversa com Ricardo Guerra Sente-se com Ricardo Guerra, Diretor Regional de Vendas da Planet para a América Latina, por cinco minutos e certamente surgirá na conversa o conceito de “colaboração”. Em alguns dias, ele pode parecer integrar a equipe de […]
Click here to read this post in Portuguese or Spanish. Thoughts on What’s Ahead for Earth Observation in Latin America A conversation with Ricardo Guerra Sit down with Ricardo Guerra, Planet’s Regional Sales Director for Latin America, for five minutes and the concept of “collaboration” is bound to come up. Some days, […]
Planet CEO Will Marshall sent the following note to Planet employees today. Planeteers, I have some important and tough news to share. For reasons I’ll get to here, we’re reducing the size of our team and saying goodbye to 117 talented Planeteers. If your role is impacted, you will have received a […]
When the underwater Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted in January 2022, it sent about 58,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of seawater into the earth’s stratosphere. And today, researchers are exploring whether it could have been linked to extreme weather events that transpired in the southern hemisphere, like the February 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle […]
One Year! We are thrilled to celebrate a significant milestone: the one-year anniversary of Planet University and Planet Community. Over the past year, these platforms have blossomed into vibrant hubs for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and innovation within the Earth observation community. We couldn’t be more proud of the achievements and growth we’ve […]
Authors: Ryder Kimball & Steve Levay Special thanks to: Max Borrmann, Arjan Geers, and Megan Zaroda The Mediterranean climate, once an alluring promise of balmy weather and picturesque sunshine, has adopted more alarming associations. Scorching temperatures and raging infernos this summer have prompted authorities to plead with residents to stay indoors during […]
As we saw in Part One of this “Getting to Ground-Truth in Asia” series, there can be discrepancies between what’s reported by onsite workers and what can be seen from space. Today we’re looking at how civil governments and commercial entities are using Planet’s satellite data to help them better understand and […]
With national and international aid efforts underway to provide social protections and food support to families below the poverty line in some of India’s poorest states, government organizations like Odisha’s Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department needed to find a way to ensure its citizens were getting the food support they needed […]
Climate change and resource sustainability are increasingly financially material for a number of sectors and publicly-traded companies. Whether they are impacts from a changing climate (like increased wildfire or flood risks) on assets, or impacts to a changing climate (like water consumption or greenhouse gas emissions) that are increasingly scarce and/or regulated […]
Authors: Stephen Levay and Megan Zaroda Datasets generated and analyzed by Arjan Geers Visualizations by Max Borrmann Special thanks to Richard De Jeu, Maarten Lambrechts, Ryder Kimball, and Yoann Malbeteau Worldwide, drought is arguably the largest overall antagonist farmers face. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the impact […]
“All real conversations happen along an access of vulnerability,” said Max Joshua, Planet’s Senior Market Development Manager, Hyperspectral and the Employee Resource Group co-lead for PlanetQueers. “I heard the line in an interview. It’s from the poet David Whyte,” she explained while sitting in her remote home office in Los Angeles. This […]
The energy market in the United States is rapidly changing, and we are seeing a growing number of projects in the renewable energy sector. In fact, reports have suggested that solar energy in the U.S. is on track to more than double in the next five years. However, across the country, energy […]
In August 2022, news around the world reported on a mysterious environmental catastrophe which impacted the Oder River in Germany and Poland. Thousands of dead fish were found washed up along the river’s banks. Puzzling scientists and government officials across Europe, this disaster caused analysts to launch robust investigations. Using Planet satellite […]
What do crayons, satellites, and marine biodiversity have in common? The Crayons of the Seas project by SKY Perfect JSAT, one of Asia’s largest satellite communication companies based in Japan. Crayons of the Seas is a science-meets-art collaboration that created one-of-a-kind hues of biodegradable crayons representing twelve colors of the ocean based […]
Introduction It’s been an exciting few months for the NICFI Satellite Data Program, which provides comprehensive access to Planet’s high-resolution satellite monitoring to help reduce and reverse tropical forest loss. We are pleased that Norway’s International Climate & Forests Initiative has extended the program for a fourth year, until September 2024. Through […]
Since Planet’s founding, we’ve successfully built and launched over 500 (!) satellites. We did this by pioneering a new approach to building and launching spacecraft, one that encourages rapid iteration. We call this approach agile aerospace and we’ve been refining this new way of building satellites at scale since 2012 when we […]
On the heels of the catastrophic destruction of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam on June 6, recent analysis of satellite imagery by NASA Harvest shows that three of the four major canal inlets vital for farm irrigation are already disconnected, with the fourth dangerously close to joining the list in the coming days. You […]
“I remember that I was eighteen years old when I happened to look up at the night sky and really see the stars. I realized that I didn’t really know why they shined,” said Lydia Zhang, speaking with a tone of awe in her voice. “It was literally the first day I started college in the United States, and it was also the first time I noticed the blinking, the twinkle. I had never thought about studying astronomy before, and honestly, that just got me hooked. I signed up for an Astronomy 101 course, and I totally fell in love with it.”
Lydia Lihui ZhangLydia works in Market Development at Planet’s San Francisco office. She originally grew up in Shenzhen, China with an interest in international affairs and economics. At eighteen, she wanted to see the world and decided to move to the United States to pursue her degree at Smith College. What she didn’t expect was to fall in love with space along the way. In the very first few weeks of her undergraduate degree, she became entranced with the night sky.
While in college, Lydia found herself being pulled in seemingly polar directions through two passions. “I was initially interested in international relations, econ, and governance, but it was so frustrating to learn deeper about human history and realize how we were always in conflicts. To an extent, I wanted to escape. I wanted to go to a place where there were no humans, and hence no conflict. Astronomy was my refuge, especially in the beginning of college,” Lydia explained, sharing how she added Astronomy as a second major alongside her Economics degree.
But Lydia’s two passions collided in her third year of college in an enthralling way. She had the opportunity to study abroad at the International Space University (ISU, where Planet’s co-founders Will & Robbie also both spent some time) with an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on everything in space, from the sciences to the politics and economics of the industry. “Here, I learned more about the space sector, and I realized everything is connected in this world. I wanted to choose Astronomy because I had assumed there were no humans, but I learned that in space, there is still conflict, policy, and all of the human societal elements.” Rather than pull away though, Lydia decided to dive deeper.
After graduating, she enrolled in a master’s degree at MIT focused on the intersection of technology and space policy. She looked at open innovation in space, space collaboration mechanisms, and US-China’s space policies. She knew she wanted to work in the sector, but also saw that it was hard for an international student to find opportunity in this industry without existing citizenship. She feared that she was falling in love with the cross sections of space, technology, and economics, but would graduate without prospects. However, she eventually found a place of Belonging at Planet.
“What Belonging means to me, or what I want to practice as Belonging is actually ‘taking the extra step.’ Planet was started by international founders and the company took that extra step to understand the policy of how to make it possible for international employees to join. Planet went through the journey to allow people like me, or people with different backgrounds, to still be able to share their passion and feel included. So, this is major for how I think about Belonging at Planet,” Lydia expressed.
“The other part of Belonging at Planet, is that during external meetings, when I show up as an Asian female, and oftentimes, the most junior person in the room, I feel very respected. My Planeteer colleagues have taken the extra step and carved out the space for me in those big meetings to say, ‘Hey Lydia, what do you think?’ It’s really helped me go in naturally and be able to contribute right away.”
Lydia began as an intern at Planet in 2020 while she was a student, and she later joined full-time in Market Development in 2022. “There are two things that drove me to Market Development: One, the people; and the other is innovation.” Lydia explained that for her, Market Development is about testing hypotheses and asking open questions, such as, ‘How can the financial sector use satellite data?’ (her internship topic). It’s an exploratory research process, done through extensive human interaction and data validation. It helps identify how markets are changing and discover new opportunities. “For example, just in the sustainable financial sector, there’s opportunities to leverage Planet data for global ESG initiatives, climate risk, and carbon markets,” she explained, highlighting these relatively new economic systems.
“Going back to how everything is connected, I had that period where I didn’t want to interact with humans, and now, I want to talk a lot with humans and learn how space can help their lives. I think my interaction with Planet at that time of my internship helped me refocus and almost turn 180 degrees about why I care about space. I feel a lot more meaning in what I do once I see how a seemingly far concept – space – can play a concrete role in our society. I’m a space nerd who cares about the Earth more.”
Lydia with her favorite board at Santa Cruz, photo credit: Zenny ZhangLydia has also elegantly weaved her enthusiasm for space and nature into her personal life here in California. “I love surfing. I really love living in the Bay Area where Santa Cruz is just a drive away. I go almost every weekend. Surfing is a great sport for putting yourself out there and feeling respectful for the power of nature, and totally surrendering to it when you get wiped out. The best thing is to relax and just let the waves take you. It’s taught me a lot about acceptance, and in that time, it has allowed me to slow down and reflect, and feel small. It’s the same feeling that I feel when I am doing astronomy. How small I am. That gives me awe.”
Living in the Bay Area has also allowed Lydia to explore a new culture while still sharing and connecting with her Chinese roots. “There’s a deep history of Chinese immigration in SF, and a lot of people here are actually from the coastal side of China – exactly where I am from, so being able to walk into a Dim Sum restaurant and order food in Cantonese has been really nice. And being able to see a lot of activities around cultural identities in this area has been really inspiring too.”
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, last month, was personally meaningful to Lydia. “For any expats living in a different culture, there’s this innate responsibility that you are here to represent your culture and trying to be that bridge. This month, I am being more intentional about doing that. As an Asian, a big part of my culture is sharing, so I’m really grateful for this opportunity to share about the food, the drinks (boba!), the movies, to just share who we are underneath the different labels and cultural ideas, and to connect at a new level,” she explained.
“I find the month to be interesting, particularly in the U.S. On the one hand, we’ve had the mainstream spotlights. Like in Hollywood, there’s more Asian representation than ever. I feel like we’re coming to a high-tide where there is a lot more Asian American casting, and yet at the same time, we have some of the worst recent racial-based hate in the country. There’s a contrast between the public life and the private life of being Asian in the U.S. right now. I feel quite split sometimes. So, my message for my Asian and non-Asian friends is to acknowledge the things that might be co-existing at the same time, and if you can, check-in on your friends and see how they are doing.”
Lydia’s dream for the future is to increase representation and diversity in the global space sector. “Historically, we haven’t seen an equal global representation in space at all. So, there’s a space art project that I started with my friends at MIT called HUMANS (Humanity United with MIT Art and Nanotechnology in Space). “My co-founder and I shared this feeling of being international students and worrying about what we could do in the space sector after graduating. Inspired by the Golden Record, we launched a global open call, asking, ‘What does space mean to you and to humanity?’ We encouraged answers from individuals in their native languages, hoping to collect and tell a story of Earth to humans ourselves as opposed to aliens/any spacefarers (that the Golden Recorded intended.) We actually received thousands of answers in over 64 unique languages!” said Lydia with enthusiasm.
“Our two-person effort grew into a much larger team in the past three years. In May, we launched our 6-inch nano-etched wafer with astronaut John Shoffner on board the Axiom-2 mission, and just two weeks ago, we held a historical livestream from the International Space Station and played those voices, from this, many of the languages were first ever played and represented in space! Later this year, a smaller version will travel to the Moon with the MIT Space Exploration Initiative’s “To The Moon To Stay” program with Lunar Outpost and Intuitive Machines. This project has helped me discover more people like me around the world, across different ages, backgrounds, and cultures. I am glad our project was able to increase representation in space by a little bit, even just symbolically, and I certainly hope to see more concrete changes, like education and perspective changes. It’s now in me to help spread this passion to others, to say, ‘Hey, you don’t have to feel that space is so far away.’”
Planet’s mission is to use space to help life on earth by making earth data visible, actionable, and accessible. While we directly create visibility and transparency as the leading provider of global near-daily satellite imagery, we rely on our partners to accelerate actionable insights and access to drive meaningful impact. In line with our mission, we are thrilled to partner with ERM, a global sustainability consultancy, to expand imagery use cases, applications, and reporting capabilities.
Contributing to more than 20,000 sustainability related projects per year, ERM brings deep subject matter expertise to clients across the entire strategy lifecycle and in nearly every industry, from renewables to financial services to mining. Within ERM’s 50 year history of environmental work, they have seen a significant jump in the need for real-time data in just the last two years. By linking the power of Planet’s satellite imagery with expert analysis from ERM, our data is brought to life for decision-makers and translated into information to address business’ operational and sustainability goals.
“ERM has been a valued Planet customer for a few years and we are now excited to expand our relationship into a formal partnership. We expect them to become a strong growth partner,” said Jen Doogan, Director, Partnerships (AMER) at Planet. “By joining our partner ecosystem Planet Orbit, ERM can provide customers across industries with imagery solutions, critical insights regarding environmental impact, and robust reporting capabilities.”
To implement nature-based solutions, ERM works with Planet imagery to identify optimal project locations, determine viability, establish a baseline, and finally to monitor success criteria and change over time. High-cadence satellite imagery is useful for these projects because it provides a faster, more cost effective way to measure impacts on the ground and creates a digital ledger that can be used for on-going verification. This is especially critical as carbon offset markets grow and companies start to assess their impact on biodiversity.
“The nature and water space is emerging as the next big challenge our corporate clients are grappling with,” said Matt Haddon, ERM’s Global Lead for Nature and Water. “Designing strategies to measure biodiversity and water is extremely complex, particularly when you compare it to measuring greenhouse gases. With Planet data and other sources, we now have the tools to advance solutions more quickly. We can create insight about the world and our interaction with it at a scale and a pace that was unimaginable before.”
Driven partially by new and emerging regulatory requirements like the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the European Union deforestation regulations (such as the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation), and the upcoming Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), as well as a desire to be more resilient in the face of rapid climate change, companies need to understand the impact of their entire value chain on the natural world around them. They should be able to answer questions like “What is the state of the environment in which we operate?” and “How do we operate in sensitive parts of the world?” ERM leverages Planet imagery to provide these answers and inform a comprehensive strategy around environmental impact.
Mike Mangiante, ERM’s Climate Risk Team Lead, commented “Planet and ERM play a vital role in accelerating sustainability through data and imagery driven insights. This partnership brings together one of the largest commercial satellite imagery providers in the world and the largest pure play sustainability firm. Together we have the ability to create scalable end-to-end solutions which address organizations’ greatest sustainability related imperatives at scale.”
Planet was thrilled to officially launch our Startup Program last month at Explore23. Democratizing access to satellite data is core to Planet’s mission and this program furthers that goal by enabling early-stage startups to build novel applications powered by Planet’s data.
Our Startup Program provides qualified organizations with discounted access to Planet data for R&D, product development, and prototyping purposes to help make global change visible, accessible and actionable. We have received over 400 interest forms for this year’s program to build, prototype, and experiment. We are still accepting qualified applications for Summer 2023 here.
A number of startups from the program’s inaugural cohort are already making big strides with our data and we were excited to have a few join us at Explore23 to present their work. To date, we’ve worked with 30 startups and held two demo days where our startups have presented their solutions to the wider Planet team.
Upon technical validation of their solutions, startups are eligible to graduate into Planet’s partner program, Planet Orbit, where focus shifts to scale and commercialization. We are excited to feature the following three startups participating in the program and driving impact with Planet data today.
Terra Cover generates water intelligence using satellite imagery and machine learning. One solution pioneered by the company virtually monitors rivers and streams, helping organizations manage water more efficiently and mitigate associated water risks.
“The Planet Startup Program serves as a great catalyst for Terra Cover to contribute to the geospatial community. As sectors grow more dependent on earth observation data and analytics, the Planet Startup Program ensures organizations like Terra Cover remain engaged and at the forefront of critical developments,” said Mark Knapp, Co-Founder & CEO, Terra Cover.
Vibrant Planet has created a cloud-based tool to inform and speed land management decisions, including planning, monitoring and reporting related to mitigating disturbances, like wildfires, that are threatening many of our socio-ecological systems.
“Vibrant Planet’s experience in Planet’s Startup Program was phenomenal and continues to pay dividends for the growth of our company. It gave us a great opportunity to explore the wide range of Planet’s offerings with significant technical support on how to incorporate them into our product for demonstration purposes. The Planet team also made valuable connections with their partners and customers when there were synergies to investigate. I can’t recommend the program enough for young companies looking to explore the incorporation of Planet’s products to increase both the value and the reach of their products,” said Scott Conway, Chief Resilience Officer, Vibrant Planet.
makepath is an Open Source firm that builds custom AI-powered geospatial applications, including bespoke satellite imagery change detection solutions.
“makepath is excited to be a part of Planet’s innovative Startup Program. We continue to harness the power of satellite imagery to craft custom geospatial data science solutions for our clients. We have been able to explore complex challenges related to large-scale land usage, change detection and global retail operations management. We look forward to further expanding our impact together, driving positive change through geospatial intelligence,” said Pablo Fuentes, Founder & Principal, makepath.
In January of 2021, Planet set out to lead the RapidAI4EO consortium to advance state-of-the-art, continuous land monitoring applications throughout Europe. The initiative was awarded a competitive grant under the Horizon 2020 program to develop improved AI processes and provide critical training data for higher frequency updates of land use land cover. As an output of this program, today, we are proud to share the release of one of the largest (both temporally and spatially) training datasets to date of satellite imagery suited for diverse research applications in the machine learning domain. This dataset is accessible to the entire remote sensing community on Source Cooperative, Radiant Earth’s new cloud-based neutral data publishing utility (license terms apply).
Covering 500,000 patch locations across Europe with a frequency of every five days over two years, this dataset accounts for country representation and spatial distribution. The EO data is sourced from Planet partner Vision Impulse, who created monthly cloud-free Sentinel-2 image mosaics, with 10 meter resolution, and Planet Fusion Monitoring, which provides a 3 meter image every five days. Our Fusion Monitoring product offers a combination of multi-sensor data types that are all refined into a single uninterrupted datastream. Consisting of our high-frequency, daily satellite data fused with publicly sourced satellite data, Fusion offers gap free insights, ideal for time-series analysis.
Planet Fusion data from 2019 showing land use change in agricultural fields in Flanders, Belgium (left), the Flanders Airport (middle), and a deforested region in Portugal (right). “Thanks to programs like Copernicus and Horizon, Europe already has a world class downstream EO services industry. We believe that the launch of this powerful dataset can support the EU’s progress towards tackling climate change, advancing the UN SDGs, and driving further growth for the European EO ecosystem,” said Massimiliano Vitale, Planet’s Senior Vice President of Operations EMEA.
In order to train models to identify changes in landscape types such as crops, forests, and urban regions, an abundance of time series data is critical. Some land cover changes can only be identified by understanding how they change over time, such as seasonal crop patterns. While European land cover datasets have been in existence for some time, this high cadence time series at all locations is a key innovation, enabling the European region to classify and evaluate their changing landscape with more insights than ever before. While this dataset is designed for analysis of land use and land cover change, the insights can be generalized to a number of research initiatives which would benefit from dense time series, such as agricultural monitoring.
“We are proud to host one of the largest open Earth observation training dataset to date, thanks to the RapidAI4EO consortium led by Planet,” said Jed Sundwall, Executive Director at Radiant Earth. “The ambitious scale of this project helped us accelerate the development of Source Cooperative, our new data publishing utility. Planet has set a new standard for open Earth observation training datasets and we expect this dataset to enable reproducible scientific research for years to come.”
The training data has already enabled the creation of AI-powered change detection models to derive heat maps of change, helping to prioritize areas for map updates. With this high cadence time series, we believe the data can open the door to a new family of high fidelity machine learning models that can disentangle phenology from structural change and learn the dynamism of land covers. The release of this novel training dataset is an exciting step forward for understanding European land use for inter alia research purposes, and we are eager to see the many ways it will benefit the region.
With advances in artificial intelligence and analytics, we are just beginning to see the full potential of how Planet’s robust datasets can be used to track dark vessels globally and uncover illicit supply chain routes. Overlaying machine learning algorithms on our frequently captured satellite data enables government bodies, coast guards, border security, and intelligence agencies to monitor ports and coastlines, detect and track vessels, and uncover suspicious activity in contested waters.
Ships have a registered ship identity, a digital identity (electronic signature), and a physical identity; and analysts have to look at all three to investigate them and understand vessel spoofing operations, where ships disguise themselves as legitimate by broadcasting inaccurate information. This is why satellite imagery can be so essential. While ships may be able to acquire a new registered identity, or broadcast a different digital identity on the automated identification system (AIS), it is harder to make significant structural changes that fundamentally alter a ship’s physical identity. Planet’s global satellite imagery can reveal these ship details as well as their near-daily location, offering critical information for investigating illicit ship-to-ship transfers and port stops.
Planet’s automated Vessel Detection Feed combines our PlanetScope data with data analysis tools specifically designed to detect maritime vessels and track ship movement in strategic areas of interest. The near-daily imagery helps fill in intelligence gaps to monitor vessels even in the absence of AIS data. Beyond our own analytical feeds, our users are using their own AI algorithms to make critical discoveries on dark vessels. C4ADS and RUSI used Planet’s satellite data to conduct investigative studies on North Korea’s illicit oil procurement networks, and AI company, Windward, also combined their AI vessel tracking data with our imagery to report on the alleged laundering of Ukrainian grain by Russian dark vessels. Our images have also enabled journalists to investigate ship-to-ship transfers, allegedly allowing oil to flow to Russia despite sanctions.
Recently, our partner Royce Geo leveraged our imagery, paired with their computer vision models, to uncover critical answers to how tanker traffic volumes from Russia are changing, and where they are exporting and importing unsanctioned Russian oil across the globe. Using their models, Royce Geo extracted ship data and classified tankers. They then fused AIS data with satellite imagery to locate vessels that were potentially subverting their activity. Their analysis found that more tankers coming from Russian ports are now heading towards Chinese export destinations. This analysis demonstrated how applying computer vision models with PlanetScope data enabled the research team to quickly detect Russian tankers operating with their AIS transmitted disabled (referred to as operating “dark”) as they allegedly traveled between Russia and China to hit ports and make ship-to-ship transfers.
To learn about their research process and findings in full, read their article, cross-posted below:
Data, Analytics, and Tankers Full of Russian OilGlobal interest continues to grow in understanding how Russia continues to export oil and natural gas products while most nations have imposed sanctions and price caps. This issue is deeply impactful to the global economy, the continued conflict in Ukraine, and concerns about a growing risk of potential accidents and ecological impacts.
Our team here at RoyceGeo is collaborating with Spire and Planet to show how analytics applied to remotely sensed Automated Information System (AIS) vessel broadcasts and satellite imagery can answer key questions about magnitudes, trends, and specific vessel and fleet activities. While we have by no means conducted an exhaustive study of such a large and complex problem, we have been able to quickly show that remotely sensed data paired with analytics can answer critical questions about how tanker traffic volumes from Russia are changing, which ports are exporting and importing Russian oil, the feasibility of using remotely sensed data to find tankers that are subverting their activity, and the prevalence of older vessels that have recently started operating from Russian ports.
To illustrate how we approach problem sets with data and analytics, we connected Royce Geo CURVE Operational Environment (CURVE OE) with Spire and Planet API’s to rapidly ingest AIS and imagery data for the relevant time-period and geographic regions. We applied a Computer Vision (CV) model to extract ships and classify tankers within satellite images. Then we fused the AIS data with imagery-based tanker detections to locate vessels potentially subverting their activity by not transmitting or altering their AIS broadcast.
Here are some of the interesting things we found:
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Analytics applied to global AIS data collections show that since sanctions were imposed, vessel traffic has decreased at some large Russian ports with petroleum / oil / lubricant (POL) export capabilities, while some smaller Russian ports specializing in liquid natural gas (LNG) exports have shown increasing tanker traffic.
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AIS data, which is collected from vessel transmissions, shows that the global fleet of large LNG and POL tankers is so large that detecting a significant shift of vessel operations to Russian ports is challenging (bottom left chart). The shift is subtle and is also happening at least in part with dark and gray vessels that disable their AIS transmissions some or all the time. Analytics applied to global AIS data do show that tankers originating from Russian ports have shifted the destination for exports, mainly to China (top left chart).
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Analysis of AIS and satellite imagery shows a recent and growing buildup of vessels anchored in the Eastern Mediterranean, near the entrance to the Black Sea.
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Computer Vision technology applied to PlanetScope daily satellite imagery collections quickly detected LNG and POL tankers operating with their AIS transmitters disabled. The two examples below show an LNG and a POL vessel that largely operated “dark” following stops in Russia and were imaged while making port calls in China and performing ship-to-ship transfers.
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Analysis of AIS data does show a probable high-risk trend of older tankers have returned to service and started exporting Russian oil across the Baltic Sea.
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Analysis of AIS and Satellite imagery provides evidence of specific vessels transitioning ownership and shifting operations to Russian ports from other parts of the globe.
These are just a few of the facets of such a geographically massive and yet subtle problem that we have studied. To learn more about Royce Geo and our unique capabilities to deliver decision ready information from data, check us out here: https://www.roycegeo.com/
Our Education and Research Program is continuing to grow across California! We’re proud to share that the University of California – Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara) is the latest university to gain a campus-wide Planet license. Through this multi-year collaboration, the university will operate with an Education and Research Campus License Bundle, which offers PlanetScope and SkySat archives, plus UC Santa Barbara will also be able to leverage additional SkySat Tasking services to advance their research capabilities.
With this latest engagement from UC Santa Barbara, Planet is now operating across eight of the institutions in the University of California system, which all utilize a wide cross-section of Planet products. With broad access to our unique data and services, UC Santa Barbara is beginning to integrate our geospatial insights into their departments, generating novel research insights focused on climate, ecology, and wildfire management.
The school has an established history of using remote sensing technology for academic research; and it boasts a number of established research programs and centers in the environmental field, which will now be able to inform their research with Planet’s global data, including the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, the UC Santa Barbara Geography Department, the Earth Research Institute, the Climate Hazards Center, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
“With campus-wide access to Planet’s data, we are expecting students, researchers, and faculty to further expand their research and curriculum to tackle some of the most pressing planetary challenges of our time. We are also particularly excited to use the SkySat Tasking services to rapidly capture fine detailed images that reveal the impacts of wildfire, coastal storms, and allow our researchers to monitor conservation and restoration efforts across California and around the world,” said Kelly Caylor, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research.
Prior to obtaining this full campus-wide license, researchers at UC Santa Barbara had already leveraged our PlanetScope data for a number of studies, including publishing a critical scientific article on food security and smallholder farms in Ghana. Now, with this multi-year license, sitting within the Office of Research, faculty at UC Santa Barbara can rely on accessibility to our data for long-term research projects and it can also serve as a resource on which lecturers and educators can design curricula.
“This multi-year collaboration with UC Santa Barbara marks our next pivotal step towards enabling researchers across the state of California to analyze, quantify, and understand climate impacts on our environment, both locally here in California, and globally,” said Planet’s Dr. Joe Mascaro, Director, Science Strategy and Programs.
UC Santa Barbara has joined an ambitious set of universities who are advancing their geospatial research with full campus-wide Education and Research Program licenses, such as the University of Arizona, Stanford University, and Arizona State University. With a series of eight institutions within the University of California system now accessing Planet’s data and services through a variety of licenses, researchers across the state can generate collaborative studies, akin to the integrated work of schools in association with the Taylor Geospatial Institute and the Canadian boreal forest joint research effort (both groups leveraging Planet data for cross-university research initiatives).
This collaboration comes on the heels of our Education and Research Program’s transformation, which occurred at the beginning of 2023. Through strategic enhancements, we made the program more globally accessible than ever before. Curious researchers from more than 1,000 universities in 100 countries around the world are now accessing our data through Education and Research Program licenses. This accessibility transformation is one of several large programmatic announcements to come from Planet in the last year, including the launch of our Start-up Program in April, and the creation of our Nonprofit Program, and Food Security and Agricultural Monitoring Solution over the last six months.
Drought acts as a major threat to global agriculture, but with our Planetary Variables data feeds, we are seeing our customers and partners create drought insurance programs to mitigate risk and support farmers in critical situations. Today, we are proud to announce the extension of our strategic partnership with AXA Climate, a company that provides consulting services to the agri-food, industrial, financial and public sectors to help them successfully adapt to climate change and biodiversity loss, in a regenerative way. The extension aims to offer continued satellite data-driven insights for the development of parametric insurance products, which help protect farmers against the effects of drought on their livelihoods.
Based in Paris, France, AXA Climate offers unique drought insurance services that estimate crop yield and losses and automatically trigger payouts within a few days of an end of a risk period. This enables farmers and agricultural stakeholders, such as suppliers and processors, to swiftly receive compensation and much-needed support during challenging times.
“With Planet’s unique satellite data, AXA Climate has been able to provide a high quality index insurance coverage service for farmers and cooperatives. We can now act quickly to help farmers and stakeholders combat the major threat of drought to agriculture around the world,” said Antoine Denoix, CEO of AXA Climate.
Our Planetary Variables data feeds deliver continuous, scientifically rigorous data that measures and quantifies the changing conditions of the surface of the Earth. Using our Soil Water Content data feed, AXA Climate receives a measurement of the volume of water contained in soil at a high resolution in their areas of interest to a depth of about 5 centimeters. This critical information helps the insurance company determine risk for drought-related losses, such as crop yields. AXA Climate calculates a soil moisture index from this data, which serves as a reliable indicator of the amount of water available for crops. This index is closely associated with yield variability, making it an essential factor to consider in agriculture.
“These Planetary Variables provide accurate, daily, global measurements. AXA Climate is using our Soil Water Content variable to monitor, and then provide automatic payments if the soil moisture gets below a certain percent for more than a number of days. This offers a powerful service that can support global farmers in critical situations,” said Will Marshall, CEO of Planet. “Abstracting out critical measurables from satellite data enables our customers to reach larger value, enable new applications and thus more customers to get value from Planet’s data.”
Using our data, AXA Climate can obtain reliable, up-to-date soil moisture data across the world and even for remote regions. This year, the index insurance service started operating in southern and central Brazil. With this extended partnership, AXA Climate looks forward to expanding their services in the country as well as globally. While these insights have been critical for farmers, they have also proved to be valuable for developing new approaches to mitigate the effects of climate change beyond agriculture, such as monitoring natural disaster risk.
Modern soccer pitches are more like patchwork quilts than traditional fields. Increasingly large, closed-off stadiums do not allow enough sunlight for grass to thrive naturally, so clubs grow it in nearby fields and retrofit it into their pitches.
But professional players can’t be expected to bounce between six different types of turf; the pitch needs to be totally uniform. To achieve this, several of Spain’s major soccer clubs enlisted E-STRATOS, a pioneering technology platform designed to help land managers monitor their crops.
E-STRATOS has built its platform around satellite imagery, creating an automated data store that land managers and advisers can easily consult to track field changes. The platform enables stadium managers to simultaneously monitor their soccer fields and plain land in addition to grass transfer to the pitch at the right moments to create consistent terrain.
That clubs would embrace such a solution was not inevitable. Introducing new technology to the land management industry is a hard sell. There is a lot of hesitation and customers’ processes have to change. It can be an intimidating first step for many.
Josep Renard Segarra, Chief Technology Office for E-STRATOS, explains his approach to such a problem, “we had to build a product that not only could solve some of the issues that they had, but also give them a bit more in order to be attractive.” And that is where Planet came in. At 3 meter resolution, our satellite imagery was ten times higher resolution than the data E-STRATOS was used to. But the frequency of Planet’s imaging was also crucial.
Cloudy conditions present a significant challenge for land management consultants, obscuring their imagery and making consistent coverage difficult. By capturing images on a near-daily imaging cadence, our data greatly increase the chances of securing at least one cloud-free image available weekly for these teams.
“It’s all about reliable data resolution, frequency, and easy access,” Segarra said. “We created an automated workflow where we can easily ask Planet for data, download it, and then present it to the customer.” And the company keeps discovering new applications for this process.
Professional golf courses, for example, must be maintained to a high standard. But it’s not the greenness of the grass that E-STRATOS uses our data to monitor; it’s actually the ground’s humidity. Grass only tends to show signs of going bad when it’s too late. Measuring the humidity with their supplemental drones enables course owners to properly assess the state of their grass and proactively manage it.
Segarra expects these innovations to continue as the quality and volume of satellite data increase. “Now we are working with variable rate applications…the machine knows exactly where to apply some amount of fertilizer, for example, in different zones, all based on the maps that we collect from clients and process.”
As the sun set on Explore 2023, I walked away in awe of the countless stories I heard, detailing how Planet data has continued to shine a bright light on our rapidly changing planet. Thanks to our leadership keynotes, luminary speakers, and customer stories, I’ve gained an even better sense of the drivers of our global and collaborative work. From revealing the changing wheat fields of Ukraine to generating new AI-enhanced models to monitor natural disaster risk, Planet, our customers, and our partners are pushing into new arenas, embracing both the space renaissance and the data revolution. So, my top three takeaways from yesterday’s series of events? It all boils down to Illumination, Inspiration, and Impact.
- IlluminationEarth observation data can aid in peace and security initiatives, deterring conflict and revealing critical insights to illuminate details of critical events and rapidly changing situations on a near-daily cadence. In the morning morning, we learned more about how this illumination has supported the work of the U.S. government through Planet’s co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Robbie Schingler’s fireside chat with Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth, Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Fireside chat with Planet co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Robbie Schingler (left) and Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth, Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (right).The two discussed how Planet’s data is supporting the unique triad of government, industry, and academia all working together at the Taylor Geospatial Institute in St. Louis. Vice Admiral Whitworth highlighted how sensing leads to sense making for the intelligence community. Now with an influx of sensing technologies, Whitworth noted that AI technologies are also being used to manage the data deluge of sensing information and helping to automate the analysis process.
“Part of security is understanding the Earth and the frictions that might bring serious security issues. Being predictive means you have to understand the world. We have this privilege and responsibility to contribute data,” explained Whitworth.
Following this, Planet Federal’s Chief Strategist and Chairman of the Board Robert Cardillo was joined by General B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations at the United States Space Force. The conversation focused on how the remote sensing industry and the U.S. government can work in collaboration to help ensure peace and security globally.
Robert Cardillo, Planet Federal’s Chief Strategist and Chairman of the Board (left) was joined by General B. Chance Saltzman (right). “Show me the art of the possible, and then we can build a rapid feedback loop between industry and government. It’s all about enhancing that relationship to develop capabilities at speed and scale,” said Saltzman.
As we heard over the last two days, we are living in an unprecedented era of geopolitics in which governments, researchers, the media, and citizens can access information to illuminate and document the actions of governments and the changing planet. This is revealing complex political and environmental issues around the world and giving people the knowledge and platform to affect positive change.
For instance, we heard from Inbal Becker-Reshef, Program Director at NASA Harvest, NASA’s Food Security and Agriculture Program, whose team is analyzing our satellite imagery to report on crop impacts caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. She highlighted the critical reports her team created using Planet data, which analyzed crop harvests across occupied and unoccupied territories of Ukraine. Her team informed the Ukrainian government and media of the state of the world’s “breadbasket” and they reported that significantly more crops were being planted and harvested across the region than previous estimates predicted.
Inbal Becker-Reshef, Program Director at NASA Harvest presenting her team’s research.We were also fascinated to hear from the journalists and analysts who have been illuminating global events with factual stories in order to ignite change. With satellite data, these investigators have been able to see what is happening in dangerous places from the safety of their computers. Reporter Meg Kelly from The Washington Post was able to report on atrocities happening in Tigre, Ethiopia and reveal details of the Russo-Ukrainian War. Researcher Matt Finer of the Amazon Conservation Fund used Planet’s data over a series of years to shine a light on the ecologically devastating impacts of gold mining in the Amazon and influence policy change in the region. At the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Jeffrey Lewis and his team analyzed Planet’s data to reveal hundreds of missile silos in China, informing civil society about international affairs in a new accessible way. These researchers and reporters are using satellite data to reveal these previously unrevealed regions of the world.
Geoff Brumfiel, Senior Editor and Correspondent,National Public Radio (left), Matthew Finer, Sr Research Specialist & Director of MAAP, Amazon Conservation (middle left), Meg Kelly, Senior Visual Forensics Reporter, The Washington Post (middle right), and Jeffrey Lewis, Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. 2. InspirationAt Planet, our work is inspired by our core mission to use space to help life on Earth every day – and we were moved to hear this sentiment echoed from our morning luminary speaker. Astronaut, artist, and educator Dr. Sian Proctor took to the stage for an awe-inspiring talk about her journey and experience of traveling to space and being bathed in earthlight. Dr. Proctor is a woman of firsts: the mission pilot for SpaceX’s Inspiration4, the first all-civilian orbital mission; the first female African American spacecraft pilot, the first African American commercial astronaut, and the first African American to paint in space.
Dr. Sian Proctor giving her inspirational luminary keynote.In her rousing speech, she made the audience want to reach for the stars and called for us all to create a just and equitable future by positively influencing others. Fittingly, this remarkable woman’s motto is “Space2inspire” – encouraging people to leverage their unique passions and skills to inspire others in new and creative ways, such as marrying art and expression with science and technology. Through her award-winning poetry (what enabled her to earn a spot on SpaceX’s Inspiration 4 flight), she called for all to strive for a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive (J.E.D.I) space – an ode to the power of the force. We are proud to share that her own artwork is currently orbiting around our planet on a Dove satellite. For me, this inspirational talk reinforced the notion that we must push our own creative boundaries to achieve our next steps.
Planet Dove satellite with Dr. Sian Proctor’s artwork on the side.We also heard from a man who has dedicated his life and career to supporting the sustainable stewardship of our special life-filled planet. Planet co-founder and CEO Will Marshall joined Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund and previous President and CEO of the World Resource Institute, for a fireside chat on the importance of addressing climate change and using satellite data to enable a global sustainability transformation.
Planet co-founder and CEO Will Marshall (left) and Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund (right).His talk inspired us to ensure that our data is getting into the hands of those working to protect our precious natural resources. He called for increased accessibility for indigenous communities, and inspired us all to take action to mitigate the global effects of climate change. “Absent information, we will not be able to address the problems that we have set out to do,” said Steer.
And we heard a myriad of inspirational customer and partner stories that have made me believe that Planet’s data is helping build that resilient global future. Here are just some of the examples:
Supporting Transformational Change in Africa
Representatives from Rock Geospatial LLC and the United Nations World Food Programme shared how Planet satellite data, in addition to the empowerment of young adults in sub-saharan Africa, is transforming rural poverty and food insecurity. Focusing on development planning in Lesotho, this hopeful project used Planet Basemaps and international collaboration to improve agricultural self-sufficiency and employment in the country.
John Ahlrichis, Founder of Rock Geospatial LLC (right) and Menghestab Haile, Regional Director of Southern Africa from the United Nations World Food Programme (right). “The continent of Africa needs this type of analysis. The data is available; and this is just the beginning. We have been dreaming of this for many many years and it is working,“ said Menghestab Haile, Regional Director of Southern Africa from the United Nations World Food Programme.
Addressing Climate-linked Instability
Leaders in defense, diplomacy, and aid are focusing on how climate change is deeply intertwined with political instability. More extreme weather events, such as drought or sudden disasters, are known to cause human conflict as resources become scarce. So, the global security community is leveraging Planet data for operational readiness to manage humanitarian crises and advance peace and security.
Richard Ghani, Planet’s Industry Marketing Lead for the U.S. Federal Government (left), Christian Hauglie-Hanssen, Director General, Norwegian Space Agency (middle left), Dr. Chelsea L. Cervantes de Blois is the lead Climate Security Analyst for the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the Department of State (middle right), and Carrie Stokes, Chief Geographer, ISAID (right).“There is a nexus of climate migration and conflict….This is where it comes back to data. We can’t just have a measurement of food or impacts of drought; we also need to determine the best data that would fit our complex models,” said Chelsea Cervantes de Blois, Lead Climate Security Analyst for the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the US Department of State.
Creating AI-enhanced Models for the Future Resiliency
Planet partner Accenture shared how they are integrating Planet satellite data into their models for sustainable supply chain management and the evaluation of natural disaster risk on renewable energy. Viveca Pavon-Harr, Director of the AI Discovery Lab for Accenture Federal Services shared how the integration of Planet’s insights helped Accenture build a simulation system to identify the best locations for renewable energy growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. This team is moving beyond monitoring what’s currently happening on Earth. By using AI, they are building out future sustainable scenarios to inform business and policy.
Viveca Pavon-Harr, Director of the AI Discovery Lab, Accenture Federal Services (left) and Bryan Rich, Senior Managing Director, Accenture’s Global AI Practice for the Public Sector (right).“When we use even more generative AI to extract even more data from these resources, it’s going to massively change what we will be able to understand,” said Bryan Rich is currently the Senior Managing Director for Accenture’s Global AI Practice for the Public Sector.
- ImpactThe theme of Explore 2023 was From Transparency to Action, and we closed the event with a focus on how all of this action can lead to genuine global impact. But “impact” can mean a lot of things to different stakeholders. So Andrew Zolli, Planet’s Chief Impact Officer, took the stage with Enric Sala, National Geographic Explorer in Residence, and Christiana Figueres, Founding Partner of Global Optimism and Former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to unpack exactly that. Andrew highlighted how we need real collective systems change that focuses on the delivering and fostering trust and building pathways to scale. They discussed how strategic actions can lead to powerful global impacts from preserving the critical biodiversity in our oceans to building international programs focused on common goals.
Christiana Figueres, Founding Partner of Global Optimism and Former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (right screen), Planet’s Chief Impact Officer, Andrew Zolli (middle), and Enric Sala, National Geographic Explorer in Residence (right).“When we all actually understand that we are all bound by our common humanity, living on our common home, then you develop the ability to jump over the divisions that drive us apart,” said Figueres.
At the end of the day, I was privileged to host a spellbinding luminary talk with mountaineer, National Geographic photographer, and Academy Award Winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin. He’s equally as well-known for his rock climbing and skiing achievements as he is for his impactful storytelling work. He reminded us that in order to make a big impact in the world, we need to be bold, adventurous, and creative, and encouraged us all to “keep pushing the edge” whether it was in technology, science, or our creative pursuits.
Planet CMO, Donna Prlich (left) speaking with luminary speaker Jimmy Chin, mountaineer, National Geographic photographer, and Academy Award Winning filmmaker (right).“There are two great risks in life, risking too much or risking too little. When you examine the costs of not taking risks, it refines your calculations,” said Chin.
Like Planet, Chin believes in the power of transparency to lead to action. He shared that he always believes that transparency is central to his documentary filmmaking work as he looks to reveal the truth and educate others about the world and how to protect it. We ended our talk discussing his latest documentary, Wild Life, which focuses on conservationists who dedicated their lives to protect some of the most unique and biodiverse places in the world. Chin left us with the parting notion that even a small group of friends and collaborators can make a massive impact on our planet.
What an exhilarating ride we had today at Explore 2023! Our annual user conference, hosted in Washington, D.C., was stacked with thought leadership keynotes, customer and partner speaking events, and an Expo theater. With hundreds of individuals in the audience, the day began with a series of energizing keynotes from Planet co-founder and CEO Will Marshall who shared the latest news coming out of Planet, from data feeds to program launches.
Here are the 5 things that most excite me about what’s ahead and how this year’s event theme, “From Transparency to Action” comes to life.
- Increasing transparency with easy to use data and metrics
To kick-start the day, Will announced the latest Planetary Variables product updates, which capture and quantify changes in dynamic global systems. Today, we launched full availability via APIs of four data feeds – Roads and Building Detection, Soil Water Content, Biomass Proxy, and Land Surface Temperature. We also introduced a new suite of Variables, including Forest Structure, Forest Carbon, and Vegetation Encroachment, slated to be available later this year. These data feeds render earth observation data into metrics – providing a transparent and measured look at our world at large.
Will Marshall, Planet co-founder and CEO, announcing new Planetary Variables to come later this year: Forest Structure, Forest Carbon, and Vegetation Encroachment2. Democratizing access to global insights
Democratizing access to satellite data to non-traditional users has been part of Planet’s mission from the start. And today, to further this goal and cultivate innovation, we launched our Startup Program, which aims to enable early-stage startups to build novel applications powered by Planet’s data. We look forward to welcoming 30+ startups globally this year into this program to build, prototype, and experiment with new solutions through this program. A number of startups from the Startup Program’s first cohort joined us today at Explore 2023 to present their work. Two highlights were Terra Cover, which is pioneering virtual monitoring stations for rivers and streams, and Vibrant Planet, which is generating solutions for managing forested areas for wildfires. We are committed to continuously making our data and tools accessible, and over the last year, we have launched a whole series of programs to increase access to those who look to solve some of the world’s most complex challenges, including the Nonprofit Program, the Global Food Security and Agriculture Program, and the enhanced Education and Research Program.
- Embracing the future of AI and an Earth Data Platform
We live in a unique time for innovation and artificial intelligence, and I’m excited by how Planet is embracing these advances. Today, Planet President of Product and Business Kevin Weil’s visionary keynote, dove into our recent announcement about our agreement to acquire EO data platform company, Sinergise, which operates EU-backed Sentinel Hub. This move looks to accelerate Planet’s goals to create an Earth Data Platform to empower global action. Sinergise develops and operates machine-learning based solutions for monitoring the planet, and we very much look forward to where this will lead next.
Speaking of earth data platforms, Kevin also teased a proof-of-concept project Planet’s been working on with Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, affectionately known as “Queryable California.” It was designed to evaluate how next-gen AI technology can make high-resolution satellite imagery and Planetary Variables more accessible by both indexing physical characteristics of life on Earth and making it searchable. You can read more about it in this blog.
Kevin Weil, Planet President, Product and Business, presenting his keynote.4. Cultivating actionable solutions with our Partner ecosystem
Planet has built a worldwide network of partners which have built novel solutions to enable Planet customers to take action. And now, we are further cultivating their innovations and services through our formalized Solution Certification Program, also announced by Kevin. This program technically tests, validates, and certifies unique Partner solutions that can be successfully scaled to many Planet customers. Earlier this year, Planet announced the first three certified partners: SCCON, Woolpert and (before mentioned) Sinergise, recognizing them as companies that offer robust applications and services, such as providing cloud deployments and optimization support, and delivering API-based dynamic alert systems for environmental and risk analysis. Together with our certified partners, we look forward to scaling such robust solutions to support customer action.
- Empowering our customers to change the world
At the very heart of all of Explore 23 is our customer and partner stories. We heard from scientists, defense and intelligence analysts, leaders in Agriculture, and government officials – all of which shared how they were digitally transforming their operations, transitioning towards a sustainable future, and ensuring peace and security on this earth. Here are some of the most captivating moments of the day:
Vice Chair & President of Microsoft Brad Smith on the Future of Artificial Intelligence and Planet’s Data
We were honored to be joined by Brad Smith (left) to hear his enlightening thoughts about the future of AI to evaluate our changing earth and what new technologies, such as ChatGPT, could do to help build accessibility to data around the world. “When you take satellite data and you add AI, you open up this data and make it easier for people to understand what’s going on. You’ve opened up a new realm of possibility for humanity,” said Smith.
Putnam Investments Head of Sustainable Investing Katherine Collins on Sustainable Finance
Planet Chief Financial and Operating Officer Ashley Johnson (left) hosted Katherine Collins (right) for a fireside chat about the future of investments, the world of ESG, and sustainable finance. “What’s really interesting with Planet is there is the hard asset of satellite data that is unique and hard to replicate, and there is the second asset, the data, which provides others with value. Both of them are evolving in an expansive way over time,” said Collins.
Vice President, Global Head of Digital, Product Supply of Bayer Crop Science, Jim Kennet on Digital Agriculture
Jim Kennett (right) shared with Planet’s Chief Customer Officer Mike Merit (left) how Planet’s data is helping Bayer revolutionize digital agriculture. With data about crop biomass, seasonal growth patterns, and irrigation, the agricultural company helps to reveal supply chain insights. Planet’s data has enabled the Bayer Crop Science team to see crop changes in near-real time and respond swiftly, ensuring sustainable and data-informed management practices, Kennett explained.
As we brought this event together, we were thrilled to see just how many diverse and inspiring leaders, analysts, and scientists were convening to share how Planet’s data has enabled them to see the world in a new and transparent light. The future feels bright as this year’s Explore showcases how our customers and partners are taking strides to build a better world through data-informed action.
Today was just the first day, so stay tuned for another piece about our Day 2 luminary speakers and our focus on impact tomorrow!
By: Kevin Weil and Andrew Zolli
Back in 2018, Planet co-founder and CEO Will Marshall asked the audience during his TED talk: what if you could search the surface of the Earth the same way you search the internet?
It wasn’t science fiction. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to index objects on the planet over time – which could make ships, trees, buildings, and other objects on earth searchable, the same way you search with your internet browser. Planet and its partners have been making accelerating progress on this since Will’s TED talk: high-altitude balloon tracking, building damage classification to aid disaster response, mapping utility-scale wind and solar power across the globe, etc.
Several of these projects have been done in collaboration with Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab. It’s been in those meeting rooms, and working with each other’s data and tools, and crunching code that we’ve asked ourselves: how else can the combination of high-resolution satellite imagery and AI technology help in solving some of humanity’s greatest challenges?
Fundamentally, access to data and insights made available through digital analysis can be transformational for businesses, academics, researchers, policymakers, and more. As the world seeks to account for physical change on Earth, data can inform supply chain tracking, actions to mitigate the effects of climate change, disaster preparedness and response, and food insecurity.
So at Explore23, Planet’s annual user conference, we teased the outcome of one of those Microsoft-Planet brainstorm sessions: how next-gen AI can make satellite data more accessible for all by making it searchable, conversational and context-aware.
In collaboration with the Microsoft AI for Good Lab, we built this proof-of-concept project affectionately known as “Queryable California.” This won’t be in your internet browser tomorrow – but it shows the art of the possible. And that’s what’s incredibly exciting to us.
The idea with Queryable California is to evaluate how Microsoft’s next-gen AI can make our high-resolution satellite imagery and Planetary Variables data products more accessible by both indexing physical characteristics of life on Earth and making them searchable, in plain and easy-to-understand language, with real-world context about location and time. All in hopes of empowering people with data and insights – following a few strokes on a keyboard – that can guide better decision-making.
In this demo video below, you can see we’re asking a customized next-gen AI interface questions about the temperature in Sacramento. We’ve combined this with a query engine and Planetary Variables’ datasets, like land surface temperature, so that the AI can compute important insights like the average temperature of the ground and the hottest year over the last two decades. With forest fires, it’s able to not just tell us about how much tree cover was destroyed in the 2018 California Camp Fire, but also how much forest carbon was lost. This is an example of what we often talk about: a future where we abstract out the satellite image and provide to the user the specific information from the image that they need to make a decision.
Talk to any Planeteer, and we’ll tell you that making change visible is about agile aerospace and Planet’s ability to rapidly build large constellations of satellites that can produce new datasets the world has never seen before. Making change accessible is about stitching that data together, allowing for quick and easy analysis, and helping our customers and partners extract insights from it. Making change actionable is about bringing these building blocks to the customer, wherever they are, and providing an Earth Data Platform that enables them to build our solutions into their workflows.
So this proof of concept is a flavor of what we mean, and what we aspire to. This is only one example of what Planet’s satellite data and Microsoft’s AI technology can unlock and we look forward to sharing more in the future.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this blog are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
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Earlier this year we announced our second annual customer awards! The Planet Purpose Awards recognize and celebrate companies that are leading the way in the respective categories that align to Planet’s core values.
This year the theme is “From Transparency to Action.” While Planet believes transparency and accountability are critical to understanding the global challenges facing organizations today, it is not enough. It’s about the need to take action now.
Planet’s data and platform enable an ecosystem of customers, partners, and the scientific community to shed light on events and behaviors where accountability is most needed – ultimately with the goal of driving better outcomes for a sustainable, secure planet and today we’re excited to recognize the pioneers leading the way.
We were overwhelmed by the great submissions in each category that our leadership team at Planet read through and voted on. Without further ado, this year’s winners are…
Do Good: NASA Harvest
The first category, Do Good, recognizes those whose work helps bring transparency to our changing world and strives to make it a better place for people and the environment.
The Do Good Award goes to NASA Harvest. Analysts at NASA Harvest have been tracking the impact on agriculture in Ukraine since the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war. With Planet’s satellite data, they have been able to observe crop planting, commodity harvesting, and even fires along the frontlines of the conflict where fields are burned. Their latest study (re-posted in full from NASA Earth Observatory) shows that farmers have harvested 26.6 million tons of wheat in both Russian- and Ukrainian-occupied territories in 2022 – several million tons higher than expected in leading forecasts.
This is the third report using Planet satellite imagery and other data sources that the NASA Harvest team has produced about the war’s effect on Europe’s breadbasket. Previous surveys documented how much of Ukraine’s agriculture was under Russia’s control a few months post-invasion, and a subsequent progress report showed how many winter crops had been harvested and summer/spring crops planted, especially around the frontlines.
Dream Big: Polícia Federal do Brasil& Santiago e Cintra Consultoria Ltda. (SCCON)
The Dream Big award highlights customers and partners who push the boundaries of what’s possible, driven by a big audacious mission.
This year’s award winner is Polícia Federal do Brasiland SCCON.Polícia Federal and SCCON conceived and implemented the largest program for monitoring and detecting changes in the Amazon using high-resolution daily satellite images and alerts that prove the illicit event with traceability proven by Planet images of before and after the illicit act accompanied by their respective metadata. The Brasil MAIS Program is one of the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety’s (MJSP) strategic initiatives and is the largest remote sensing operational project in Brazil.
With the implementation of SCCON Platform alerts powered by Planet data, the Brazilian Federal Police has made great strides in preventing illicit activities in one of the most remote regions of the world:
- With its use of Planet satellite data and SCCON’s automated change detection, the project has collected over $ 1.9 billion / R$ 9.6 billion from fines, seized goods, and the freezing of assets since 2020.
- Over 3,300 public agents were mobilized in over 120 joint operations, using satellite imagery and data from the project.
- To date, over 270 institutions and 26,000 users have direct access to the data in one platform, including geoservices, dashboards and reports. This cohesion promotes broad participation and support for decision-making within the Federal Government.
Drive for Results: Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department, Odisha &
Odisha Space Application Centre (ORSAC) &
Technology Partner: SPARC Private Limited (India)
Drive for Results awards those who rapidly hypothesize and test, measure, and improve the way they approach solving a problem to drive more results.
The Drive for Results award goes to ORSAC, the Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department, Odisha, and technology Partner: SPARC Private Limited (India). Under the aegis of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department, Government of Odisha (India), Odisha currently procures Paddy worth INR 14,000 Crores (about 1.7 BIllion USD) from more than 1.5 million farmers across the state covering about 50,000 villages under the MSP (Minimum Support Price) scheme.
With Planet data, ORSAC was able to check the validity of reported paddy crops at the farm land level in these villages. The successful implementation over a large area was possible due to availability of near real-time satellite images from Planet which resulted in validation of paddy grown in farm lands of Odisha. This encouraged more small and medium farmers to avail benefits of the scheme, improving their participation from 67% to 73%.
Strive for Openness: Radio Free Europe
Our mission at Planet is to make change visible, accessible, and actionable which is why the Strive for Opennessaward promotes those who build bridges and share information in a way that fosters openness and shared outcomes.
The award goes to the journalists of the Schemes program, the investigative unit of Radio Free Europe’s Radio Liberty in Ukraine who have been using Planet to document the War in Ukraine.
On the morning of April 21, 2022, a local Ukrainian resident reported mass burial sites in their region. The journalists of the Schemes program turned to Planet to quickly to obtain satellite images that allowed them to confirm these reports. On the same day,Schemes reporters found the first mass burial site near the Mangush cemetery in Mariupol. In the following days, Schemes also identified a burial site near the village of Vynohradne and reported on another site at the Old Crimea cemetery in the vicinity of Mariupol. In May, Schemes continued to monitor the mass burials using Planet imagery and recorded an increase in the number of graves. In July, they reported that the mass burial site at the Old Crimean Cemetery doubled compared to May.
The reporting by Schemes has shed a light on the devastating impacts of the War in Ukraine and has since been re-reporting and quoted by major Ukrainian, European and American media, including CNN, The Wall Street Journal and many others.
Be Collaborative: Norway’s International Climate & Forests Initiative (NICFI)
Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT)
The Be Collaborative award showcases how groups and partnerships can collaborate to do something that each individual couldn’t accomplish alone.
Since October 2020, when Norway’s International Climate & Forests Initiative (NICFI) launched its Satellite Data Program with an international contract awarded to Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) with partners Planet and Airbus, the global community has had a tremendous resource available in the fight against tropical deforestation: High-resolution satellite monitoring. KSAT has been instrumental in coordinating across partners, users, and clients in the NICFI Satellite Data Program contract to ensure that Planet’s data helps achieve critical climate and conservation goals.
They gifted the whole world with new satellite images to allow anyone, anywhere, to monitor tropical deforestation. This is innovative, groundbreaking, and a fantastic example of a Public-Private Partnership.
That wraps up our second-annual Planet Purpose Awards. Congratulations again to all of the winners and thank you for the critical work you are each doing for the world.
Making Waves with Blue Carbon
Trace your finger across a globe, around the edges of islands and continents, and soon enough, you’ll brush against some of the world’s most important ecosystems – the marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses that constitute the world’s “coastal blue carbon” stocks. Beyond their role in storing carbon, these ecosystems provide many important benefits to people and the planet, from supporting livelihoods and bolstering food security to providing storm protection and critical habitats for endangered marine species.
It is therefore unsurprising that, at the end of 2022, blue carbon was a major topic in global climate conversations. November’s COP27 bore witness to new standards for incorporating oceans into the Paris Agreement, and a first-of-a-kind framework to guide the development of high-quality blue carbon credits was launched. Countries around the world are working to increase protection and management of their blue carbon stocks. Today, we are proud to share how we’ve been working to further accelerate this blue carbon momentum by announcing our collaborative efforts on the Blue Carbon Explorer (BlueCarbon.TNC.org) – a tool developed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) that aims to map mangrove and seagrass blue carbon around the world using Planet satellite data.
By now, many are familiar with how carbon is absorbed and stored by rainforests globally, but how about other diverse ecosystems? Coastal ecosystems can actually store up to 5 times as much carbon as upland forests. The world’s mangroves alone sequester more than 31 million tons of carbon in their soils and biomass each year. So, the protection and restoration of these environments is critical for supporting biodiversity, combating climate change, and helping communities to thrive, and new tools to map, monitor, and quantify these ecosystems are key to aid in their conservation. “These ecosystems really are a great ocean-climate link, and part of our strategy is to unlock this blue carbon potential for climate mitigation,” said Lindsey Smart, Climate and Ocean Scientist at TNC.
Monitoring Coastal Ecosystems From Space
The Blue Carbon Explorer is a Google Earth Engine app developed by TNC’s Caribbean Science team that provides detailed maps of mangroves and seagrasses to help governments evaluate the extent and health of these natural resources. TNC integrates field-collected data from drone and satellite imagery, including Planet’s PlanetScope and SkySat imagery, to visualize and identify key areas for restoration and protection, helping TNC and partners prioritize management and conservation activities.
A field team surveys mangroves from a drone in West Side National Park, Andros Island, The Bahamas. Credit: TNC/Steve Schill“Thousands of PlanetScope scenes were used to derive the high-resolution mangrove and seagrass extent layers that the Blue Carbon Explorer relies on to perform analyses of temporal changes in habitat health and extract data on canopy height,” said Valerie Pietsch McNulty, Conservation Scientist for TNC’s Caribbean Division. “Planet’s data has been a game-changer for decision-making due to its high resolution because restoration sites can be very small, so having this level of granularity in the spatial data allows us to really target specific areas, within expansive mangrove patches.”
On the ground, TNC and their partners assess habitat health and carbon storage potential through a combination of underwater and drone surveys, soil coring, and collection of plot-level aboveground biomass estimates, but this process can be time and energy intensive and limited in extent. TNC is now identifying relationships between this field data and satellite-derived measurements (optical and radar) so that the field information on ecosystem health and carbon storage potential can be scaled across large expanses of coastal habitat with Planet’s satellite data.
SkySat image of Grenville Bay, Saint Andrew Parish, Grenada showing increased details on seagrasses in the region taken February 21, 2023. “Planet offers us an unprecedented ability to look through a daily archive of imagery and select the very best scenes that are suited for looking underwater. That requires certain conditions – lower tides, calm water, no cloud cover or sun glint,” explained Dr. Steve Schill, Lead Scientist for the Caribbean at TNC. “This data permits us to visualize the dynamic nature of blue carbon habitats at a level of detail that previously has not been possible; and we can do this systematically across hundreds of islands and thousands of square kilometers of mangroves and seagrass beds.”
The Blue Carbon Explorer displays a 2015-2021 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) change analysis for Old Harbour Bay, Jamaica, highlighting areas of mangrove loss and growth.This work is providing novel insights on these coastal ecosystems which have never been reported on in such depth, extent, and precision. The tool has already started to reveal insights into changing coastal habitats throughout the Caribbean, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. And this is just the beginning. Leveraging Planet data and new techniques in AI, as well as lessons learned from the Blue Carbon Explorer, these insights can be used to better understand coastal habitats around the world.
“Mapping coastal blue carbon is a critical step in securing these vital carbon stocks – and the immense social, ecological, climatological and economic value they represent,” said Planet’s Chief Impact Officer Andrew Zolli. “By combining TNC’s expertise with Planet’s breakthrough Earth observation capabilities, the Blue Carbon Explorer makes these benefits visible and accessible to a wide variety of stakeholders. It’s a vital tool for advancing a scientifically rigorous, just, and inclusive transition to a more climate-stabilized future.”
SkySat image of Sanders Island, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea showing details on mangroves in the region taken on March 12, 2022. Planet image provided by TNC. Carbon Credit Markets
By offering such a robust amount of scientific data, these tools could help provide the means for bringing these blue carbon resources to the market. In today’s current carbon market, verifiable data enables governments to receive global incentives to protect and restore their carbon sinks. For some, this process can financially support conservation efforts and encourage sustainable economic initiatives.
“In terms of carbon accounting, we really need high resolution globally consistent datasets because these systems are pretty dynamic,” said TNC’s Smart. “It’s really important to accurately quantify the carbon sequestered and stored in these systems and the changes through time. The fact that Planet data can be leveraged to do these things is a huge value add, especially for scaling blue carbon market projects.”
For some governments, the Blue Carbon Explorer has already helped reveal previously unknown mangrove and seagrass resources, informing them about the extent of these valuable resources, growing right along their shores. With archives of Planet imagery, nations could be able to provide verifiable data to help report their progress on protection and restoration efforts and bring these resources to market.
“One of the biggest gaps we have is localized site data in order to make carbon market projects work. Having Planet data is critical for us to justify and show the carbon content, the dynamics of the system in and of itself in terms of loss rates and gains,” said Emily Landis, Climate and Ocean Strategy Lead at TNC. “This is already starting to help us as we’re trying to prioritize locations and understand where we’re going to find the biggest return on investment for carbon.”
Stakeholder Engagement
Mangroves offer a wealth of ecosystem services, not only sequestering carbon, but also protecting coastal communities from storm surge and flooding, serving as a nursery for commercial fish species, and supporting eco-tourism and outdoor recreation. Mangrove restoration provides an opportunity for governments to invest in climate mitigation and adaptation strategies simultaneously, as well as sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity. TNC deeply emphasizes the need for stakeholder knowledge alongside science to prioritize habitat areas for restoration. They have conducted extensive workshops and research with local communities and government leaders in building the tool and applying it to scale-up restoration efforts on the ground.
PlanetScope image & NIR false color composite of coastal vegetation in Tarpon Town, Andros Island, The Bahamas taken February 10, 2023. The red coloring in the NIR false color composite indicates vegetation. “When prioritizing where to restore coastal habitats, it is critical to include the people component and identify areas where climate change is having the most impact. Socioeconomic indicators can be analyzed to model human vulnerability and restoration efforts of mangroves and seagrass beds can take place where they benefit the people who need them most,” explained TNC’s Schill. Using Planet’s satellite data, TNC can more accurately map both ecological and economic features that help to “zero in on the areas where the resilience of a coastal community can be improved and the benefits of coastal protection and enhanced livelihoods and human well-being are aligned.”
Their team was led by a guiding principle that this science should be given back to the countries where these habitats exist. “They really do view the science as their national sovereignty. So, we’re making sure that when we’re doing this science, it’s getting into the hands of the people who make decisions and they feel ownership,” said TNC’s Landis.
A field team conducts drone surveys over mangroves in West Side National Park, Andros Island, The Bahamas. Credit: TNC/Steve SchillThe Blue Carbon Explorer and these newly completed mangrove maps are already being put to work by The Nature Conservancy and conservation partners in The Bahamas. Many of the mangroves on Grand Bahama and Abaco were devastated during Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Based on guidance from partners on the ground, TNC is using the tool to guide expansion of restoration sites towards priority areas of mangrove that are not likely to recover naturally. Meanwhile, partners are identifying and testing mangrove restoration methods that can be scaled up, such as direct outplanting, wave dispersal, and the use of drones to drop propagules in hard-to-reach areas. Utilizing a science-driven process, this partnership aims to restore mangroves as quickly and efficiently as possible to meet conservation goals.
To learn more about TNC’s Blue Carbon Explorer, hear their team speak at Planet’s Explore 2023 Conference next week, April 12th-13th, in Washington, D.C. Register today!
Authors: Steve Levay and Ryder Kimball
Special thanks to: Arjan Geers, Max Borrmann, Tessa Kramer, Robin van der Schalie, and Megan Zaroda
Record low rainfall has pushed the Horn of Africa into a disastrous drought that is precipitating a humanitarian crisis. Water is a limiting factor for habitability: a season with little rainfall is catastrophic, six in a row is practically unimaginable. In the Horn of Africa, millimeters could be the distance between life and death.
The story in numbers is grim: rainfall 40 – 70% less than the normal average, millions displaced, and tens of millions already declared highly food insecure. Statistics can’t adequately convey the enormity of suffering, but making decisions based on the most accurate data available can help relief efforts and lend some control over the situation.
Planet Basemap of Somalia • August 2022For example, we can use “planetary forensics” like measuring the amount of moisture in soil to give us a clear environmental signal about the conditions in dry regions. Based on initial models run by Planet, the Soil Water Content (SWC) data shows the recent drought in the Horn of Africa consistently has the lowest levels of moisture in the past decade, with two prolonged periods of extreme dryness coinciding with the 2021 fall and 2022 spring rainy seasons.
Planet Basemaps, March 2023 • This shape indicates the region of Ethiopia and Somalia in the Horn of Africa where Planet conducted an analysis of Soil Water Content using its satellite data products. Understanding the ebb and flow of water in the Horn of Africa can help to gauge the severity of drought and get ahead of widespread famine. The current multi-year drought coincides with the La Niña climate system, which typically reduces rainfall in the Horn of Africa while increasing it elsewhere like Southeast Asia.
These fluctuations are normal, but climate change is intensifying the severity and duration of drought. The global weather systems that parch one area and pour on another fall beyond human control. But better tools to map and measure its impacts can equip governments, international relief efforts, and the private sector with better information to guide action.
Planet’s SWC data can be used to provide near-real-time measurements of soil moisture that are more accurate than standard models, like the one based on precipitation totals, which have difficulty when modeling water loss due to evaporation and surface runoff. To inform its Planetary Variables products, Planet uses data collected by satellites launched and maintained by NASA, ESA, and JAXA that employ passive microwave data to calculate the percentage of water present in the top layer of the soil at enhanced resolution.
This map depicts global measurements of Soil Water Content derived from satellite imagery. The darker green areas reveal where the top 5 cm of the soil contains more water, while lighter shades indicate lower levels of moisture. Understanding this measurement can help policymakers assess conditions that contribute to drought, flooding, and wildfires.These measurements create precise visualizations, available globally, like what you see above. By associating the values of the data with colors, maps made of a grid of pixels are rendered at the planetary scale. This in turn helps visualize water levels as they fluctuate over time. And they can quantify the effects of dryness with remarkable granularity when near-real-time measurements are compared with historical baselines. The data exposes areas particularly hard hit by drought, which can then be studied in closer detail.
SWC data from the Horn of Africa shows an alarming picture. In March, the region entered its 6th consecutive rainless rainy season. It’s the longest and most damaging dry spell compared to the past 70 years of precipitation data. Future climate patterns are uncertain and rainfall amounts are unpredictable. But often the best way to understand future trends is to dig deep in the past.
The Horn of Africa experiences two rainy seasons a year: the first from March to May and the second from October to December. As you can see in the graph below, these periods of above average rainfall are reflected in the gray band, which shows the 10-year historical range for Planet’s SWC analysis. The black line represents a historical baseline average over that time period called “climatology,” and the teal line shows last year’s 20-day average.
This graph represents the average Soil Water Content measurement in the Horn of Africa compared to a 10-year baseline of data. The blue line indicates a rolling 20-day average for every day of the year from August 2021 to August 2022. The black line represents the average measurement for that particular day of the year throughout the previous 10 years and the gray area captures the range of measurements throughout the time period.The SWC data shows the recent drought consistently has the lowest levels of moisture in the archive, with two prolonged periods of extreme dryness coinciding with the 2021 fall and 2022 spring rainy seasons. And even when SWC wasn’t at its lowest, the recent values remained consistently below the historical average.
Planet Basemaps, March 2023 • This shape indicates a region of significant agricultural productivity in Somalia where Planet conducted an analysis of Soil Water Content trends. Multiple crises are converging to create a national emergency in Somalia, notably political instability, rising food prices, and drought. Dry conditions have displaced 1.3 million Somalis (nearly 8% of the country’s population) since the beginning of 2021, with another report estimating 43,000 excess deaths attributed to drought in 2022. It’s markedly worse than the country’s 2017-2018 drought that killed 31,400, and SWC data shows that the 2022 values are abnormally low, despite some improvement towards the end of the year.
This graph represents the average Soil Water Content measurement in a selected area of Somalia’s agricultural growing region compared to a 10-year baseline of data. Compared to the historical range and average for the same area, the prolonged periods of dryness often represent the lowest values in Planet’s archive over multiple weeks. International efforts are racing to provide humanitarian aid to nearly 8.5 million Somalis in need of assistance. The U.N. resident coordinator for Somalia has called for data-based findings as officials work to alleviate the drought’s impacts. We are seeing examples of this already, with organizations like the World Bank working with reinsurers to create drought risk protection programs informed by satellite data.
The Horn of Africa might get some relief as this year’s swing of La Niña to El Niño could bring more rainfall. But the global weather patterns that determine the fates of billions remain largely unpredictable, unstable, and out of human control. What can be done, however, is to leverage all available tools to better grasp the climate’s uncertainty, to compare historical archives with near-real-time measurements to map its changes, and to make informed decisions based on the most accurate data possible.
We are excited to share the latest about our collaboration with Planet partner Upstream Tech. Through a new integration with Upstream Tech’s Lens platform, PlanetScope Basemaps is now available through a Planet Basemaps in Lens, allowing users to access both global, monthly visual Basemaps with historical imagery back to the start of 2020, as well as new up-to-date Basemaps that will appear directly in Lens moving forward.
PlanetScope visual basemaps are time series mosaic products created from all scene captures within a month, optimized for consistency and minimal cloud cover. Bundling Basemaps into Lens is intended to provide users instant access to analysis, so they can get the information needed quickly and process it without additional geospatial experts.
“This subscription offering is designed to provide a frictionless opportunity for organizations to utilize global remotely sensed data within an easy to use software tool,” commented Planet’s Michael Parker, Director of Corporate Development. “The partnership with Upstream Tech embodies the value that our Planet Orbit partners provide end users. We are excited about making our data more accessible and actionable in partnership with Upstream Tech.”
Dive Dive deep on how Upstream is “supercharged” by Planet’s Basemaps in their blog cross-posted below:
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Upstream Tech
Planet X Lens: Remote Monitoring Supercharged By Planet’s Monthly, Global ImageryBy Marshall Moutenot
We launched Lens with a simple hypothesis: that by expanding access to earth observation, and empowering everyone to engage in remote monitoring and analysis, regardless of technical background, we could change how natural resources were managed. That approachable technology could accelerate the pace and scale of environmental investments.
Today, hundreds of organizations use Lens for just that, with satellite and aerial imagery and geospatial databases now demystified and within reach. Land trusts and state agencies have found land protection violations, timber harvests, and illegal construction. Companies use Lens to set a new standard of transparency and rigor for their nature-based carbon investments. Conservation organizations are monitoring ecological indicators at a frequency and insight previously not possible.
For the uninitiated, earth observation data comes in all shapes and sizes, literally. Some satellites are designed to capture high-detail, but only take a picture when someone places an order. Other satellites trade in detail for frequent, global, and regular capture. Before recently, no satellite was detailed, high-frequency, and global.
And technically (if I wore glasses this would be my opportunity to nudge them up my nose), even now no one satellite does both.
Enter Planet. They took a unique approach by launching over one hundred nimble, capable satellites called Doves. This constellation of satellites, called PlanetScope, makes up the largest coordinated collection of Earth-imaging satellites. Together, they “line scan” the planet to provide imagery of the entire Earth at 4-meter resolution every day.
Clearly, we’ve long-admired Planet. And not just for their technological innovations, but also their aligned mission to use space to help life on earth. So we are thrilled to launch a collaboration: PlanetScope Basemaps are now available for subscription in the Lens Library. You’ll get global access to the monthly visual Basemaps with historical imagery back to the start of 2020, and new Basemaps will appear in Lens like magic .
We’re in an era of unprecedented access to high-quality data that can inform how we steward our lands and water globally. And we’re thrilled to be part of a movement to put data into the hands of decision-makers who will shape the future of our planet.
It’s 7:00 am in California, and I’m greeted by a big, warm smile on Zoom as my call connects to Berlin. It’s 4:00 pm in Germany and Planet Product Manager Pooja Pandey has already had a day packed full of meetings and projects by the time she sits down for our virtual interview. This morning-to-late-afternoon calltime is familiar to many at the company who work to catch one another between Planet’s San Francisco and Berlin offices. But Pooja Pandey is no stranger to the world of working and operating with a global mentality. In fact, she grew up living in five different countries across two continents, and speaks Hindi, German, English, and even some Mandarin Chinese.
“I feel like there’s this term that always gets thrown around. ‘Third culture kid.’ That’s me – I’m the very personification of that,” said Pooja, describing the term given to people who grow up in these uniquely global situations. Third culture kids, otherwise known as TCKs, are raised outside of their parents’ culture and nation of origin (the first culture), in a new country of residence (the second culture), and develop a distinct identity that can tie all TCKs around the world together (the third culture). They often develop an adaptable personality and a global identity that’s rooted in people instead of places.
“Honestly, I think my friends would describe me as weird,” she laughed, “but I’m cool with that! I mean, who are we if we’re not a little weird?” With noticeable energy, she explained, “I ping pong all over the place.”
“Because of the way I grew up, I just got exposed to so many different cultures and so many different ways of living,” explained Pooja. The globetrotter was born in India and due to her father’s job, she moved to Singapore for twelve years, then Taiwan for three years, Munich, Germany for her last two years of high school, and then spent her university time in London, England. She now finds herself back in Germany for work.
Pooja said that she draws a lot of strength from her parents’ bravery to take the family across the globe. “They are immigrants and I am a daughter of immigrants, and I feel very proud of the courage and everything it took for them to move so many times from their home country and rebuild their lives again and again,” she said. “Home is one thing, but when you think about where you are, it’s the community that you have that is such an integral part of Belonging in a place. When I think about my parents having to rebuild that over and over, I think I can do anything.”
And to Pooja, a key element of Belonging in a community is being listened to. “If I had to define Belonging, it would be having my voice heard and being able to voice myself without judgment. That’s where Belonging resonates with me.”
Pooja explained that she believes there needs to be space for addressing Belonging in the global tech workplace. “I think there is some anxiety and some tension when we are talking about a person of color or a woman working in the tech industry, but I think that we should talk about it. That is an uncomfortable space that we need to go into so that growth really will happen through conversation,” she explained. “With that being said, I think working at Planet has been very fulfilling. I think it kind of fosters that space for women to feel like they Belong. I’ve always been very open about my opinions, and I feel like they have always been heard. The people who we have hired here are also great advocates of this, so I think we are all taking strides in the right direction and may be miles ahead of other places of work.”
Pooja expressed that her global experience has enabled her to help Planet’s data users also be heard. “Because you get exposed at such a young age to so many cultures, you build up a lot of empathy and understanding. It helps a lot, especially when you are in a customer-facing role that’s all about understanding the way people do business.”
After a Planet internship, Pooja first joined the company five years ago in Customer Success where her day-to-day was focused on talking to customers. “I grew to understand (at a very metalevel) what the issues were that customers were facing. I moved to Product about a year ago to make a difference. Working in Product is a lot about future thinking. I want to build products to fix customer problems because I understand what they are trying to do and how I can take those problems and build a solution around them that is scalable and resilient — and that when we add more products in the future, it doesn’t break.”
Pooja has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and a Master’s in Business and Computer Science. In both of these spaces, she focused extensively on remote sensing and geospatial data, looking at ecology from biological and spatial contexts and building geospatial computer algorithms. “I’ve always been in this remote sensing world, always orbiting around it, sometimes closer and sometimes further away.”
Diving deep into our products, Pooja brings her passion for geospatial technology and insights into her role. “I’m living in the world of data here,” she laughed. “I oversee all of the usage data that comes from our customers and users, essentially how they are using the data and what kind of reports they want from us.” With this data, she spends her days working strategically with others in the Product and Engineering teams to ensure that as they are creating and iterating on our products, they are aligning with the future vision of Planet as a whole and its long-term product solutions.
When asked about her own opinions on the future, Pooja said, “What do I want to see in the future of the globe? More equality and equity. Bringing that back to Planet’s mission, it’s about the work we are doing around Impact and supporting governments, like the NICFI program that I’ve been involved in. A lot of use cases that are coming out of the program are propagating the future of EO data.”
With enthusiasm this worldly data-lover finished, “We are seeing people really wake up to the fact that: a) They need to make data driven decisions on a global scale; and b) Earth observation data is going to play a huge role in that, and that’s really wonderful to see that — especially now that I’m working in this industry. The fact that all of this change is happening in real-time, it is really exciting.”
As Planet’s Chief Marketing Officer, I am incredibly excited to personally invite you all to Planet’s Explore23 Conference, happening April 12-13th in Washington, D.C.
While building out this conference with my team, I recently took a step back for reflection. Throughout my career, I have spent a great deal of time both planning, attending and learning at customer conferences. The first one that I had a large hand in executing was more than 10 years ago. I was on a small Marketing team full of big ideas that were matched with a big commitment to making it a memorable experience. We painstakingly curated content into themes while asking ourselves, “Would it be relevant to our broad audience?”
We wanted enough choice for our customers to carefully select how they wanted to spend 45 precious minutes in a break out session. We wanted different points of view and impact in our keynote speakers. At the heart of it, was the singular priority of bringing value to our customers and partners, while also giving dedicated time for attendees to build community and connection.
Fast forward and we are less than 20 days away from Planet’s Explore23 Conference. I am filled with the same aspirations and anticipation I had before. And I feel confident that we have created a memorable, engaging and informative set of days that will inspire our customers and partners to take action, solve problems in new ways, and create connections to help navigate our rapidly changing planet Earth.
Get Inspired.
As I look at our lineup of incredible keynote speakers, I know they will bring to life our theme of Transparency to Action – from Brad Smith, Vice Chair & President of Microsoft, Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and General B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations of the United States Space Force to our luminary speakers, astronaut and artist Dr. Sian Proctor and National Geographic cinematographer Jimmy Chin, who will bring a different perspective to inspire action. We’ll dive even deeper on this theme to highlight key perspectives on Peace and Security, Digital Transformation, and Sustainability by showcasing how our satellite data reveals change in the world and allows our customers and partners to take data-informed action.
Learn.
Hear how our customers and partners are unlocking new insights through the collective power of technology. We have over 25 singularly developed breakout sessions where you will see how the Planet community uses data to illuminate the world and provide transparency including the Department of Defense, Organic Valley, and The Nature Conservancy. Learn how our users are creating global situational awareness and monitoring change in near real-time. Catch how these users are aiding in the global sustainability transformation, helping countries measure their natural resources and companies measure their supply chains.
Connect.
Most importantly, we are balancing all of these learnings with time to connect. Tackling our global challenges requires creativity and collaboration, and we have multiple opportunities for you to network with the many partners and customers attending, as well as the Planet team. As Planet enters its second decade, our North Star is to build an Earth data platform that powers action. This aims to be an indispensable tool trusted by countries, companies and communities alike to protect ecosystems and track natural capital so that it can be incorporated into our economic system. This vision requires the collaboration of our diverse ecosystem of customers and partners, and we’re excited to give you all a sneak preview of what you will all see at Explore23 in our North Star video.
And finally, it wouldn’t be a customer conference without time to celebrate and to that end, we invite you all to join us at the National Air and Space Museum for a special evening, surrounded by world changing aerospace technologies.
The entire Planet team and our Partners are thrilled to welcome you. See you in DC!
The sagebrush biome of the Western U.S. covers approximately 150 million acres, touches 13 states, and is home to 350 rare, threatened, and endangered species. But, this rich ecosystem has seen dramatic degradation and loss of sagebrush grasslands. A main culprit? Invasive species.
In Wyoming, invasive grasses change the way the sagebrush ecosystem works, altering forage availability for wildlife and livestock and increasing the risk of catastrophic wildfires, according to Dr. Brian Mealor, associate professor at the University of Wyoming and director of the Sheridan Research and Extension Center and the Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems (IMAGINE). These invasive grasses are estimated to impact more than 50 million acres of rangeland.
“One of the challenges we have is being able to understand the distribution and severity of these [invasive] species across a landscape that is often remote, rapidly changing, and difficult terrain to get people into — being able to determine basically where the ‘bad guys’ are, and where the ‘good guys’ are, and doing it in a way that is dependable, consistent, and scalable to an extent that is meaningful and useful in these big landscapes,” explained Dr. Mealor.
Wyoming created IMAGINE, a diverse partnership of State and environmental agencies, to devise and implement more efficient and effectivestrategies for mitigating the negative impacts of invasive annual grasses on the sagebrush ecosystem. While this is important for the environment in and of itself, it also reduces adverse effects on landowners, recreationists, and state economies.
With 60-plus million acres in the state of Wyoming, the IMAGINE team turned to remote sensing to augment their ground data collection, leveraging Planet’s satellite data. “There’s no way that we’d have enough manpower to cover all of the ground. Satellite imagery gives us a first cut to figure out where we have issues, and how to begin to address that at a very strategic level,” said Ian Tator, statewide terrestrial habitat manager for Wyoming Game & Fish.
“At Planet, people are willing to roll up their sleeves, be very realistic about what’s happening, and try to evaluate and develop a product that’s going to help the state of Wyoming,” Dr. Mealor continued. “It’s a commitment that I’ve seen from the Planet team at a vastly different level from some of our previous partners — a willingness to put things through their paces to make sure that we are coming up with the best approach that combines our ground data with Planet’s satellite data and the technical expertise of the two teams. We’ve been really excited about this cooperation.”
Dr. Mealor said, “The tempo and cadence of Planet data collection were able to detect a signal of reduced target invasive annual grass cover significantly from one year to the next, where some of the other remote sensing imagery products did not show that change in plant cover at all. That really encouraged us to dig in more and see how we can refine this moving forward.”
Slade Franklin, technical services manager with the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, seconds Dr. Mealor’s sentiments, “We’ve talked about imagery for years. We looked at different tools, but to actually see the potential of fluctuations over a period of time on annual grasses and understand how climatic changes or environmental changes impact the movement of the invasive annual grasses — that was the aha moment.”
Dr. Mealor says they’re on the path to using Planet’s satellite imagery to distinguish among individual species of grasses that some trained professionals in the field might have a difficult time differentiating. He said, “The success story is we’ve got momentum. We’re probably trying to do one of the most difficult tasks you can do with remotely sensed imagery in this iteration of the project.”
Coming down the pike, Franklin sees an opportunity to plan treatments based on what the landscape needs are rather than just individual landowner and land manager needs. Dr. Mealor believes through use of Planet’s imagery they can expand IMAGINE’s reach outside of Wyoming to help other Western states wrangling with issues of invasive grasses. He says, “I think Planet is going to make us more efficient and more effective at scale.”
Want to learn more about tackling invasive grasses with satellite data? Join Dr. Brian Mealor at Planet’s Explore23 Conference in Washington, D.C. on April 12-13th as he shares best practices for how his office uses Planet’s satellite data to benefit Western Rangelands. Be sure to register today to secure a spot!
How we tracked the Chinese balloon in satellite dataSatellite data may be one of the most underutilized datasets in the world.
At Planet alone, we have six years of documented history — which means we have over 2,000 images on average for every point on earth’s landmass. This dataset at high resolution never existed before Planet came along and created it.
What this dataset means is that you can see a lot of change…if you know where to look.
We’re pulling down 30TB of data daily (nearly 4 million images!) off of ~200 satellites, and it would be impossible for humans to look at, consume and derive insights from all of that manually. Some days, it can literally feel like the world’s largest hidden picture puzzle.
That’s why we crucially need artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to detect and inform us about what’s in this imagery. Given the size of our archive, it’s a veritable playground for Planeteers and our partners to train AI and ML models and to build algorithms that can extract objects and patterns – to find newly-built roads, identify collapsed or raised buildings, monitor change in forests throughout time, or track surveillance balloons over oceans – all possible today.
Today, we’re pulling back the veil on how we’re making that happen. It’s a story about the unknown unknowns. In this New York Times visual investigation and the below cross-post from Synthetaic, you’ll read how they leveraged Planet’s daily scan and archive data to build and train an AI model to identify and trace the flightpath back-to-origin of a massive Chinese balloon that captured national attention when it flew across North America.
The combination of two revolutions — the widespread availability of satellite data and efficient machine learning algorithms — allowed Planet and Synthetaic to trace the path of a balloon that flew over the United States in February 2022. With reported known balloon locations (black circles) as starting references coupled with a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wind model (colored lines), researchers at Synthetaic were able to locate the balloon in Planet’s imagery by using a hand-drawn image of what the balloon might look like in satellite imagery run through their rapid AI detection tool to first find it in South Carolina and combed backwards through the data from there. Limitations in the wind model data led to greater uncertainty in position the longer the interval between detections. This made determining the balloon’s route across the vast Pacific Ocean difficult. However, the availability of Planet’s data in the cloud allowed Synthetaic to cast a wide net across much of Far East Asia (gray outline). They hit paydirt in the Philippine Sea, identifying the balloon in data acquired on January 20. Again using wind models to narrow the search, the team found the balloon four more times on the western side of the Pacific Ocean. The earliest detection, on January 15, was just 16 miles (25 km) off the coast of the Chinese island of Hainan.**This work with Synthetaic illustrates the tipping point we’re at with Planet’s dataset and the fast-evolving world of AI. We’re creating new capabilities allowing humanity to identify, monitor and respond to changes on earth – whether that’s reconnaissance, supply chain management, disaster response, climate change, you name it. There is an immense opportunity to create economic, environmental, and social value.
Which is why as we building out our Earth Data Platform here at Planet, we will augment our imagery with data products that help our customers understand change and make critical decisions faster. That transition is already underway, and I’ll be sharing more about it throughout the year, including at our annual user conference, Explore, hosted in Washington, D.C., this April 12-13. At Explore, we will be talking about this and many other examples of AI helping us move from transparency to action.
But what you’ll read about below is a tool that you can use today to extend AI into critical areas of impact and automate object detection in Planet’s satellite imagery. It’s perhaps one of the most stunning examples to-date that demonstrates the power of combining our data with AI models and the unique ability that our archive has to peer back in time. Here’s to the combination of Planet data and AI helping all of us find that elusive hidden object. And with the revolution we’re experiencing today in generative AI, if this is possible today, just imagine what will be possible tomorrow.
Graphic support and analysis provided by Planet Senior Data Visualization Engineer, Robert Simmon.
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How We Tracked the Chinese Balloon in Satellite DataBy Corey Jaskolski
The path of the Chinese balloon, as mapped by our RAIC product using Planet Labs PBC data.In February 2023, reports of a massive Chinese balloon flying over the U.S. captured national attention. The balloon delayed a diplomatic visit, drew unanimous condemnation in Congress, and even had some (misguided) people planning to shoot it down themselves.
Having launched high-altitude balloons of my own in the past, I was intrigued by the incident. Though much smaller (starting at around 10’ in diameter), my balloons were like the Chinese balloon in that they were helium-filled and intended to carry payloads to very high altitudes. In my case, the balloons were designed to ascend to around 100,000 feet, high enough for its cameras to capture both the blackness of space and the curvature of the Earth.
Image from the apogee of my second launch balloon launch (90,700’).In the days after the Chinese balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina by a fighter jet, as speculation about its origin and path raged on, I began to wonder: could Synthetaic’s RAIC (Rapid Automated Image Categorization) AI product do what no one else had done and find the balloon in satellite data? Equipped with commercial PlanetScope satellite imagery from Planet Labs PBC, I was about to find out that not only could we find the balloon in minutes, but we could track it back to its original launch location.
A Textbook Case for RAICArtificial Intelligence (AI) has historically relied on extensive human labeling and the building of bespoke models. When you read about how much AI models have improved over the past five years, you might assume this problem has been solved, but it hasn’t. In fact, today’s AI algorithms are so data-hungry that the companies best-known for their AI advancements are now training on image sets with billions of labeled images. In almost no real-world application is it tractable to get billions of labeled images. And in time-sensitive scenarios, the thousands of person-years it takes to label data at that scale makes the entire process unfeasible.
The Chinese balloon represented a perfect catch-22 for these methods: how could AI find something in satellite data that had never been found in satellite data before? There wasn’t a single reference image, let alone the tens of thousands needed to even start to train a traditional supervised model.
That’s where RAIC comes in. RAIC, or Rapid Automated Image Detection, eliminates the need for labeled data or pre-existing trained models by facilitating collaboration between AI and a human user. The tool is designed to immediately detect and classify anything in visual data, whether that’s satellite imagery, photographs, or full-motion video. RAIC’s unique “human nudge” feature allows the user to guide the AI. In doing so, it brings together the amazing pattern matching and contextual association capabilities of our human brains with the computer’s ability to sift through terabytes of data in minutes. We believe (and demonstrated with this project!) that this human-machine collaboration is fundamental to extracting AI-based insights at speed and scale.
Finding the Chinese balloon was a textbook use case for RAIC, and a perfect test of what the technology could help accomplish. Even I was surprised by how quickly it aced that test.
The Great Balloon SearchI started from a simple hand drawing of how I thought the balloon might look in satellite imagery. Knowing that many satellite-borne cameras take multiple photos through separate colored filters, separated by fractions of a second, I drew something resembling a red, green, and blue snowman. This would represent the balloon getting captured through these various filters as it moved with the high-altitude winds. I fed that image to RAIC and used it to search imagery taken above South Carolina before the balloon was shot down. Within two minutes, RAIC had returned a positive match.
This rough drawing of what the balloon might look like in satellite data was enough for RAIC to find a match over South Carolina in less than two minutes.Like any researcher, I was skeptical that we had really found it so quickly. We were able to confirm it was the balloon through size, shape, nearby social media reports, and wind maps showing where it was expected to be. We were also able to use parallax to calculate the balloon’s altitude. Once we knew what we’d found was the balloon, we could use that image as our new starting point in RAIC to find more locations.
The RAIC Context Map feature powers the human-machine collaboration. Each RAIC search returns an array of possible matches, clustered by similarity to the original source image and to each other. The user can then “nudge” the AI by indicating which results are positive matches.The team at Planet, the first satellite imagery company to image the Earth’s landmass every day provided us with the commercially-available data needed to map the balloon’s entire journey from China to the Atlantic Ocean. Without this daily scan and archive of the globe, we could never have found the balloon. If the balloon was a needle in Planet’s beautiful haystack of archive data, RAIC was like bringing a magnet to the search, making nearly trivial what was otherwise nearly impossible.
“Plotting this balloon path is truly a story of the unknown unknowns,” Kevin Weil, Planet’s president of product and business, remarked to me. “Given the size of our archive, it’s a veritable playground for companies like Synthetaic to train AI and ML models and to build algorithms that can extract objects and patterns – like tracking surveillance balloons over oceans – it’s all possible today.”
In this GIF assembled from 8-band imagery, the balloon can be seen over Missouri.To target our search after the first detection, we continued to look to open-source intelligence, as well as wind forecasts and HYSPLIT models. The process had the Synthetaic team in sleuth mode, combing through social media chatter about where the balloon had been spotted from the ground so we could load in additional PlanetScope satellite imagery.
Before long, the team had traced the balloon’s entire journey across the continental U.S., working backward from South Carolina to its entry point north of Spokane, WA. Space News and Wired both shared the project with their readers, but at the time of their publications, we still had not followed the path all the way back to its origin. After a string of successful searches, the balloon was becoming more elusive the farther back we traced it, and we lost track of it completely over Alaska.
If this had happened as recently as a few years ago, that would have been the end of the story: a few days combing imagery of the Aleutian Islands for another sighting of the balloon, only to have to give up. Without knowing both what to look for and generally where to find it, most AI can only do so much.
But by even finding the balloon in the data in the first place, RAIC had already done what was very recently impossible. With Planet’s massive historical archive of Earth imagery and RAIC’s ability to search that data near-instantaneously, we would be able to do it again.
Working backward to model the balloon’s potential path prior to entering the U.S., we ingested into RAIC seven days of Planet data for a vast area of land and ocean containing eastern China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, much of Japan, and the East China and South China Seas — totaling about 60 terabytes.
“This example highlights an under-appreciated aspect of Planet’s dataset — the ability to answer questions no one knew to ask,” said Robert Simmon, Planet’s senior data visualization engineer. “Our archive of high resolution, near-daily data preserves a unique record of events no matter where they occur. A record that can not only help locate an unusual flying object, but also determine when a road was built in a remote area or how the course of a river changed in the heart of the Amazon.”
Due to variables including wind speed and the possibility that the balloon was being actively controlled, we ingested a large area of Earth imagery, taken across seven days, to find the balloon again.RAIC is incredibly efficient at searching terabytes of data, so ingesting that data was much more time-consuming than the RAIC search itself. During a late-night session, RAIC returned a positive match off the coast of Taiwan. We paused to celebrate on a Teams video call, and knew we were back on track.
Armed with a reference image of the balloon over the ocean, the Synthetaic team traced the balloon back to its origin near Hainan Island in the South China Sea. In total, RAIC achieved 12 detections of the balloon over its two-week journey from China to South Carolina, in addition to detecting a second, similar balloon over Colombia during the same period. To do so, RAIC searched a swath of satellite data equivalent to double the area of the Earth’s land surface.
In this GIF assembled from 8-band imagery, the balloon can be seen flying over the ocean near Taiwan.RAIC had done exactly what it promises: from a haystack millions of square miles in size, it pulled the needle out like a magnet. It performed analysis that no other technology could in this timeframe. In fact, it performed analysis that most would have thought was impossible.
RAIC: The only limit is your imaginationWe brought our findings to The New York Times, whose Visual Investigations Team thoroughly reported on our findings. Of particular interest to the Times were new insights and conclusions that could be drawn from the balloon’s exact locations (as opposed to social media conjecture) as revealed by RAIC.
For example, when the balloon’s path as mapped by RAIC can be overlaid on a map of Department of Defense sites in ArcGIS, it becomes apparent that the balloon had not flown over any military bases. This contrasted with initial reports: contrary to allegations that the balloon had flown over Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, its path took it south of that facility, including over the ghost town of Lennep, MT. That said, the line of sight of the balloon given its altitude most certainly extended its RF signal and optical range across many sensitive sites.
Just as RAIC had found 12 instances of the balloon starting from a hand drawing, it was also able to find additional potential balloon launch sites in mainland China and Mongolia from a single example found elsewhere in the map data.
The potential applications of RAIC go far beyond this high-profile news story. There’s an almost unfathomable quantity of geospatial data available today, and more being captured every second, and RAIC makes it possible to make sense of it all. To date, RAIC has been used in a variety of contexts and industries, including defense, search and rescue, science and technology, and conservation. For example, the World Food Programme is using RAIC to support time-sensitive disaster relief, building models to find flood victims.
RAIC fundamentally changes what’s possible with AI. Instead of thousands of labelers drawing boxes on data to train a model, or an army of analysts staring at satellite pixels, a single person can now nudge an unsupervised AI into what they need it to be. That allows them to build an AI and run it in seconds across millions of images. It takes us from a place of needing millions of labeled images to only needing (in this case) a hand drawing based on an educated guess. RAIC is the way AI is supposed to work.
Blog article written by Stefanie Meier and Paula Fernández del Valle
Measuring streamflow in the world’s rivers and streams is vital to managing water for people, nature, and commerce. This is particularly critical in times of major floods and droughts, when impacts on people, infrastructure, and the economy can be enormous. As climate change brings greater uncertainty and more frequent extreme events for hydro-climatic systems, the need for accurate and timely observations is of utmost importance.
Nick Everard, Senior Hydrometric Scientist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) talked with Planet about how the measurement of river streamflow has been improved thanks to Planet’s satellite data and why the ESA Earthnet Programme plays an important role in this project.
Nick, thanks for your time and the interview. Before we dig deeper into the project, can you tell us a bit more about the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)?
Nick: For sure! UKCEH has a long history of investigating, monitoring, and modeling environmental change. We are an independent, non-profit research institute with over 500 scientists, who manage environmental science across water, land, and air – not only in the UK and Europe, but across the world. For us, it is important that people and nature can prosper together. That’s why we seek to understand the environment, how it sustains life and the human impact on it. Our focus is on mitigating and building resilience to climate change. My colleagues and I provide the data and insights that researchers, businesses and governments need to create a productive, resilient and healthy environment. Here, our science makes a difference by informing policy-making, commercial innovation and conservation action all around the world.
A drone image taken of the Falls of Lora, Connel, in Scotland on a SkySat validation mission. Photo courtesy of UKCEH.Wow, that sounds like you make a great difference for the environment with your daily work. How, specifically does this project make a difference?
Nick: Well, traditionally streamflow has been measured using instruments and infrastructure that are located in or on the water. Whilst generally effective, these methods rely on the presence of people, equipment and expertise at the time and place required for the observation. This is often difficult in nations with established monitoring networks and can be virtually impossible in regions with less well-developed river monitoring programs.
The cutting-edge research described here is supported by the ESA Earthnet Programme and complements the UKCEH-led FluViSat project funded by ESA’s EO4Society Programme. Whereas the FluViSat project uses Planet SkySat video imagery to measure river flow speed (and with great success, I might add!), the Earthnet project explores whether the same can be achieved using rapidly shot still imagery from the same satellites, but captured like a burst of pictures on a mobile phone.
Both projects are enabled by recent advances in non-contact river discharge monitoring methods that use high resolution digital imagery captured with aerial drones to determine the speed of movement of the water’s surface. As long as the movement of features advecting with the flow can be observed, and the cross-section of the flowing waterbody can be determined, the vital parameter of total discharge can be measured with a high degree of accuracy, with minimal infrastructure and a high degree of resilience. The method also has great potential in solving the longstanding problem of quantifying potentially damaging and hard-to-measure out of bank floodplain flows.
The Zambezi River, Batoka Gorge, Victoria Falls, located along the Zambia and Zimbabwe border with UKCEH’s processed water speed data. Photo courtesy of UKCEH.The big advance for this project is that, by using Planet’s very high-resolution SkySat imagery, shot at a very high framerate, we can potentially determine the flow rates in medium and large rivers anywhere in the world. Besides measuring streamflow, the data also has the potential to highlight a range of drought impacts on the landscape. All this, without any people or equipment on site!
Here, UKCEH’s cutting edge science enables governments, businesses, and communities to better plan and be positioned for the future. It helps to improve the forecast of extreme weather events like floods and droughts but also the resilience.
So, this is the part where Planet’s satellite data comes into play?
Nick: Right! Our research will bring significant improvements in global capability to measure streamflow – how much water is flowing in the world’s rivers. Especially during times of flooding, accurate flow measurements are critically important, but can be difficult and potentially extremely dangerous to obtain. We live in a time where the importance of water and also the risks associated with it have never been greater. Nevertheless, many monitoring networks are inadequate, have deteriorated or have even fallen into disrepair. So, the question our team wanted to answer was, if we can measure flow with drones hovering over the water, what can we do from the high advantage point of the satellite?
We wanted to find out whether high-resolution SkySat data can enable a satellite-based monitoring surface velocimetry on a global scale in even the most remote of locations. We found out that you collaborate with ESA on the ESA Earthnet Programme, where Planet’s imagery is available to the Earth Observation community for non-commercial use.
How has that benefited you in your day-to-day work?
Nick: For me, it was already impressive to see that we could measure the water speed just by observing the river’s surface, but we also see the potential of Planet’s SkySat all frames data that enables us to map water velocity. The most incredible example of success we have had is in the Zambezi River. We managed to produce a map of water speed for 1 km of the river, which was previously pretty much impossible, given the inaccessibility of the river in a deep gorge, and very fast flowing rapids. It would have required intensive field work with multiple deployments of the drone. The very high resolution and rapid frame rate of the SkySat constellation is what enables us to track the river’s flow, and to our knowledge, we are the only team that has achieved something like this!
There are many areas of the world where even major rivers are barely monitored, so it is very exciting to bring remote sensing to locations such as the Nile and Congo rivers in Africa, for example. But we have also demonstrated the technique much closer to home, with a test site at the Falls of Lora in the Highlands of Scotland, where we have successfully measured the strong tidal currents that flow in and out of Loch Etive twice a day.
With Planet’s SkySat constellation, we get the capability of multiple daily revisits, providing multiple observations. To measure river flow from space. I never imagined that this would be possible even five years ago!
The Falls of Lora, Connel, in Scotland with UKCEH’s processed water speed data. Photo courtesy of UKCEH.Anything you would like to add?
Nick: In my career as a scientist, I have previously used publicly available satellite data, but with the Earthnet Programme providing access to the high-resolution data of a commercial provider, like Planet, this has really made an impact on my research. I am looking forward to bringing the whole project forward and seeing the results it will bring, not only for flooding and droughts, but also for global water management. In the future, an absolute killer feature would be to quickly get the river depths from space without any further support. Again, we are really happy and excited with what we achieved, but we are even more excited with what the next generation of satellites may enable us to achieve in the future!
For more on the FluViSat work, explore these resources:
FluViSat on ESA’s projects page
FluViSat page on UKCEH
FluViSat video on UKCEH
FluViSat blog on UKCEH
We are thrilled to share that our partner Preligens will leverage Planet’s satellite data to enhance a unique monitoring solution for the defense and intelligence sector. Combining our imagery with Preligens AI/ML capabilities, we will enable our D&I customers to monitor thousands of sites of interest with a high revisit rate. For analysts around the world, this partnership solves a critically needed data processing gap, accelerating the intelligence cycle, and increasing overall situational awareness.
Preligens, founded in 2016 by two French engineers, develops AI/ML software that empowers analysts to automatically detect, identify, and classify more than 9 classes of military assets (aircraft, vessels, helicopters) in just a matter of minutes. These algorithms, paired with daily data from Planet’s unmatched revisit rate, can achieve near-persistent monitoring across numerous sites, no matter the context (snowy, desert, urban etc.).
With today’s advancements in satellite technology, governments and organizations are receiving more imagery and data than ever before. To prevent all of this imagery from going unanalyzed or becoming severely delayed in processing, Preligens allows analysts to leverage large quantities of the available satellite data by keeping eyes on everything and alerting them in near-real time of any abnormal activity that may require their attention. It can further save time by automating tedious tasks such as counting objects of military interest and identifying patterns of life.
This solution was made possible by automating parts of the TCPED (Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination) process. Specifically, Planet’s and Preligens’ partnership increases speed between the collection and processing of the imagery and enables analysts to leverage a very large amount of imagery, resulting in improved situational awareness across the globe.Preligens’ solutions are already combat tested with governmental entities including NATO and the French Armed Forces.
Learn more about how Preligens with Planet can decrease the intelligence cycle for your team.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this blog are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
This month, I sat down with William O’Neal, Planet’s Content Strategy Lead working with our Product Design, User Research, and Content Strategy team, to learn a little more about his career journey. With a nose ring and trendy transparent rimmed glasses, William is the type of person that strikes you as the most interesting person in a room – turns out that may have been by design and his interesting perspective on personal education.
“I studied philosophy and I remember my mom wanted to know, ‘What are you going to do with that?!’ I said, ‘I am going to be the most interesting guy in the cafe,” O’Neal laughed. “She should have hit me in the head, but that was just the kind of person that I was.”
O’Neal grew up in Berkeley, California where both his parents went to “Cal”- the affectionate name given to the University of California Berkeley by alumni. His mother went for law and his father for business. “Growing up in Berkeley was great, it was a pretty intellectually stimulating household to grow up in. A lot of my mom’s friends were of the civil rights generation, so there were these Black kids who were the first in their families to go to college and also go to law school. When I started kindergarten, my mom started law school, so she would bring me along to campus when I had a day off. I was their little mascot. I grew up around all these Black folks who were attorneys, judges, and doctors.”
He started his own college years at UC Santa Barbara, then transferred to San Francisco State to study philosophy. “I always loved learning,” he explained. “Then at 23, I actually had my first kid and decided to drop out of college and make the shift to my career.” It was 1994, and a booming time for the technology industry in California. “Not having a degree was never an issue. I thought about going back to college and finishing a lot. It was sort of a lingering thing, but with a full-time job, two kids, and classes that weren’t online, when was I going to actually take classes?”
“The first job I got was for this non-profit in Oakland that taught at-risk youth how to use computers to develop job skills. I was always into computers and tech, taking things apart and rebuilding them. So, I was hanging out in East Oakland with these kids, teaching them how to make computers, put together resumes, and providing job training skills,” he shared.
Then in 1996, O’Neal got a job at CNET.com testing computers and playing with parts when an editor asked him to write a review of a computer he had been testing. “I had never written a product review, but I wrote the review and he loved it. I think the thing about studying philosophy is that it pretty much trains you for nothing,” he chuckled, “except how to critically think about things and write about them.”
This led O’Neal to jump into the editorial field for many years. “I became an editor in the early tech scene, writing for tech magazines and video game websites. Then eventually, I wanted to use my storytelling skills to evangelize for a company or product that I really believed in. I wrote a manifesto of what I wanted to do and sent it out into my sphere of influence.” A former manager reached out to him from Nvidia saying they were launching a new product and needed someone to lead the content marketing effort for it. As a self-proclaimed computer nerd, he said he knew it was a company he wanted to work for, and he began the next step in his career.
This eventually brought him to Autodesk where he led content marketing for the Autodesk Technology Centers and Autodesk Research. “You get these geniuses that build these amazing things, but they don’t always know how to talk about it. So, we’d sit down and I’d find out a simple way to describe their projects. They thought I was a genius.” O’Neal smiled. “I would say, ‘It’s just words.’ But not everyone knows how to craft a story or explain what they do.”
Now, at Planet, O’Neal leads the process of generating a cohesive content landscape for our products, helping define our UX (the user experience) from a content perspective. “We need linguistic consistency throughout the entire Planet experience. From pre-sales, accessing the account page, using Explorer, tasking, ordering scenes, and receiving support documentation. In all those things, there needs to be a common linguistic thread throughout the experience. At a high-level, my job is to ensure that that exists.”
“The Planet product landscape is super complex and challenging. It’s a really cool place, and everyday I learn something new. I wake up in the morning, and I also feel good about what I am doing. I think that the work that I do is in support of a mission to benefit the planet.”
For O’Neal being in a workplace that values representation is important. “For me, Belonging feels like there is a sense of comfort about where you happen to be. One of the things is seeing people like you in the space. I think that’s a big part of it; there is a certain level of safety that comes with that.”
“It’s like fishing. I’m all about adventures, skiing, traveling, and I love fishing. I have friends that run fishing charters and I assist as a deckhand. There’s a thing about being in the outdoors for Black people. You are often made to feel like you are invading a white space that is not for you. So, there is a certain level of anxiety that comes with being there. But last year, I was walking up to the clients who were set to get on the boat and it was six Black guys. I let them know that I was their deckhand, and they said, ‘Oh man, we’re really happy to be going with you! It can be weird, and we feel really comfortable right now.’ It was awesome.”
“I think that there’s a certain amount of anxiety and tension that you carry with you as a person of color or a woman in the tech industry, too. There are spaces where you don’t feel completely comfortable. Where you feel like your mistakes are amplified or you’re not allowed to be imperfect. For a person of color or even a woman, there could be a perception like, ‘Oh, that mistake is representative of who they actually are.’ Whereas for someone else, that mistake may be perceived as a learning opportunity. I think that when you see people like yourself in the building or in positions of leadership, it makes you feel like you belong there in a way that you can learn, you can make mistakes.”
As I discovered, O’Neal really values learning, and so, at the age of 50, he decided to pick up his formal academic journey again. “When Covid hit, everything went online, and San Francisco State went online! So, I was able to go back to SF State and enrolled in my first Zoom class. Studying philosophy in your 50’s? It’s way more interesting than when you are in your 20’s, especially if you have all of this life experience. I started taking classes on consciousness, the nature of being and knowing, and formal logic.”
The last thing he had to do to graduate was write a long essay that summed up his collegiate experience. “Typically, that experience is 4 or 5 years of your lifetime, but mine was in college, then not in college for 28 years, and then going back and finishing. My first paper was written in like 1988. I don’t even know what format that is in, it’s probably on a typewriter,” he laughed reflecting on his unique journey.
At the end of our conversation, I asked O’Neal about his hopes for the future, and O’Neal’s mind went towards equality and the fair distribution of planetary resources. “I’m a huge Star Trek fan. It’s a post-scarcity society, and I love the idea of a future that’s a post-scarcity society. I feel like so many of the problems that we have are really around resources, whether you’re talking about homelessness, mental health issues, or police violence, so many of these things are linked to income inequality. So…post-scarcity. If everyone could have their needs met, I imagine the human experience would be pretty awesome.”
In exciting news for planet Earth, we are thrilled to announce that we have solidified a Strategic Partnership with Arizona State University (ASU) to facilitate climate action through education and research, workforce development, and a science-first approach toward innovation. Since 2016, we have collaborated with ASU on significant programs including the Planet Incubator Program within ASU’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, the development of the Allen Coral Atlas, as well as being two of the founding partners in the creation of the Carbon Mapper mission. In early 2019, ASU became Planet’s first Campus-wide university partner, and since then, over 30 peer reviewed journal articles have been published by ASU using our data products.
Both of our organizations continue to be leaders in creating an ecosystem for 21st century learning and innovation focused on accelerating scalable climate-action and mission-oriented business. This partnership will further align our shared strategic focus to train and hire world class talent and be a catalyst to innovations in science, technology, and the use of space for increased sustainability of life on Earth.
Planet’s and ASU’s expanded Strategic Partnership has three key tenets. First, Talent and Certifications: establishment of an intern program that will bring ASU students into Planet and bring Planet onto ASU’s campus for mentoring across several of ASU’s schools. Second, Research & Innovation: ASU has committed to fund expanded research using our data and to seed a new “ecopreneur” program. Third, Community Investment: We are co-locating inside ASU’s Walton Center for Planetary Health for interns, future hires, and growth of our engineering team at the center of ASU’s multidisciplinary community focused on climate action.
Planeteers and members of ASU joined together this weekend to celebrate this strategic partnership.In the first decade of our existence, we accomplished our mission to image the whole world every day. Entering into our second decade as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), our North Star is to invest in the data, science, technology and people that will power humanity to protect and account for nature.
“ASU has been at the forefront of innovative education and partnerships for the past 20 years. We’re thrilled to deepen our partnership with ASU at the Walton Center for Planetary Health and forge innovative solutions to accelerate humanity toward a more sustainable, secure and prosperous world,” said Planet’s co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Robbie Schingler.
Planeteers arrived at the new ASU Walton Center for Planetary Health.“Collaboration between industry and academia is critical to economic success,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “Arizona State University has invested in opportunities to advance these connections by creating the Walton Center for Planetary Health, a high-performance research facility to foster an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge generation and leading-edge research across more than a dozen intellectual focal areas. ASU is eager to deepen our work with Planet with a focus on finding the most sustainable solutions to our biggest global challenges.”
If you are interested in learning more about Planet’s Education and Research program, visit here, and to learn more about ASU’s efforts for educating a 21st century society for Planetary Health, please visit here.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this blog are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
In August, Planet announced its first three certified partners through our new Planet Orbit Certification Program, all of whom have a deep understanding of Planet data and are creating innovative solutions on our platform. These solutions are making it easier for users to process and use Planet data. In the last few months, we have been thrilled to see how our partnerships are enabling impact around the world.
Notably, we are seeing a transformation in sustainable agriculture across Europe. Our partner Sinergise, a leading developer platform for earth observation (EO) data, is powering the European Union-backed Sentinel Hub. This allows customers, developers, and data scientists to access multi-source EO data for processing, analysis, and insight extraction. This platform is helping European nations transform agricultural practices for greater sustainability and find solutions for the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). A recently expanded partnership now allows all Planet customers, developers, and data scientists to leverage Sentinel Hub’s data processing platform to extract insights from Planet data.
Since 2018, the CAP has been working on a modernizing and greening process, aligning with the EU Green Deal to tackle climate change by adopting remote sensing solutions to support agricultural monitoring. Combined with Planet data and public satellite data from the European Space Agency (ESA), Sinergise’s Sentinel Hub enables farmers, businesses, and governments to transform their management practices and report their sustainable impact. These data sources and distribution services allow the government of Slovenia and agricultural companies like Bayer to visualize and analyze a variety of data products at an unprecedented speed.
In Slovenia, agricultural small land parcels present a challenge for monitoring how farmers can align their practices with the EU’s CAP. However, thanks to Sentinel Hub, the Slovenian National Paying Agency has been able to access Planet data for accurate land parcel monitoring. With our data, even small and elongated parcels of agricultural land can be assessed for sustainable management practices, helping Checks and Monitoring reports and providing solutions for the CAP agenda.
With Planet Fusion and SkySat data, Bayer is able to optimize seed production, improve supply chain efficiency, and support sustainable agriculture. With this dataset, their farmers can see the potential to better understand historical and in-season crop performance. Access to Planet data allows Bayer to further expand into the digital agricultural revolution and enhance precision agriculture practices.
This agricultural innovation is also seen in Polish start-up SatAgro, which provides customers access to Planet’s daily imagery, complementary satellite data from NASA and ESA, and information on weather and soil sampling all in one app. This data enables farmers to monitor crop development in near real time, observe the effects of agronomic treatments, and generate productivity benchmarks by observing our imagery archive reaching back over a decade.
Leveraging PlanetScope, SkySat, Planet Fusion, and Sentinel-2, the Welsh government has also sponsored new sustainable agricultural research programs. For example, the Living Wales research project simulates sustainable farming practices to help inform future policy making. This data helps researchers better understand the allocation of carbon within different landscapes and how it is changing and the varying distribution of native flora and fauna.
As you heard from our co-founders in Planet’s North Star, we are striving to build an Earth data platform that powers action, and partnerships are what will allow us to accelerate and escalate this goal. Our partner ecosystem is a family built of experts delivering unique solutions to over a dozen verticals around the entire globe. We look forward to sharing how these efforts are shaping the world for the better as we continue to grow these relationships.
We are also excited to announce that Bayer will be sharing more details about how they are leveraging Planet’s satellite data to revolutionize the agricultural industry at Planet’s Explore 2023 Conference in Washington, D.C. on April 12-13th. Be sure to register today to learn about the latest technologies defining Europe’s sustainability transformation.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, Planet Labs PBC’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations. Forward-looking statements are based on Planet Labs PBC’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about Planet Labs PBC and its business included in Planet Labs PBC’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on Planet Labs PBC’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect Planet Labs PBC’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. Planet Labs PBC undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
We are heartbroken by the tragedy in Turkey and Syria, and Planet remains committed to assisting with the ongoing disaster response by providing data to the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, which makes our imagery available to the public, media, volunteers, humanitarian organizations, and other coordinating bodies during select disaster events.
Getting actionable data into the hands of early responders is paramount and Planet has been working with Microsoft AI for Good Lab and partners from academia, governments and other satellite providers to produce a building damage assessment to assist in the response efforts from Turkey’s Ministry of Interior Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD).
As you can read in this report, after the earthquake in Turkey on February 6th, the team began to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) methods and high-resolution satellite imagery from the first three days of the disaster to assess the extent of damage to buildings in the four cities of Marash (also known as Kahramanmaraş), Turkoglu, Nurdagi, İslâhiye.
A summary of assessment results include:
- An estimated 3,849 buildings damaged or destroyed across the four cities
- An estimated 160,000+ people live in or immediately adjacent to damaged buildings (according to WorldPop 2020 gridded population estimates)
- Found the city of Marash (Kahramanmaraş) to be the most heavily affected, both in magnitude and proportion of damage, with 7.44% of buildings in the city sustaining some level of damage visible from satellite imagery (Side-by-side of SkySat and analyzed data pictured below)
This modeling tool was initially developed with Microsoft AI for Good Lab on behalf of the United Nations for both Ukraine building damage assessment and to help in future scenarios. The intent being to help organizations bypass inherent traditional damage assessment challenges and support the scale and speed needed for ground teams to respond effectively.
Because of the learnings and tools developed during that Ukraine assessment, the teams were able to quickly scale and replicate those models here, generating what would have previously taken weeks or months to complete within a few days following the aftershocks.
To receive more information or access to disaster response data from Planet, please contact: disaster-access@planet.com.
Last month, Australia was hit with “once in a century flooding” which stranded communities and forced mass evacuations. Officials reported that in some regions of Western Australia, water covered up to 50 sq kilometers and aircrafts were used to administer aid and supplies. At Planet, we are committed to supporting governments and institutions around the world in disaster response and management, and we are proud that our partner NGIS was able to leverage Planet data to respond to these destructive Australian floods.
Planet images of Fitzroy Crossing flooding captured on December 19, 2022 (left) and January 7, 2023 (right). © 2023, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. Due to extreme weather brought on by a multi-year La Niña event, Australia has been experiencing severe flooding for the last two years, and Planet’s satellites have captured these natural disasters, helping to inform the media and support our partners in the region. Through NGIS, our satellite imagery helped offer a safe and swift way for the New South Wales State Government to gain situational awareness over the flooded region and make active decisions. Read the article below cross-posted courtesy of NGIS to learn how our satellite data was utilized to help protect those in crisis.
Planet image of flooding across Queensland, Australia captured March 1, 2022. © 2022, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. # # #
PUBLISHED ARTICLE FROM NGIS || LINK
USING EARTH OBSERVATION TO MONITOR FLOODS WITH PLANET IMAGERYAustralia is experiencing a widespread flooding crisis. From heavy rainfall in Northern and Central Queensland, rising waters in New South Wales and South Australia, to ongoing major flooding in Western Australia – the rains are causing havoc all over the country.
While floods can bring welcome relief for ecosystems suffering from drought, they pose a serious risk to the lives and livelihoods of those affected. They are also estimated to be the most expensive natural disaster in Australia – with a cost of $3.5 billion in 2022, and several billions more forecast for Government spending and insurance bills in 2023.
NGIS have responded to several devastating disaster events this summer, providing a full picture of the flooding events from space. Visualising imagery of an affected area from a bird’s eye view allows for a comprehensive understanding of the scope and severity of a flood. This information can be used to make more informed decisions about evacuation routes, emergency response efforts, and potential damage assessments.
Our imagery partner Planet has provided timely and analysis-ready satellite imagery of each event. Founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists, Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest Earth observation fleet of imaging satellites, capturing over 30 TB of data per day. Planet currently operates two satellite constellations; their Dove satellites, which provide a daily scan of all the Earth’s landmass at 3-meter resolution, and their SkySat tasking satellites, which capture tasked images at 50 cm resolution of any location on Earth.
The beauty of these two constellations is that they offer imagery when it’s needed most anywhere in Australia. Together, with NGIS’ geospatial solutions and services, and Planet’s data, we are making this data visible, accessible, and actionable. For more information on how NGIS can help your organisation with Planet imagery click here.
FLOODING EVENTS1. Flooding along Australia’s Fitzroy River and Kimberly region, Western Australia | January 2023
Termed the ‘worst in WA’s history’, the sheer scale of these floods smashed previous records in height and size. Although floods in this area are common, torrential rain and swells caused by Tropical Cyclone Ellie from December 23, 2022, submerged the landscape, like never before. Fitzroy Crossing was cut off by record high levels of floodwater, equivalent to two meters higher than the last record-breaking flooding event in 2002, and a flow rate equal to 20 years of Perth’s water use.
The impacts of the flooding left remote indigenous communities isolated, and hundreds of people in need of evacuation. The sheer size of the flooding made it difficult to capture data of the flooding events, as drone and aerial data collection was not a quick or effective option. Satellite imagery, such as daily PlanetScope imagery, provided an easy means to view the breadth of flooding, and provides an opportunity to view the destruction and clean-up as it occurs. The Western Australian Government continued the recovery process across the Kimberly region into February 2023. View here to compare the region before and after this flooding.
2. Flooding along Central Darling, North New South Wales | December 2022
Fast rising flood waters caused major flooding and evacuation along the Central Darling, including the Menindee Township. Waters arrived down the river at a rate of more than 70 gigalitres per day into Menindee. Many residents in the area were left stranded, with their homes accessible only by boat and damages due to cost thousands of dollars. Further upstream, water continued to flow through Wilcannia, providing constant pressure to the lower system.
The ability to capture high-resolution SkySat images during the December 2022 flooding allowed for the NSW State Government to record the devastating impact the floods had on communities and the environment. No two floods are the same and can vary depending on the quantity, duration and location of rain falling – requiring responding agencies and Governments to collect data on a flooding event, when and where it occurs, to adequately respond.
3. Flooding at Younghusband, South Australia | January 2023
The southern end of the Murray-Darling Basin is subject to inundation, especially after excessive water and flooding in the river system further upstream. The La Niña weather event, which brought rain to eastern Australia for the past three years, continued into 2023 providing high water levels to many towns along the river’s end in South Australia.
Traditional methods of flood monitoring, such as ground surveys, can be time-consuming and dangerous in the midst of inundations. Satellite imagery, on the other hand, can be captured and analysed quickly and safely, providing up-to-date information to emergency responders and decision-makers. Planet imagery is an essential tool for understanding and responding to flooding. It provides valuable information that can be used to protect communities, save lives, and minimize the impact of floods on the environment and economy. To view imagery of flooding at Younghusband, explore NGIS’s blog.
Visit Planet Stories for more imagery timelapses and examples of Planet’s work.
We are proud to share that the University of Arizona (UArizona) is the newest university to obtain a campus-wide license through our Education and Research Program!
Throughout its history, the University of Arizona has conducted exceptional research in relation to space and exploration. It is one of the most awarded universities in the world by NASA, spearheading numerous scientific projects and missions connected to planetary and lunar research. Now, with their collaboration with Planet, UArizona students and researchers can further advance their knowledge of our own planet Earth.
“The use of high-resolution images that reveal the pace and scale of the human imprint on our planet is especially critical for addressing research questions related to local, regional and global environmental changes and their consequences,” said Sharon Collinge, director of the university’s Arizona Institute for Resilience. “Across campus, many researchers use such imagery to quantify and understand how shifts in human activities can propel humanity forward toward more resilient and sustainable futures.”
The campus-wide license will be situated in the University of Arizona Institute for Computation and Data-enabled Insight (ICDI), an transdisciplinary institute focused on exploring the impact of mass collections of data on science, innovation, and research. Through ICDI, students and academics affiliated with the university can access Planet data for research purposes and scientific publications. Through our Explorer platform, users will have access to PlanetScope data, SkySat archives, the tasking dashboard, and a robust series of educational resources and data analysis tools.
“With this new license, our university research teams will be able to capture in high-resolution detail hot spots and hot moments, such as natural disaster impacts, and evaluate social and earth system processes as they evolve in new and exciting ways,” said Tyson Swetnam, assistant research professor of Geoinformatics.
Data tools and assets like Planet data are critical to building the information infrastructure that University of Arizona faculty, staff and students need as leaders in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, said Arthur “Barney” Maccabe, ICDI executive director.
“This relationship builds on the university’s tradition of providing access to high quality information infrastructure, including HPC systems, storage, and the colocation facility,” Maccabe said.
Prior to this campus-wide expansion, researchers at the University of Arizona had already leveraged Planet’s data for a number of scientific publications. Scientists used Planetscope and deep learning to enhance global flood mapping; and researchers analyzed Landsat and PlanetScope data to assess landscape dynamics surrounding Mexican watersheds.
“The University of Arizona is an exceptional institution that has made historic strides in exploration and scientific fields, and we are very excited to see what their researchers will discover with our data. This campus-wide access will enable faculty and students to collaborate across departments to generate novel interdisciplinary findings,” said Joe Mascaro, Director, Science Strategy & Programs.
Recently, our entire Education and Research Program transformed to offer colleges and universities greater data capabilities, including access to our SkySat archives. Through this enhancement, we also made the program more globally accessible than ever before. As of last month, researchers from more than 1,000 universities around the world are accessing our data through E&R program licenses, and our data has now contributed to >2,500 academic publications. This transformation is one of several large programmatic announcements from Planet, including the launch of our Nonprofit Program and our Food Security and Agricultural Monitoring Solution.
How Earth observation and geospatial data can help tackle sewage and safeguard the environment.
Last summer’s deluge in London dropped an equivalent of two month’s rain in just two hours, and those flash floods precipitated popped tops on manhole covers and sewage pollution warnings spanning from British streets to Welsh beaches.
A report released from the London Flood Review concluded the capital’s Victorian sewage system can’t handle the extreme weather events. And with recent heavy rains and wind already battering the UK again this year and putting pubs and other businesses in York underwater (as you’ll see in recent satellite imagery of the River Ouse’s burst banks) or fields in Somerset (also depicted here), it’s about more than managing flood risk – it’s just as critical to tackle the downstream health and environmental concerns.
SkySat • City Centre, York, England • April 23, 2022 (left) and January 13, 2023 (right)PlanetScope • Northmoor Green, Somerset, England • January 07 (left) and 16 (right), 2023AAs you’ll read in the below article cross-posted courtesy of our research partners at Ordnance Survey, teams are working on ways to not only detect water pollution in satellite imagery but also gauging how analytics’ predictive capability could serve as an early warning system about spillage before it happens. Read on to learn more and check out the original survey here.
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PUBLISHED ARTICLE FROM ORDNANCE SURVEY ||LINK
How Earth observation and geospatial data can help tackle sewage and safeguard the environmentOrdnance Survey is working with CGI to investigate the role that Earth observation and accurate location data can play in detecting sewage from space.
Launched by CGI and the UNFCCC, the Sustainability Exploration Environmental Data Science (SEEDS) programme is an exciting research initiative to challenge the thinking and practice around sustainability, provide predictive analysis and viable solutions to tackle this critical issue.
Sewage in water is not just a growing public health concern but has the potential to cause harm to the natural environment. Sewage water contains bacteria and viruses, and if not treated can contaminate water and affect wildlife. The government has recently set out new legally binding environment targets which includes cleaning up our rivers and restoring water sources to their natural state.
We are already seeing the effects of climate change causing unprecedented stormy weather, flash flooding and extreme rainfall. More frequent and heavier storms put increased pressure on the sewage system and sewage overflows which act as ‘safety values’ to protect properties from overloaded sewers and sewage backing up into streets and homes.
Raw sewage is usually treated before being reintroduced into the environment, reducing negative impacts for people and the environment. The UK’s rivers, waterways, and coasts are connected to a series of sewage overflows, which are owned by water companies and used for emergencies when the UK experiences heavy rainfall. Figures from the Environment Agency (EA), one of the UK’s water regulators, show there were more than 770,000 raw sewage discharges into the ocean and rivers around the UK over the course of 2020 and 2021 – the equivalent of almost 6 million hours.
Water companies are required by law to report overspill events, but difficulties arise in recording accurate readings due to old infrastructure and inadequate sensors. Some water companies have even admitted that their sewage storage facilities may not be compliant and are being investigated for releasing unpermitted sewage into water bodies. (Ofwat, 2022).
As part of the SEEDS programme, CGI and OS has conducted preliminary research to see if Earth observation could be a potential solution for the problem of sewage release detection. More than half of key climate data comes from space and combined with geospatial data, Earth observation has the potential to devise a more robust monitoring system for sewage outspills and downstream impact.
As part of the research programme, the Earth imaging satellite company Planet, provided detailed satellite imagery in which each pixel translates to 3.7 m2 on the ground. The initial findings show that Planet data has the potential to identify organic matter in waterways and could be used to detect organic matter from sewage overspills and their downstream impact. This type of data could be a valuable input into an early warning system for water bodies across the UK.
Predictive analysis is vital in order to monitor and mitigate risk, because if we are able to better determine the likelihood that sewage will be dumped at a specific location or where there will be an overspill, water companies will be able to make preparations in advance to mitigate the impact of the release.
The OS team of data scientists have the expertise to predict areas at greater risk. Using OS location data, they can identify different land cover types, terrain, height, and densely populated areas, building cover and predict where there is likely to be a sewage outflow after increased rainfall. This is because urban areas are more likely to have overspills due to paved or concrete areas absorbing less water than undeveloped nature and this creates run off water that impacts on the sewage system.
Equally it’s important to combine data sources, such as using historical records from the UK’s Met Office, to create a dataset showing how much rain was released over each outflow site. Combined with location data you can more accurately predict how much rainfall would be absorbed by the land and where viable solutions can be put into effect.
Satellite imagery in which each pixel translates to 3.7 m2 on the ground. This could be used to detect organic matter from sewage overspills and their downstream impact.As part of the research programme, the data collected was inputted to create over 90 AI models that aimed to foresee when overspill events would occur. The best of these models was able to correctly predict an event 91.5% of the time. This just highlights how technology and AI can benefit government, local authorities, and water companies to help identify where improvements need to be made to surface water drainage, where to increase storage capacity and find ways to divert rain back to the environment naturally.
OS is already using AI to identify where funding can be applied to improve access to proper sanitary facilities like toilets and clean drinking water in developing countries. Using aerial imagery OS generated a new base map of Lusaka, Zambia using AI to identify informal settlements which are often polluted and with inadequate housing. The project was to enable better targeting of investment in critical infrastructure and services such as sanitation facilities and clean drinking water to create a healthier environment.
If we are to solve some of the world’s most pressing climate and sustainability problems, there needs to be greater collaboration that utilises the best geospatial and Earth observation analytics. By sharing data and expertise we will produce more consistent, accurate, and useful data that can improve predictive analysis and improve confidence in AI modelling and ensure we can robustly monitor our waterways for signs of sewage and then implement the right solutions.
Donna Lyndsay, Strategic Market Lead, Sustainability, OS said; “It has been said that only 14% of UK rivers meet good environmental standards. Although we are conducting this research project over the UK, we would like to have the possibility of expanding the project internationally. The increasing availability of accurate and faster data sources, such as Earth observation and location data, combined with the expertise of our data scientists and research and innovation team, unlocks the potential for predictive analysis and demonstrates the value of geospatial data in solving some of the world’s biggest challenges.”
Mattie Yeta, Chief Sustainability Officer, CGI said; “I am delighted that the UN and CGI launched the SEEDS programme last year. Since launching the programme, we have progressed with ten projects, including our water pollution monitoring using satellites. In addition, we have also worked with Ordnance Survey and Planet to demonstrate the role satellites play in climate action, including adaptation, resilience, and human wellbeing. Looking forward to progressing our efforts even further.”
Planet is proud to celebrate Black History Month, as a time to listen, learn, and reflect on Black culture.
Black @ Planet and employee experience teams have identified a number of self-guided learning opportunities to engage in throughout the month and all year long. Many can be enjoyed from your living room and others encourage you to learn, engage, and create community IRL.
Online Events/Programs:
Wednesday, February 1, 12pm ET/3pm PT
Scholar Exchange: A Celebration of African American History and the First Amendment, hosted by National Constitution Center – Attendees will examine the historical context and the drafting of the First Amendment—focusing especially on the factors motivating America’s founding generation. Various types of speech, including symbolic speech, hate speech, and political speech will be highlighted. Students also explore how many groups who were denied rights used the First Amendment to fight for equality for all and in celebration of Black History Month, how key African Americans used the First Amendment to advance the cause of equality.
Register Here
Wednesday, February 1, 12pm ET/3pm PT
Poetry Workshop: Photography, Protest and Perspective, hosted by African American History and Culture Museum a part of the Smithsonian Institute– Deepen your experience of the exhibition, Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience. and let it inspire your writing in this virtual ekphrastic poetry workshop. Ekphrastic poetry responds to a work of visual art-generally a painting, sculpture, or photograph. During the workshop, attendees will explore the many perspectives captured in a single moment. The workshop will be led by international slam poetry champion, Anthony McPherson. McPherson’s work incorporates various art forms, as well as a myriad of character impressions, to address race, art, and his own biracial identity. He’s appeared on Button Poetry, in HuffPost, and Upworthy, and has reached over ten million views since his first viral poem, “All Lives Matter: 1800’s Edition.”
Register Here
Wednesday, February 8, 12pm ET/3pm PT
Four Harriets of History Program, hosted by National Constitution Center – Explore the lives of four American women—Harriet Robinson Scott, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Jacobs, and Harriet Beecher Stowe—who confronted slavery through literature, lawsuits, and direct action in their efforts to free themselves and others from bondage.
Register Here
Friday, February 10, 11:30am ET/2:30pm PT
A Space for Us All hosted by African American History and Culture Museum a part of the Smithsonian Institute – The National Museum of African American History and Culture and NASA invite middle and high school students to join them virtually for an educational experience where they examine and build on the legacy of achievement, connection, and knowledge of African Americans at NASA. Astronaut Victor Glover will share his experiences and ideas about the future of space travel. He will be joined by NASA Directors Clayton Turner and Vanessa Wyche as they describe the needed skills of the future workforce at NASA.
This program will be broadcast virtually on NMAAHC’s UStream and NASA TV channels. They invite students to submit questions for the speakers. Please submit your questions for the presenters. All questions should be submitted by Friday February 3, 2023, at 11:59pm Eastern Time.
Register Here
Friday, February 17, 11:45am PT/1:45pm ET
What is the Impact of Tech in the Black Community? hosted by The DuSable Museum of Black History and Education Center – Join Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Computing, the DuSable Museum Black History and Education Center, and tech industry and education leaders who are members of the Divine Nine, historically Black Greek Letter Organizations, for a discussion on the impact on careers, connection, consumership, and creatorship within the Black community. Advance registration required.
Register Here
Tuesday, February 21, 2pm PT/5pm ET
Art As We See It | Legends of African Photography x Music, hosted by MoAD (Museum of the African Diaspora) – This series of conversations by MoAD Docents celebrates the art and rhythms of the African diaspora by pairing visual art with music. The MoAD docents have searched online archives to bring you selected works from the legends of African photography and paired each piece with an afrobeat song of its own. You are invited to join their discussion via chat as they consider style, inspiration, political and cultural context, and highlight the textures and rhythms of afrobeat.
Register Here
Wednesday, February 22, 3:30pm PT/6:30 pmET
Virtual Marquee Event: A Conversation with Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III of the Smithsonian Institution, hosted by ASLAH – ASLAH’s month-long festival of events will address “Black Resistance” in The Arts, the Black Press and the Black Church. As the-late Congressman John Lewis advised, “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
Register Here
Thursday, February 23, 1pm PT/4pm ET
The Rebel Women of Mathematics with Talithia Williams – Discover incredible women of color who changed the world of mathematics forever. Join Dr. Talithia Williams, groundbreaking professor, author, host of the PBS series NOVA Wonders, renowned TED speaker and passionate STEM/STEAM advocate for an inside look at how women of color turned the male-dominated world of math upside down. From rocket scientists and code breakers to computer programmers and data scientists, discover the inspiring stories of more than 30 real women who fought through obstacles and shattered stereotypes to fearlessly pursue their dreams.
Register here
Thursday, February 23, 4pm PT/7pm ET
Historically Speaking: Next Generation of Black Leaders in Genetic Science, hosted by African American History and Culture Museum a part of the Smithsonian Institute – NMAAHC presents the third in a series of four discussions organized in collaboration with the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). During this program panelists will explore the work of a new generation of African American biomedical scientists conducting groundbreaking research. Chris Williams, STEM Education Specialist at NMAAHC, will lead a conversation with scholars Carter Clinton, Tina Lasisi, and Jameson Floyd.
Register Here
Friday, February 24, 1pm PT/4pm ET
Teen Comics Chat – Black History Month & Love Comics, hosted by the New York Public Library– Join as three librarians talk about some of their personal favorite comics and manga that they hope you’ll check out! The theme will be comics for Black History Month and Valentine’s Day/romance.
Register Here
Events IRL:
The Black History Mobile Museum – If there’s no museum or heritage site near you, keep an eye out for the Black History Mobile Museum, which traverses the country all month and through the summer. Throughout February, you can find the mobile museum in several states, starting in New Jersey on Feb. 1 and making its way through 12 other states. See the full list of 2023 tour dates here.
The mobile museum will be close to SF office:
2/13 Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
2/14 Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
2/15 Diablo Valley College, San Ramon, CA
2/16 Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA
Black Joy Parade – Oakland – On February 26th, you can admire floats, dance troupes and bands as they make their way from the start of the parade at 14th and Franklin streets up to 20th and Franklin streets, where the festival will take place after the procession. At the festival, enjoy live music, food and Black-owned businesses.
Honor Black History Month Around the United States– Find museums, memorials, live music, and celebrations of Black art and history in your state!
National African American Landmarks by State – Since the beginning of the 20th Century, the U.S. Government and most states have identified landmarks associated with African American history. Discover the African American National Historic Landmarks by state, as certified by the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.
Additional resources to engage in all year long:
Museum Virtual Tours
- Hampton University – Virtual Tour, the country’s first and oldest African museum.
- National Civil Rights Museum – Virtual Tour
Watch:
Whether you want a primer on Black history, or you want to dive into a specific niche (like music, film, or activism), there’s almost certainly a documentary out there for you to check out. Here are a few films for recommended viewing this month:
- Summer of Soul (Hulu)
- Let The World See (Hulu)
- The 1619 Project (Hulu)
- More Than A Month (PBS)
- The Loving Story (HBO)
- Freedom Riders (PBS)
- 13th (Netflix)
- Who Killed Malcolm X? (Netflix)
- Is That Black Enough For You? (Netflix)
Listen:
While there are countless amazing podcasts by Black producers and creators, here are a few that stand out for Black History Month listening:
- Historically Black
- 1619
- Black History Buff
- Noire Histoir
- Witness Black History
- Code Switch
- Seizing Freedom
- The Life and Legacy of Frederick Douglass
Read:
Support your local library, many will have Black History Month collections for both adults and kids. Libraries will also often have Black History Month book recommendations by age. Check out these resources
- San Diego Public Library
- Detroit Public Library
- DC Public Library
- Poems, articles, and podcasts that explore African American history and culture.
By: Robbie Schingler and Tara O’Shea
Planet’s founding mission is to use space to help life on Earth, and we’re excited to advance that goal by announcing our acquisition of Salo Sciences! Salo is a climate technology company that builds cutting-edge forest monitoring systems to measure Earth’s constantly changing ecosystems using artificial intelligence and multi-sensor Earth observation data. Planet plans to leverage Salo’s technologies to further develop our Planetary Variables offerings and help customers globally quantify and verify carbon stocks, monitor forest change, and mitigate climate risks.
Salo Sciences’ global data on forest carbon stocks reveals tree-level insights. Shown here in the Lens for Carbon platform through our partnership with Upstream Tech, these data provide detailed and timely monitoring of forest carbon projects.Monitoring carbon stocks and emissions is critical to mitigating climate change, providing insight and accountability into the effectiveness of carbon drawdown strategies like tree planting and avoiding deforestation. We expect the high resolution insights provided by Salo’s technologies will also be critical to address a number of challenges facing supply chain and sustainable land use monitoring, bolstering the work Planet already supports in these areas. Leading partners and customers around the world are putting Planet’s data products and services to work in the following ways:
- Improving Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) commitments and payments pledged under the 2015 Paris Accord (supported by our landmark contract and partnership with Norway’s International Climate & Forests Initiative).
- Enabling efficient and transparent voluntary carbon market projects, including with verification and platform partners.
- Helping decouple deforestation from commodities production, including with leading supply chain management software partners.
- Reducing wildfire risk and increasing landscape-scale resilience.
Planet is constantly working to bridge the gap between complex remote sensing science and real-world solutions. Integrating Salo’s technologies into our imagery and technology stack will help generate understanding of environmental changes at the scale of individual trees. By adding Forest Carbon to the catalog of Planetary Variables, including Soil Water Content, Land Surface Temperature, and Biomass Proxy data, Planet aims to expand its offerings of global analysis-ready data.
Combining artificial intelligence with ecological models, Salo Sciences converts satellite data into precision insights on vegetation fuels and wildfire hazard.In addition to forest carbon mapping, Salo brings technologies and expertise in mapping patterns of forest structure, wildfire risk, and biodiversity change around the world. Their products provide information for electric utilities by mapping where overhanging trees may strike power lines, for firefighting agencies working to mitigate catastrophic wildfire risks, and for land managers like the US Forest Service, who use Forest Observatory data to quantify shifts in species habitat that result from disturbances like logging, wildfires, and climate change.
By joining together as one team, we aim to enable our customers to account for the critical services that forests provide, and work to change economic incentives around land use to meet global climate and sustainability goals. We view Salo’s technologies as instrumental to the sustainable transition of the global economy and as a pivotal tool needed to scale and enable systematic measurements of critical data.
For more information on Planetary Variables and how Salo will look to add data feeds that accurately measure important conditions on the surface of the Earth, please visit here.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this blog post are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s expectations with respect to future performance and anticipated impacts of its acquisition of Salo Sciences, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from any current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
A new partnership between Planet and NASA Harvest will make breakthrough food security solution widely available
When NASA Harvest researchers started analyzing fields from above on either side of the frontlines in Russia and Ukraine, they saw more than artillery pockmarked-fields with budding rows of sunflowers.
They saw a looming food security crisis that would have ripple effects beyond Europe’s breadbasket.
Crop type classification map, Ukraine, 2022 || This 2022 crop type classification map of Ukraine was produced in season with 94% accuracy at 3m resolution, validated with ~4700 ground data samples. Red boundary lines denote Russian-controlled Ukrainian territory, and the various coloration across the country denotes sunflower (light blue), winter wheat (yellow), rapeseed (orange), other summer crops (dark blue), and areas not planted (brown) as of October 2022. (Map generated courtesy of: NASA Harvest; Data courtesy of: Planet, Kyiv Polytechnic, NASA, and Institute for the Study of War).What was striking was that they were able to harness Planet satellite basemaps, combined with other environmental, economic, and social science impact data, to see what was growing – and what wasn’t – at a field-by-field level across the entire region. Their August analysis pointed to a more optimistic outlook that more cropland than they, and other public estimates, had initially expected was both harvested and planted along both the Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-held territories. And while that didn’t solve the challenges of fertilizer price hikes, tremendous logistics challenges or numerous reports of grain theft, it did afford a more crystallized view of what the world might expect for grain and wheat in the harvest ahead.
It’s reminiscent of what the Planet-Harvest pair tackled during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the government of Togo, creating a cropland map of the entire country (delivered within 10 days of receiving the request!) allowing the government to mobilize quickly to ensure food security during the global pandemic.
And from the university researchers to the satellite taskers, they collectively recognized that there was more value to be unlocked from what they were seeing on computer screens.
It’s in that vein, then, that the two organizations collaborated in the launch of the Food Security and Agricultural Monitoring Solution, an offering aiming to deliver policy-grade agricultural monitoring and assessments of potential threats to global food security. The goal? Combine the power of timely, frequent satellite data with AI and ML modeling, domain expertise and user input to scale an assessment tool that could play a key role in anticipating and averting food shortages or disruptions, and providing key information for policy support, not just in Togo, not just in Ukraine, but globally.
“From my vantage point, combing through satellite imagery was about more than training AI models on crop fields,” said Josef Wagner, a NASA Harvest researcher critical to ongoing Ukraine food security analyses. “It’s meaningful to use those analyses to tackle real-world issues like food scarcity or even what a loaf of bread costs at the store. I hope this program has an impact that can cascade to many across the world,” added Shabarinath Nair, another NASA Harvest scientist.
“Providing data to NASA Harvest was one of our earliest humanitarian response projects we undertook at the outset of the Russo-Ukrainian War,” said Melissa Rosa, Planet’s Impact Programs Manager. “It’s incredible what they’ve done with that project, and we’re excited to see how this grows as more organizations can now benefit from the expanded accessibility.”
For more information about accessing the Food Security and Agricultural Monitoring Solution, please email food-security@planet.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this blog are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the ability of Planet Labs PBC (the “Company”) to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
Planet is thrilled to share our second-annual customer and partner awards! The Planet Purpose Awards recognize and celebrate companies that are leading the way in the respective categories that align to Planet’s core values. The five award categories are:
Do Good. Recognizes those whose work helps bring transparency to our changing world and strives to make it a better place for people and the environment.
Dream Big: Highlights customers who push the boundaries of what’s possible, driven by a big audacious mission.
Be Collaborative: Showcases how groups and partnerships can collaborate to do something that each individual couldn’t accomplish alone.
Drive for Results: Awards those who rapidly hypothesize and test, measure, and improve the way they approach solving a problem to drive more results.
Strive for Openness: Promotes those who build bridges and share information in a way that fosters openness and shared outcomes.
In 2021, Vigil Monitor, NTT Data, LiveEO, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Sinergise were selected as the winners in each of the respective categories.
Today we invite all Planet customers and partners to submit stories and use cases here. The deadline to submit is March 1st, 2023. The five award winners will be announced at Planet’s annual Explore Conference taking place on April 12th – 13th, 2023.
Explore is Planet’s annual conference that brings together leaders in Earth observation to network, engage, and share the latest strategies, solutions, and product innovation for using Earth data to drive action. As the leading provider of daily, global data Planet provides a forum for organizations to engage, build partnerships, and create solutions to meet the most pressing challenges of our time, from climate change, to national security, to digital transformation.
This year the theme is From Transparency to Action. While Planet believes transparency and accountability are critical to understanding the global challenges facing organizations today, it is not enough. It’s about the need to take action now.
Planet’s data and platform enable an ecosystem of customers, partners, and the scientific community to shed light on events and behaviors where accountability is most needed – ultimately with the goal of driving better outcomes for a sustainable, secure planet and we’re excited to recognize the pioneers leading the way.
From economists to ecologists, our Education and Research Program enables researchers from around the globe to dive into Planet’s datasets and explore a world of near limitless research insights. And starting today, we are transforming the program to offer greater global accessibility and enhanced user capabilities! Through a new tiered pricing system, we aim to serve more universities from more countries than ever before. With this program transformation, we are also offering our high-resolution SkySat data to our E&R users, a first for a university program in the satellite data industry.
We launched the Education and Research Program in 2017, and are now nearing the sixth year of its operation. The program was designed to provide opportunities to students, researchers, and professors from accredited universities to access our data and services for their unique research needs. As of this December, researchers from more than 1,000 universities across more than 100 countries are accessing our data through the E&R program, including Rutgers University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, Utrecht University in the Netherlands, University of Toronto in Canada, and Yamaguchi University in Japan.
And now we are further enabling this global momentum!
Our program enhancement means that now we will operate with a three tiered pricing system. A university campus will be offered a package price based on the economic context of their country. With this change, we aim to create opportunities for universities around the globe to obtain affordable satellite data. We look to support an even greater diversity of research projects generated from Planet’s satellite data and help lend insights to the world’s most pressing questions.
These academics will now also receive broad access to archive data from our high-resolution SkySat constellation. This will be a first-of-its-kind service for our program and empower researchers to explore the world with high-resolution (50 cm) imagery and review data that was captured at the same location multiple times a day. This can allow researchers to monitor daily experiments with fine details or observe swiftly changing events, such as volcanic eruptions.
To date, the Education and Research Program’s users have demonstrated some of the most innovative use cases for Planet’s satellite data, and the sheer diversity of projects has showcased the value of Planet data for science. For example, curious researchers leveraged our satellite data to monitor thawing permafrost in Tibet, map urban forests in the United States, model the impacts of the war in Tigray on Ethiopian marketplaces, and simulate potentially hazardous lava flows in Eritrea. Further projects have ranged from monitoring urban air quality in India and kelp forests in California to cultural heritage sites in Azerbaijan and rice fields in Japan.
In the last year, the E&R Program has also seen an increase in multi-university integrated research projects, including a program focused on monitoring Canadian boreal forests and their biodiversity through the University of Alberta, Yukon University, and the University of Calgary. And in September, the E&R Program announced a multi-year contract with Saint Louis University in support of the Taylor Geospatial Institute (TGI), a leading geospatial research collaborative in the midwestern United States focused on agriculture and security.
Each day, researchers are advancing human knowledge by asking daring scientific questions and exploring Planet’s datasets. In fact, our data has now contributed to >2,500 academic publications in 10 different languages since 2016. This number includes users from our Education and Research Program, the NICFI Satellite Data Program, the acquisition of VanderSat, and our partnerships with NASA and DLR. In the last year, approximately two papers were published per day using Planet data.
With this newly scaled Education and Research Program, we are expecting these numbers to continue to grow. Our goal is to get Planet’s data into the hands of as many researchers and young scientists from around the world as we can. We believe that this increased accessibility will stimulate novel discoveries about our changing natural world and complex social systems. As the backbone of geospatial research, students and academics demonstrate innovative analytical approaches for industries around the world, and we are excited to see how this upgraded program will open new doors.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this blog post are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future education and research programs. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
Today we successfully launched 36 SuperDove satellites, our Flock 4y, to space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket! Our team has established contact with all 36 SuperDoves and has kicked off our automated commissioning process. This marks Planet’s 32nd successful launch, totaling over 500 satellites launched since our founding.
These satellites were lofted into orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida on SpaceX’s Transporter-6 mission, marking Planet’s eighth flight with the launch provider. Once in orbit, contact with the 36 SuperDoves was established, holding our 100% successful contact rate with our satellites.
These 36 SuperDoves will replenish our current fleet of approximately 200 satellites in orbit, working to scan the Earth every day to make change visible, accessible, and actionable. This data is incorporated into the workflows of over 800 customers globally and thousands of users in agriculture, sustainability, government, and more, to help power better decision making. From measuring crop yields to fighting illegal deforestation to supporting land restoration efforts, global users are finding great value in our monitoring capabilities. We’re excited to bring even more SuperDove satellites to orbit to further our mission of making daily change visible, accessible, and actionable.
“It’s in Planet’s DNA to continually innovate in space to ensure our users are equipped with the best data. We do this by deploying the latest technology and sensors on each satellite we launch to increase the frequency, resolution, and quality of the data that powers our software and tools,” said Planet CEO, Will Marshall. “I’m incredibly proud of our team for delivering 36 more SuperDoves to orbit that will contribute to our unprecedented global monitoring mission. Thanks for the ride, SpaceX!”
Each Planet SuperDove is equipped with eight spectral bands that provide users with accurate, consistent and analysis-ready data. But that’s not all – a select number from this flock are adorned with artwork that’s been laser-etched onto each side panel. A portion of the art on Flock 4y pays tribute to the legacy of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, as part of our collaboration with The Roddenberry Foundation’s Boldly Go Campaign. We share a similar mission with The Roddenberry Foundation – of using space to inspire and help life on Earth. We’re thrilled to see the culmination of this work launched to space today.
To bring this to life, Rod Roddenberry, CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment and Gene’s son joined Planet’s Vice President of Launch, Mike Safyan, to lightheartedly chat about how Star Trek and Planet’s missions align – and answer the internet’s burning questions about how satellites get into space. Snippets from their virtual conversation can be found here and in the video embedded below.
For more information on Planet’s Flock 4y and its commissioning process, follow along at our Twitter account.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to: whether Flock 4y will successfully replenish Planet’s existing SuperDove fleet; Planet’s constellation of satellites, including Flock 4y, being able to meet its customers’ needs; and whether Planet’s constellation of satellites will be able to provide insights for customers and strategic partners in accordance with their design, or at all. Forward-looking statements are based on Planet’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: the interruption or failure of Planet’s satellite operations; whether Planet experiences any adverse events, such as its satellites failing to operate as intended, being destroyed or otherwise becoming inoperable; Planet’s satellites not being able to capture Earth images due to weather, natural disasters or other external factors, or as a result of its constellation of satellites having restrained capacity; and the other risk factors and disclosures about Planet and its business included in Planet’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on Planet’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect Planet’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. Planet undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
We are excited to share that we plan to launch 36 of our SuperDove satellites, Flock 4y, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than January 3, 2023 at 9:56 a.m. ET (14:56 UTC). Flock 4y is planned to launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-6 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
These 36 SuperDoves will replenish our current fleet of approximately 200 satellites in orbit, working to provide a continuous, and complete view of the world from above every day. Each Planet SuperDove is equipped with eight spectral-bands and improved on-orbit capacity that helps to quickly deliver sharp, analysis-ready data to our customers. The data collected by our SuperDoves allows organizations in agriculture, government – both intelligence and civilian agencies – forestry, sustainability, and other industries to make informed, timely decisions.
A select number of these SuperDoves will be adorned with artwork and quotes that celebrate the legacy of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry as a part of our collaboration with The Roddenberry Foundation’s Boldly Go Campaign. The Roddenberry Foundation launched this campaign in 2021 to celebrate Gene’s hopeful vision of humanity’s future—one of inclusion, scientific progress, and cooperation. Five of the the SuperDoves on this mission will have artwork laser-etched onto their side panels that is inspired by the over 1,500 submissions to the Boldly Go campaign, which asked the world to share what gives them hope for humanity’s future.
A Planet SuperDove with the Boldly Go Campaign artwork laser etched onto its side panels. Credit: Planet Labs PBC
“We’re excited to again work with SpaceX to bring 36 SuperDoves to orbit, our eighth overall launch with the launch provider,” said Planet’s Vice President of Launch, Mike Safyan. “Once in orbit, these satellites will join our current fleet and work to deliver cutting-edge geospatial solutions to our global customer base.”
This was a natural partnership with the Roddenberry Foundation given we share similar missions – to accelerate humanity to a more sustainable, secure and prosperous world by illuminating environmental and social change. To showcase how these missions align and how satellites – and starships – launch into space, Rod Roddenberry, CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment and Gene’s son joined Safyan to discuss the internet’s most asked questions.
This will be our eighth overall launch with SpaceX. Since its founding, we have launched over 500 imaging satellites, more than any commercial company in history. Follow along at our Twitter account as we gear up for the launch of 36 SuperDoves.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to: whether Flock 4y will successfully launch on the expected timeline, or at all; whether Flock 4y will successfully replenish Planet’s existing SuperDove fleet; Planet’s constellation of satellites, including Flock 4y, being able to meet its customers’ needs; and whether Planet’s constellation of satellites will be able to provide insights for customers and strategic partners in accordance with their design, or at all. Forward-looking statements are based on Planet’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: the interruption or failure of Planet’s satellite operations; whether Planet experiences any adverse events, such as delayed launches, launch failures, its satellites failing to reach their planned orbital locations, its satellites failing to operate as intended, being destroyed or otherwise becoming inoperable, the cost of satellite launches significantly increasing and/or satellite launch providers not having sufficient capacity; Planet’s satellites not being able to capture Earth images due to weather, natural disasters or other external factors, or as a result of its constellation of satellites having restrained capacity; and the other risk factors and disclosures about Planet and its business included in Planet’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on Planet’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect Planet’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. Planet undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
Unpack GeoSmart India 2022’s theme – #geospatialbydefault: empowering billions – and you’ll discover two things.
One, the promise of geospatial and earth observation systems is enormous, and growing all the time. New technologies for satellite image resolution, sensing, data collection, and data management are continuously advancing, making the current moment an incredibly exciting one for the industry.
Two, it’s important that these technologies be made more accessible and more impactful in the near term – but how?
Planeteers joined the annual event that brings together leaders from India’s thriving GIS industry and the country’s various government agencies involved in technology and research to learn more about the potential geospatial technologies can deliver for organizations in India – and also to share their own capabilities and solutions for the Indian market.
Here are the key takeaways we heard from the 500 speakers and the 2,500 attendees at GeoSmart India:
The necessary evolution of geospatial solutions
In order to fulfill the potential of geospatial technologies – both as a business and as an agent for progress and problem-solving – the products have to evolve. They can’t merely remain siloed data resources; they must be integrated through structured data flows enabled by new interconnectivity.
“New trends in GIS are facilitating interconnectivity and integration of all types of data,” Agendra Kumar, Managing Director of ESRI India (a Planet partner), told attendees. “Geospatial apps are becoming pervasive, supporting many types of workflows and management.”
This evolution would also include democratization of data for academia and governments. As GeoSmart India 2022 keynote speaker Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of Jal Shakti, told attendees, “Nowadays, digital geospatial information provides far more value for societal, economic, and environmental use than just a simple map. It serves as an essential national information resource.”
The rise of India as a center of geospatial adoption
Recently, the Indian government has been focussed on digital transformation, including how it responds to the challenges of governing, collecting information, and providing services. India is also considering geospatial information adoption through regulations, standards, incentives to industry, and an integrated policy framework that is helping to liberalize the industry.
In addition, the Indian government has shown active support to geospatial infrastructure through the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), such as launching vehicles for deploying satellites.
Geospatial companies are innovating
“The advances in image resolution really wowed those we shared it with at GeoSmart India,” says Naveen Reddy, Planet Account Executive, who leads sales for South Asia. “It was great to learn about new survey equipment that uses drones and LiDAR, which now offer the greater precision needed by users. And remote sensing services coupled with AI and ML are just mind-blowing, pushing innovation and helping to set industry standards.”
Many more parts of the world need the benefits of geospatial technology
Governments and NGOs are committed to bringing the benefits of geospatial data to more citizens. Ultimately, the collective hope expressed at the show is that geospatial information expertise will help end-users respond to challenging issues such as overpopulation and poverty.
“We can empower billions, once we master the power of collaboration and collective problem-solving,” said Nadine Alameh, CEO and President of Open Geospatial Consortium. “Even though we are living in an amazing time for technology, we must not forget that billions of people in the world do not benefit from it.”
Planet’s presence
Our company hosted a 24 sqm booth and participated in a technical presentation that addressed how high-frequency satellite data can help the India government and private organizations manage infrastructure assessment, land use, project monitoring and evaluation, natural resource management and compliance, agricultural monitoring, and disaster impact assessment.
Planet APJ Team left to right: Naveen Reddy, Stephen Jenks, Janeth Fule & Partha Pratim Ghosh
Planet Dove satellite on display at GeoSmart India 2022 Conference.
Partha Pratim Ghosh delivering technical presentation | Leveraging Space Technology: Solutions and Applications Using Planet Satellite Data in India
“We had great interest from visitors curious to know more about our powerful imaging capabilities, and of course, we got to see the familiar faces of numerous Planet users from the Indian government and space agencies,” says Satish Raju Gottumukkala, Product Specialist, Planetary Variables at Planet. “Our satellite display left visitors amazed that so much sensing power could be packed into that small box.”
Water scarcity is on the rise, and it is impacting crop yield around the world. In the US alone, over 378 million acres of farmland are currently under drought. And as climate change is accelerating, agricultural water scarcity is expected to intensify in over 80% of global croplands. Wasteful watering methods must evolve to prepare for future water shortages.
Drip irrigation, invented in the 1950s, continues to be the most advanced irrigation system available. Unfortunately, although it’s significantly better than flood irrigation or sprinkler systems, it continues to waste water input. According to Arthur Chen, CEO & Co-founder of Verdi, that’s because it’s a spray-and-pray approach that pours water on every plant without targeting its individual needs. But soil is variable, and growers shouldn’t treat entire fields the same way.
Verdi has built a smart system to help. Verdi’s platform augments legacy irrigation infrastructure with capabilities for automation and plant-level healthcare, bringing variable rate irrigation to specialty crops. This allows farmers to radically improve productivity and reduce water risk. With some of the world’s largest food and beverage brands as clients, it’s working in a big way: Verdi is on track to save over 7 million liters of water in 2022 and expects that to grow to 20 billion liters of water saved every year by 2027.
We talked to Chen to get the story behind this mission-driven company and find out what led Verdi to partner with Planet. Considering that Verdi’s founders all come from families with roots in agriculture there was an obvious passion for the industry. Chen shared, “It’s an opportunity to make agriculture much more sustainable and to future-proof what our families have been doing for generations.”
Observation before actionVerdi’s solution starts with Earth observation from Planet. Its software analyzes Planet data to get a baseline understanding of the crops. This allows Verdi to show farmers which areas of the field are underperforming, which are performing well, and which areas have excessive growth that can lead to a reduction in quality. “We often hear from the grower, ‘Hey. That is a problem area, and it’s cool that I can see it now,’” Chen said. “It really helps to build that trust with the growers.”
Chen maintains that Planet imagery is the key to pinpointing what’s happening on the land. “We looked at a number of different providers and ultimately decided to partner with Planet for several reasons,” he explained. “Other satellite sources are out there, but they are too low-resolution and only take images once every week or two. You can get a sense of what’s wrong, but it’s not very granular. With Planet imagery, we get three-meter resolution and 4-band images daily, plus historical data. And from an integration standpoint, the Planet API is simple to use.”
The granular information Verdi gets from Planet lets them identify areas of inefficiency and prescribe a management strategy, something they could not do before using Planet data. “We can also monitor changes throughout the season to ensure things are tracking in the right direction with NDVI [Normalized Difference Vegetation Index] or whatever metric we’re using, ” Chen shared.
Action leads to better quality crops, increased yields, and labor, water, and fertilizer savingsBy being a lot more efficient with how farmers allocate their water, Chen sees that customers not only save on the resources they’re putting in, but also get a much better crop yield and quality.
One of Canada’s largest wine companies started working with Verdi in 2020. After performing prescriptive analysis using Planet imagery, they retrofitted smart devices into the field—precisely where they were called for—to control water and fertilizer at a more granular scale.
The results? A single season of these field automations increased yield in underperforming areas and balanced over-vegetated areas, leading to better fruit quality. The effective yield per acre increased by 8%, resulting in approximately $7,500 more per acre.
Other customers have seen measurable savings in labor, to the tune of 20-40 hours per week, per acre. Though fiscally water is still relatively inexpensive in many areas, Verdi cuts costs there too. In drought-prone regions, growers see up to 50% or 60% in water savings.
20 billion liters of water savings annually and beyondWith the success Verdi has seen so far, Chen is confident they’ll meet their north star goal to save billions of liters of water each year within five years.
They also plan to broaden their use cases with Planet. The company’s mission is to help farmers adapt to climate change, empowering them to become resilient to more than just drought. “Right now, we’re using the near-infrared data for vegetation indices. We only use four-band imagery and want to start using eight bands. We’re looking at how we can bring in additional indices that can be useful for our customers.” Planet 8-band imagery provides insights across the visible and invisible spectrum, to allow for deeper understanding and more accurate decision making.
“Planet is freeing us to be a lot more scalable than a typical hardtech company in agriculture would be,” Chen said. “We can go to any farm, any customer, and show them what’s wrong with their crops and recommend treatments. Planet is going to continue to be a major partner in helping us scale to hundreds of thousands of acres and billions of liters of water saved.”
By: Njeri Maina and Megan Zaroda
Although Africa as a whole has contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions, no continent has been more affected by climate change-induced natural disasters like flooding and droughts. And since Africa is home to a third of the world’s natural resources and 70% of its population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, this underscores the importance of water management in times of scarcity, sustainable land use planning as the region develops, and the need to economically shore up pastoralists in lean seasons.
And a handful of local groups are doing just that. Academics, farmers and bankers alike are applying local ingenuity to geospatial data to not just explore solutions – but deliver results.
Drought Insurance for Farmers
Especially for sub-Saharan African grasslands, drought is a persistent threat to economies and livelihoods. Regional reinsurance company, ZEP-RE, is implementing a drought risk protection program known as DRIVE. This is a World Bank-funded project in partnership with the Governments of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia to support the financial derisking of pastoral livelihoods and include them in livestock value chains in the Horn of Africa (HOA). ZEP-RE is using satellite data insights to expand its insurance program to support over 250,000 pastoralists.
How does that work? To assist, Planet is delivering analysis-ready Basemaps with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data to help ZEP-RE measure vegetation health for an area of more than 600,000 km2 of Eastern Africa. The reinsurance company will also utilize Planet data as their independent calculation agent to quantify conditions and provide metrics to measure drought. ZEP-RE is then looking to generate a drought index that can be customized to locations to determine payout amounts, generate premium rates, and enable faster claims. These insights are key to helping them scale their risk calculation capabilities.
Similarly, ACRE Africa, which is one of the largest micro-insurance providers in Africa, is working with multiple partners to support the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MoALF) to implement new tools for climate risk insurance. For example, they are using Planetary Variables solutions like soil moisture index and a picture-based loss verification tool to (1) minimize the cost of verifying the loss itself, (2) make crop insurance more attractive and accessible to smallholder farmers and (3) help smallholder farmers reduce future losses due to drought by offering advisory services to farmers, including both climate smart agriculture practices and weather-related decision support.
And while these two commercial projects demonstrate the scalability of satellite-based agricultural programs as they expand from Kenya through East Africa, scientists, too, are exploring new methods to use near-daily monitoring of fields through our Education and Research Program. Researchers are using PlanetScope to identify livestock enclosures in Kenyato support research in soil health and greenhouse gas emissions and others are using Basemaps to remotely evaluate the differences between drought- and locust-caused vegetation damage in Ethiopia.
Climate mitigation and adaptation
Given how often drought strikes, Dutch land restoration nonprofit Justdiggit turned to nature-based solutions rooted in ancient practices. In Kenya and Tanzania, they’re working with local farmers to dig bunds — semi-circular shaped pits that help the soil capture rainwater – in order to hydrate and regreen parched land.
You may not be able to see every drop from space, but cumulatively, that captured water added up. Based on two of Justdiggit’s bund sites, the total extra retention of water as measured by the Soil Water Content data can be estimated to equal approximately 790,000 liters over less than 4 years. Assuming a person drinks 3 liters of water per day, the average additional daily retention would be sufficient to supply 191 people with water to drink.
How were they able to make those calculations? Justdiggt is using a full suite of Planet’s satellite products to quantify, evaluate, and scale the regenerative practice over time:
- PlanetScope’s imagery scan helps them to evaluate discrete change over time in the bunds.
- The Planetary Variables metrics quantified soil water content and land surface temperature, enabling Justdiggit to evaluate how many liters of water were retained by the soil, how many degrees the surface cooled down, and how much vegetation increased since the bunds were dug.
- Lastly, the team tasked SkySat satellites to view the overall scale of their regreening efforts overtime.
Marrying modern technology with nature know-how is also an important element of work for projects that will be focused on early warning systems and climate adaptation – the process of adjusting to current or expected effects of climate change – spinning out of Microsoft’s first global expansion of the AI for Good Lab, in Nairobi, Kenya and Cairo, Egypt. Leveraging Planet’s satellite data, Microsoft’s AI, and a coalition of African partners that Microsoft is establishing, the goal is to facilitate ways to generate additional climate data and drive continued research.
PlanetScope image of Justdiggit restoration site in Pembamoto, Tanzania captured May 11, 2022. © 2022, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved.Natural resources and energy sources
Just like with the bund project, the ability to view change over time is a critical aspect to managing natural resources – from the water we need to the water we don’t; to the land we use and the land we abuse.
For example, as areas of the Congo rapidly embrace development, the Central African Forest Initiative is bringing together the six Congo Basin countries and multilateral donors to conduct regular technical training to increase adoption of high-res monitoring to watch and predict the impact to the area’s forests. Similarly, the National Sustainable Development Fund of Mozambique is using Planet Scenes data to validate deforestation events and improve forest area change estimation and mapping.
Gaining a greater understanding of land use is a key question the Global Renewables Watch is seeking to answer. Starting by mapping Kenya and Egypt, the Microsoft x The Nature Conservancy x Planet mashup is a first-of-its-kind living atlas intended to map and measure all utility-scale solar and wind installations on Earth using AI and satellite imagery, allowing users to evaluate clean energy transition progress and track trends over time. The noble ambitions of adding clean energy to the grid can sometimes come at a cost as solar or wind farms are built on top of arable farmland or wildlife ecosystems. So GRW reports out on two factors: energy capacity and output, but also how the land itself has changed, so that those using the tool can potentially pivot their siting strategies to be more complementary to both energy generation and ecosystem sustainability.
Here’s What It Takes
The common thread through all of these examples is collaboration. “Public-private partnerships are an essential tool for the success of climate change projects in Africa,” said Njeri Maina, Planet’s Market Development Director, Africa. “Opportunity lies at the confluence of bringing together (1) applying proven use cases that can be (2) augmented and scaled with local ingenuity and understanding of challenges that are (3) catalyzed by public-private partnerships and collaborations.”
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this blog are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
Today, we announced an exciting new contract with ZEP-RE, a reinsurance company based in Nairobi, Kenya who will leverage our Basemaps products to enhance drought risk protection in the Horn of Africa (HOA)!
ZEP-RE aims to utilize PlanetScope 3-5 meter resolution imagery through our analysis-ready, Surface Reflectance Basemaps products. Using pre-processed, Basemaps, we will deliver Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data to measure vegetation health for an area of more than 600,000 km2 of Eastern Africa. The reinsurance company will also be utilizing our data as their independent calculation agent to quantify conditions and provide metrics to measure drought. With this data they will further develop their drought index program and scale their risk calculation capabilities.
With Planet data, ZEP-RE aims to expand the insurance program to support over 250,000 pastoralists in the HOA. In the process, they seek to generate a drought index that can be customized to locations to determine payout amounts, generate premium rates, and enable faster claims.
“At Planet, we are excited to be contributing data to support the livelihoods of pastoral farmers in Africa with ZEP-RE. We believe our data is a powerful and unique source of information for agricultural index insurance, and that it can bring value to vulnerable communities in their daily lives,” said Kevin Weil, President of Product & Business at Planet.
Along the grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa, drought is a persistent threat to economies and livelihoods. ZEP-RE is the implementing agent of a regional project, DRIVE, intending to enhance pastoralists’ access to financial services for drought risk mitigation, include them in the value chains, and facilitate the livestock trade. ZEP-RE will be leveraging our satellite data products to execute the risk protection product to support business continuity and expand its critical work in the region. DRIVE is a World Bank funded project in partnership with the governments of the four participating countries in the HOA; Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
“We are thrilled to begin using Planet’s satellite data for the HOA DRIVE Index-Based Livestock Insurance product. With the reliability and quality of the Planet data we can normalize the stream with our existing data and transition smoothly to continue our business model into the future,” said Ronald Kasapatu, Director of Agriculture & Micro Insurance at ZEP-RE.
For us, this first-of-its-kind application demonstrates the innovative use of our Surface Reflectance Basemaps and Professional Services to provide NDVI data that powers products for drought insurance. Showcasing our evolving insurance offerings, this program highlights how our technology could be replicated with additional customers in the field.
Planet Labs PBC Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, Planet Labs PBC’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations. Forward-looking statements are based on Planet Labs PBC’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about Planet Labs PBC and its business included in Planet Labs PBC’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on Planet Labs PBC’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect Planet Labs PBC’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. Planet Labs PBC undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
December in the U.S. brings chilly temperatures and falling snow—and every year, also brings together the world’s largest convening of geoscientists. This year, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting will take place in Chicago, and we’re ecstatic to see a record number of presentations are on the schedule using Planet data! This year saw nearly a two-fold increase in abstracts utilizing Planet data through our various Science Programs over last year, with 130 posters and talks covering a huge array of topics, including:
- Quantifying the extent and drivers of global forest loss using the combined power of PlanetScope and Sentinel-2
- Integrating field- and space-based data to monitor biodiversity and vegetation change in Uganda
- Mapping mangroves, a key Blue Carbon ecosystem, to understand how climate change is impacting their distribution globally
- Predicting maize yields at scale using PlanetScope and machine learning
- Assessing the impact of armed conflict on farmland in Ethiopia
- Using land surface change to characterize changes in carbon flux
- Classifying changes in forest area and distribution patterns using Planet’s NICFI Basemaps
- Analyzing Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Maria through mapping of temporary blue roofs from 2017–2020
- Responding to the conflict in Ukraine with rapid response crop mapping
- Detecting spatial and temporal patterns in seasonal snowlines on glaciers, key for estimating snowmelt in watersheds
If you’re coming to AGU in person, stop by the Planet booth in the exhibit hall to chat with us about your research! We will also be holding a Town Hall event on Wednesday, December 14th at 1PM CT featuring some exciting science-related announcements and a panel of researchers currently using Planet data. You can view the entire scientific program for the AGU Fall Meeting online. Be sure to check out the talks and posters mentioned here, and browse the schedule for more amazing science in the works that will help us better understand our changing Earth system.
The use of synthetic data to facilitate machine learning development has been growing over the past few years. It is used by many major technology companies to do things as varied as build guidance for autonomous vehicles, develop insights for the financial sector, and extend and enhance healthcare applications. Synthetic data is simulated using a number of physical process models and labeled to be as realistic as possible to support machine learning (ML) model training.
Rendered.ai are experts in this space, and create simulated data across a variety of applications and industries with their platform-as-a-service for generating synthetic data. While typically synthetic data is used to train machine learning models, the Planet Hyperspectral team is leveraging synthetic data in an innovative way – to facilitate satellite data product development in advance of the satellites in orbit. Planet has partnered with Rendered.ai to develop and build out synthetic scenes. The simulated hyperspectral data provided by Rendered.ai allows Planet’s customers to provide early feedback prior to launch.
“Planet is leading the way with an innovative approach to constellation design – using synthetic data to build customer value before their hyperspectral constellation launches. We founded Rendered.ai to support engineers who need to build analytics tools but who can’t get the data they need. This gap is critical when building an innovative satellite constellation. How can you perform engineering trades when customers want insights, not pixels? It’s not enough to design, launch, collect real data and hope for the best 6-12 months later. Planet knows this and it has been a pleasure to partner with them and leverage the Rendered.ai platform to meet their data needs,” said Nathan Kundtz, CEO of Rendered.ai.
In addition, Planet is leveraging this data for internal R&D to test the effects of various operational modes, such as view angle, and scene conditions on downstream product quality. Instead of leveraging these data sets to build machine learning applications, Planet is leveraging this realistic data for application and product development to minimize the product development process post launch.
Sarah Shivers, Senior Product Manager for Planet’s Hyperspectral Offering, says “What’s really exciting about our partnership with Rendered.ai is that they’ve given us the capability to quickly and easily generate simulated acquisitions over varied land cover types and scene conditions so that we can understand the capabilities of our system and get physically-accurate data into the hands of customers before we get any hardware into space. This allows us to closely work with customers ahead of launch to accelerate product testing and development, which could result in higher quality products coming to our customers on Day 1!”
This unique collaboration with Rendered.ai is helping Planet strengthen its ability to address program risk, speed up time to market, and provides a valuable avenue to have meaningful conversations with customers before systems are on-orbit.
“Coming from a background in autonomous vehicles and computer vision technologies,” says Elizabeth Foughty, the Product Marketer responsible for Planet’s Hyperspectral Offering. “I was delighted to learn of the planned use of synthetic data to do product development prior to launch and to put to use in our early market building efforts. I feel that Planet’s innovative application of synthetic data will deeply benefit the earth observation data space. Customers familiar with synthetic data are responding extremely well, and while there is a learning curve for those less familiar, it’s been a fun one!”
This innovative approach is a component of Planet’s groundbreaking Hyperspectral offering. From the novel public-private partnership, with the non-profit organization Carbon Mapper, that funded the satellite build out, to the agile aerospace approach to development of new satellite programs, Planet is leveraging cutting edge technologies to support the increased usage of earth observation to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.
Interested in learning more? https://www.planet.com/products/hyperspectral/
Forward-looking Statements Template
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this blog are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity and realize any of the potential benefits from current or future product development efforts, including internal R&D and customer outreach, product enhancements, new products, or strategic partnerships and customer collaborations. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s periodic reports, proxy statements, and other disclosure materials filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are available online at www.sec.gov, and on the Company’s website at www.planet.com. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
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The NICFI Satellite Data Program continues to serve a diverse community of users that are putting high-resolution satellite imagery to work in helping fight deforestation and combat climate change. This quarter, we conducted our third user survey of Level 1 users. We received over 400 responses from users, detailing their feedback, user […]
O tamanho e a complexidade do território brasileiro, especialmente na região amazônica, têm sido, historicamente, um desafio para instituições como a Polícia Federal no sentido de prover uma resposta efetiva a crimes ambientais e atividades ilícitas. Para melhorar suas operações, estas insituições necessitavam de um conjunto de dados que complementasse seu trabalho […]
Download the comprehensive case study here. Click here to read this blog in Portuguese; and here to read it in Spanish The size and complexity of the Brazilian territory, especially in the Amazon region, has historically plagued institutions, like the country’s Federal Police, with challenges around effective response to environmental crimes and […]
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We are thrilled to announced that Kristen Robinson will be joining Planet’s Board of Directors. Robinson brings 30 years of experience in human resources, finance and marketing at software and technology companies. Voted in at Planet’s Annual General Meeting on November 9, this is our first board addition since going public in […]
“Over the next 20 years, the world will move from a hydrocarbon-based economy into a clean energy-based economy. Those 20 years are going to be very messy if we don’t have the right information to ramp one down while ramping the other one up.” – Eric Anderson, Chief Technology Officer, SynMax Energy […]
While consumers worry about the taste of corked wine, growers fret over disease. It’s the most limiting factor to wine production, managing it is expensive, and climate change is making it worse. But technology is driving the next agricultural revolution. And a group of growers and researchers are harnessing new tech’s power […]
Here’s what happens when we put satellite data into the hands of nonprofits Similar to Planet, nonprofit organizations and NGOs are mission-driven, high impact organizations that aim to promote the common good. However, due to extremely tight budgets supported primarily through donations and funding from philanthropic and government organizations, nonprofits often rely […]
As Planet continues to grow and support an increasing number of customers and partners, it is our desire to provide enablement resources and opportunities at scale to help them succeed. In order to best serve and support our users, we are excited to launch our new customer enablement platforms: Planet University and […]
We are thrilled to share that NASA exercised an option to extend its contract with Planet under the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program through September 2023. Planet has been providing data to NASA scientists and federal civilian agency funded researchers under this program since 2018 and we look forward to continuing […]
Opinion World leaders, CEOs, climate advocates, scientists and sustainable development specialists from around the world converged on New York City last week, for the annual, concurrent rituals of the United Nations General Assembly and ClimateWeek. After a several years’-long lull, things were back with a bang – with more people, more meetings, […]
Data analysis and visualizations contributed by: Guyon Duifhuizen, Max Borrmann, and Rob Simmon This harvest season, global eyes are watching the United States’ agricultural yield reports with anticipation after fields around the world have been challenged by extreme weather, drought, heat waves, and political turmoil. The United States is the world’s largest […]
Instead of time-consuming human surveys, these living maps are made by AI and satellites to help planners get things done It’s easy to spot a wind turbine or solar array from the window of your car, but counting each installation across the world is quite a different story. And since neither the […]
Today, we are excited to announce new details of our hyperspectral constellation, which is being brought to market through a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership with the Carbon Mapper Coalition. This future hyperspectral satellites will be named Tanager, a colorful and visually diverse family of birds in Central and South America, and are designed […]
In exciting news, we have entered into a multi-year contract with Saint Louis University in support of the Taylor Geospatial Institute (TGI), a leading geospatial research collaborative. Bringing together eight midwestern universities and research centers, TGI aims to harness innovation in geospatial science and make scientific discoveries that address global challenges. With […]
In the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian war, more cropland than was initially expected has been both harvested and planted along both the Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-held territories, according to NASA Harvest research. Leveraging Planet’s satellite image datasets, NASA Harvest has been monitoring potential threats to global food security caused by the Russo-Ukrainian War. […]
Planet is excited to share that we have certified three partners through the new Planet Orbit Certification Program. The program will officially launch and be open to qualified partners in Spring 2023. The companies that have completed our certified program offer robust applications and services that are ready to scale globally. From […]
UNESCO reported in July 2022 that over 165 Ukrainian heritage sites have been damaged since the onset of the Russo-Ukrainian war, and warned that further destruction lies ahead. With Ukraine’s cultural landscape under continued threat, the need to safeguard the country’s heritage is felt, not only within Ukrainian borders, but also globally […]
Our Planet leadership team continues to grow! I am proud to announce that Planet’s first Chief Customer Officer will be our own Mike Merit. In this newly-created role, he will lead the Customer Success Management, Technical Support, Professional Services and the Global Education Teams. Mike’s commitment to driving customer success and value in […]
I’m excited to announce a promotion to Planet’s leadership team: After an external and internal search, Planet’s own Donna Prlich has been chosen as our new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Following two years as VP of Marketing for Strategy and Solutions, Donna has demonstrated exceptional leadership and enterprise marketing acumen. Her knowledge […]
Ensuring food security and protecting aquatic ecosystems are essential for a sustainable future on our Earth. With Planet’s high spatial and temporal resolution satellite imagery, scientists are conducting novel research to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and monitor the dynamics of coastal water flows. With near-daily PlanetScope imagery, analysts can evaluate crop lifecycles […]
Tropical forests are large and complex ecosystems that are a vital part of the solution to addressing the effects of climate change. Fortunately, organizations around the world are using Planet data to help protect these forests, including mission-based company Permian Global. Starting in 2007, Permian Global has worked to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide […]
Earth observation data can serve as a powerful tool for increasing peace and security because of the enhanced situational awareness it provides. That is why Planet provides imagery to the media, think tanks, and researchers like NASA Harvest, NASA’s Food Security and Agriculture Program, run out of the University of Maryland (UMD), […]
Through Planet’s Education and Research Program, researchers across the world are finding new ways of leveraging Planet’s satellite data to better understand how our societies and the Planet’s natural systems are intimately intertwined at every scale – from revealing the impacts of climate change on thawing permafrost to modeling how war impacts […]
Planet recently participated in a virtual discussion with US Government leaders focused on leveraging satellite data to improve climate resilience. Robert Cardillo, Planet Federal’s Chief Strategist and Chairman of the Board, was joined by Christine Urbanowicz, Senior Spatial Geospatial Data Scientist, USAID, Kathleen White, Program Director of Climate Change, DoD OSD ODASD […]
We are proud to be providing our data to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who are leveraging our PlanetScope and SkySat products to gain oceanic insights by evaluating oil spills, tracking marine debris, detecting vessels, and identifying large marine mammals like whales. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan caused severe damage in […]
Planet turns 10. At the start of our first decade, we set a very clear mission: to image the whole world every day, making change visible, accessible and actionable. Broadly, our goal was to use space to help life on earth. We had a simple theory of change: you can’t manage what […]
We’re happy to announce that we have completed a successful pilot program with Organic Valley, a national organic food brand and independent cooperative of small family farms, to utilize satellite technology to efficiently measure pasture health on dairy farms. By using our near-daily satellite images, farmers accessed reports to improve their pastures […]
We’re excited to share that our wholly owned subsidiary, Planet Labs Germany GmbH, has signed a new contract with the German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) to provide the agency with daily, high-resolution satellite data for crisis response, environmental and nature conservation, as well as forest and agricultural monitoring. Access […]
To read this piece in Spanish, view this page. To read this piece in English, view this page. São vários os desafios que o setor arrozeiro vem enfrentando nos últimos anos, a volatilidade dos preços do arroz em casc São vários os desafios que o setor arrozeiro vem enfrentando nos últimos anos, a […]
To read this piece in English, view this page. To read this piece in Portuguese, view this page. Son diversos los desafíos que ha venido enfrentando el sector arrocero en los últimos años, la volatilidad de los precios de paddy y el esfuerzo por normalizar las cadenas de suministro que regulen el mercado […]
To read this piece in Spanish, view this page. To read this piece in Portuguese, view this page. There are various challenges facing the rice sector in recent years from the volatility of paddy prices to efforts for driving supply chain normalization which can be responsible for regulating the market worldwide, reducing production […]
PlanetScape Ai works with governments and international organizations to support human rights worldwide. Born of founder and chief scientist Andrew Marx Ph.D.’s years of research into genocide, geographic information systems, and remote sensing, PlanetScape Ai specializes in the development and implementation of customized analytic services, leveraging artificial intelligence and high-cadence data streams […]
The mutual commitment seeks creative digital solutions to support sustainable agriculture We are excited to share that we have expanded our strategic relationship with Bayer, a global company with core competencies in the life science fields of healthcare and nutrition. This expansion signals a significant scale up between the two companies. In […]
Q2 2022 – June 8, 2022 See previous quarters’ blog posts here. User Stories to highlight: The NICFI Satellite Data Program conducted a user survey in Q2 2022, receiving over 250 responses from our users, highlighting their user stories and providing feedback on everything from data products to platform partners. Respondents represented […]
We are proud to celebrate Pride Month here at Planet, and we invite you to join us in learning about the resilience of the LGBTQ+ community and the rich history of the fight for equality. These month-long self-guided learning opportunities offer resources for individuals looking to get informed and involved. Virtual Events: […]
This week is the annual European Geosciences Union General Assembly, where researchers from around the world gather to present the latest work in Earth science. We’re always thrilled to see what the community does using Planet data through our Science Programs to help understand our changing world! EGU runs in-person this week […]
We are excited to announce that the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has selected Planet Labs Federal, Inc. (Planet Federal), our wholly owned subsidiary, for an award to the Electro-Optical Commercial Layer (EOCL) contract. EOCL is the U.S. government’s industry-defining procurement vehicle for unclassified commercial satellite imagery and represents the Federal government’s significant […]
Our data is now available through Leaf, an agricultural data infrastructure company, enabling developers to build informed agricultural products. Leaf’s unified data API helps streamline farm data integrations into a standardized format. From this API, software developers build useful products for the agricultural industry, including farm optimization tools, outcome-based financing, agronomic recommendations, […]
The Forest Management Institute (FMI) is the government organization, established by the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Agriculture, responsible for implementing the National Forest Inventory. In 2018, FMI began working with Planet datasets to undertake a comprehensive geospatial analysis and report the devastating impacts of the bark beetle epidemic on Czech forests. By […]
Planeteers recently participated in the largest annual gathering of the geospatial intelligence community at GEOINT Symposium 2022. This year’s conference theme was “The Foundation of Intelligence” – with many sessions focusing on the future of public-private partnerships as they relate to supporting national security missions. Here are our top takeaways from the […]
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) is an international mining company that operates large copper, gold and molybdenum mines. In an effort to support its stated commitment to safety performance, environmental management, and local communities, FCX is using Planet data to monitor and maintain its operations. Tailings are known as the by-product of mining operations, […]
There are innumerable dams around the world helping communities manage water supply, regulate flooding, and generate hydropower. However, dam and reservoir systems have to contend with excess sedimentation, like sand and gravel from floods or rivers that are deposited downstream into these systems. Sedimentation that settles in reservoirs can build up over […]
We, Planeteers, are pretty serious about our love for the Earth, our enthusiasm for education, and our commitment to human well-being on this planet. As a Public Benefit Corporation, our stated purpose is “to accelerate humanity toward a more sustainable, secure, and prosperous world, by illuminating environmental and social change.” For our […]
It’s another exciting day at Planet as we unveil details about our next-generation satellite constellation Pelican, designed to efficiently capture brief and rapidly changing events as they unfold! The Pelican constellation was designed in-house and is expected to be built at our manufacturing facility in San Francisco. The advancements of this brand […]
We are thrilled to announce that we have entered into an agreement with Moody’s, a leading global integrated risk assessment firm serving financial markets, to explore and address the growing demand for assessing and monitoring solutions on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) risks. Together, we will look to address how our high-cadence […]
We are pleased to announce that Planet’s PlanetScope and SkySat data have officially joined the European Space Agency (ESA) Third Party Mission Programme, enabling ESA the ability to grant Planet data for the European research community. Through the ESA Earthnet Programme, researchers, scientists and companies from around the world can apply to […]
The boreal forest is one of the largest intact ecosystems left on the planet; however, there are a growing number of human-induced environmental changes that are impacting this vast ecosystem. Numerous integrated research programs focused on boreal forests of Canada have joined forces to use advanced satellite data available from Planet to […]
In collaboration with SynMax, Houston-based satellite analytics and intelligence company, Planet data is now being used to provide data-informed insights on the energy industry within the United States and monitor the movements of dark vessels around the globe. After meeting our CEO and co-founder Will Marshall at his 2014 TED talk, Bill […]
Planet’s Education and Research Program provides researchers, academics, and scientists with the ability to see change on the Earth in real-time. In the hands of these experts, our satellite data is helping to power models, reveal planetary change, and deliver spatial-temporal insights across a variety of academic fields. Our team at Planet has been thrilled to see the broad range of places and subjects that these ground-breaking researchers have chosen to explore. Read about their exciting findings using Planet data:
Cultural Heritage
Dr. Adam Smith at Cornell University leverages high resolution SkySat to better understand destruction of cultural heritage sites in areas around the world.
“Archaeologists at Cornell and Purdue University are using SkySat imagery to monitor hundreds of cultural heritage sites at risk due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In 2020, Planet imagery allowed Caucasus Heritage Watch (CHW) to detect the destruction of historic cemeteries, damage to museums and churches, and emerging threats to the integrity of numerous monuments,” said Dr. Smith. “CHW’s findings were recently used as evidence in a case before the International Court of Justice, contributing to a significant ruling that sets a new precedent for cultural heritage protection worldwide.”
Vegetation Growth
Dr. D. Ichikawa at the Center for Research and Application of Satellite Remote Sensing of Yamaguchi University, Japan observes active rice paddy fields with PlanetScope data.
“We use PlanetScope data to estimate rice growth status and to map active paddy rice fields in Yamaguchi prefecture of Japan. The use of PlanetScope ortho tiles has shown significant improvement in our estimate of rice growth indicators as vegetation indices and mapping accuracy. PlanetScope has great advantages with high observation frequency and 3 meter spatial resolution compared with other MS optical satellites. Another challenge of our research is the integrated use of optical constellation satellite and SAR data for monitoring soil-vegetation productivity of agricultural land area. The optical constellation PlanetScope and SAR data have been processed and analyzed for the agricultural land area of central JAVA of Indonesia. PlanetScope allows a multi-temporal analysis with Sentinel-1 SAR imagery for three planting seasons in this region.”
Ecology
Dr. Kyle Cavanuagh at the University of California – Los Angeles works with PlanetScope data to quantify and measure the extent and health of kelp forests off the shore of Northern California.
“We have been using Planet imagery to map kelp cover along the coast of Sonoma and Mendocino counties following a collapse in kelp forests that occurred in 2014. This collapse has had substantial negative impacts on the ecology and economy of coastal northern California,” explained Dr. Cavanuagh. “We developed a method to map kelp canopy from PlanetScope imagery and created annual kelp maps between 2016-2021. This data allowed us to find ‘kelp refuges’, small areas that were able to persist in the face of the regional kelp collapse. We have also documented a partial recovery in kelp abundance between 2020 and 2021.”
Air Quality
Dr. Michael Bergin and Dr. Tongshu Zheng at Duke University are using PlanetScope’s high spatial and temporal resolution to identify dangerous particulate matter known as PM2.5 in urban spaces.
“[Our paper] shows neighborhood level hot spots [of PM2.5] in Delhi,” explained Dr. Bergin. “Planet data is going to be revolutionary in characterizing air pollution in a way that will result in mitigation strategies that will greatly improve human health. The overarching theme is that using Planet data with recent advances in AI is going to result in a much cleaner environment and a more healthy world.”
Sustainable Agriculture
Dr. Elia Scudiero at the University of California – Riverside and his research group utilize PlanetScope and SkySat to monitor agriculture in the southwest region of the United States.
“The University of California – Riverside is leading a USDA-funded multi-state project on Artificial Intelligence to support sustainable agriculture in the US Southwest. UCRiverside is leveraging information from PlanetScope imagery to: map soil properties at high resolution, estimate crop water requirements, and map crop type in real-time that will help growers reduce the environmental footprint of irrigated agriculture,” said Dr. Scudiero. “Additionally, UCRiverside is using PlanetScope data and Planet educational support to train students and postdocs in the field of agricultural data science.”
Deforestation to Nuclear Reactors
Dr. Jennie Murack at MIT is using PlanetScope data for a range of projects from monitoring nuclear reactors to urban development.
“Planet has been a valuable research tool for our students, staff, and faculty. It provides access to consistent, regularly-collected imagery at a higher resolution than what is available through other sources,” said Murack. “The data have been used by nearly every department on campus for projects ranging from monitoring nuclear reactors to assessing deforestation to exploring building renovations in cities.”
Each month, researchers are using our data to contribute new knowledge to this world, asking daring questions, advancing modern science, and broadening our understanding of society and the planet. We are honored to be supporting academics in their pursuit of this knowledge, and we look forward to showcasing more researchers soon.
Learn more about how Planet’s Education and Research Program could help with your research here.Be sure to check out our Publications page to see published academic articles using Planet data, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to see the latest papers highlighted on #ScienceWednesday.
The Department of Planning and Environment in New South Wales (NSW) continually monitors and assesses the use of critical water resources including that stored in the thousands of on-farm water storages. Such assessment is used to evaluate the effectiveness of water restrictions, license and planning conditions to maintain an equitable share of water resources between both users and the environment.
“At certain points in time, we might place restrictions on taking water because of drought or the need to pass water downstream to environmental assets,” explains Mustak Shaikh, Principal for remote sensing at NSW. “We need to track whether users are taking more water than they are entitled to.”
The Department of Planning and Environment in New South Wales used this time series of PlanetScope images to estimate water storage volume by calculating the area. The challenge for Shaikh and his colleagues was obtaining satellite images with enough cadence and spatial resolution to accurately detect water usage.
By switching to Planet, the department was able to access imagery with the resolution, cadence, and coverage needed for water resource management.
“NSW Department of Planning and Environment has an exceptional experience in water management use case, and Planetscope—with all the advantages that come with it such as high revisit rate and decent spatial resolution—seem to work very well for their applications. They are able to utilize these data in such a diverse way — ranging from gauging water storage through a simple, straightforward visual observation of scenes, all the way to advanced raster analysis,” says Masrudy Omri, customer success manager.
Moreover, NSW also found tremendous value in Planet’s imagery archive of proprietary datasets going back to 2009, and public datasets back to 1972.
“Planet’s unique advantage is that it captures an archive of all the imagery,” Shaikh says. “If we want to go back in time to observe the impact of certain environmental events, we can do that. We also have daily coverage, which is critical for our day-to-day work.”
Using the Planet platform and its daily, high-resolution images, NSW’s remote-sensing team can estimate the timing of water take, movement, and volume of floodplain harvested water into storage.
Planet now plays a key role in NSW’s water resource management efforts. “Planet provides a unique advantage because of its daily coverage at three-meter resolution. At this resolution, we’re able to see farm infrastructures like storage and irrigation channels,” Shaikh says. “That’s the reason why Planet is important for our work.”
To learn more about how NSW’s Department of Planning and Environment is leveraging Planet data, check out the full case study here.
What a year for Planet! As we continue to grow and invest in our bright future, we couldn’t be more excited to welcome our new interns/fellows class to experience our transformation together.
We’re Planet’s Intern Coordinators and we’re stoked this week is the launch of our Summer 2022 internship/fellowship opportunities. We know it’s a hot market, and you may have a lot of options to choose from. Consider Planet at the top of your list. If your values align with collaboration and doing good, you’ve found the right place. Paired with becoming a Carbon Neutral Company and a Public Benefit Corporation in just the last 6 months, Planet is innovating with a mission! No matter what intern/fellow role you take on here, you can feel confident that you will be at the center of a global digital transformation. Whether it’s agile aerospace, sustainability, transparency, or data analytics that gets you excited about Planet, we look forward to hearing all about it!
Now, let’s get granular. You love what we do, but you have to see if what we offer aligns with your skillset and desired career direction. Check out our opportunities on the 2022 Summer Intern tab on our careers page.Whether you’re in the lab, tuning in remotely, or joining us from either of our San Francisco or Berlin offices, you’ll be supported every step of the way.
We can guarantee that you will be exposed to folks from around the world, and working alongside new skillsets that maybe you never imagined your path pairing with. This will be our third season supporting remote interns, which allows us to reach further communities in our country and world. Whether your internship requires in-office work or cross country communication, we have programming for you. While we don’t have a direct to hire program after your 12 weeks are complete, we have hired many fellows and interns full-time from past seasons.
Beyond the types of internships, we also partner with really impactful fellowships in the space industry. We’re proud to be hosting fellows from:
Brooke Owens Fellowship – a fellowship that provides mentorship to exceptional undergraduate women and gender-minority students in aerospace.
Virgin Galactic Black Scholars/BLAST – a fellowship program that provides mentoring, jobs and career support for Black scholars pursuing STEM education with a focus on aerospace.
Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship – a highly selective internship, mentorship, and networking program that provides extraordinary summer opportunities to current college juniors, seniors, and graduate students passionate about commercial spaceflight.
ZED Factor – a program that empowers aspiring aerospace professionals from underrepresented backgrounds by connection with hands-on practical working experiences with leading companies in the aerospace community.
If you’d like to learn more about last years’ cohort, read the interns’ testimonials in the 2021 Intern Yearbook and watch the 2021 recap video!
This post was co-written by Michelle Idziorek, Tori Klotz and MaKayla Holloway.
Please contact Michelle at michelle@planet.com for Space Systems internships or questions regarding the fellowship programs listed above.
Please contact Tori at tori@planet.com for Marketing, Legal, and Strategy internships or programming questions.
Please contact MaKayla at MaKayla@planet.com for any of the above and University level program partnerships.
Today we announced the general availability of the next generation of our PlanetScope Monitoring product, offering high quality, analysis-ready data to all existing PlanetScope customers. While previously offering four spectral bands, PlanetScope will now include eight spectral bands in addition to a series of enhancements, providing our customers with richer, cleaner, and more consistent data to empower deeper analysis of Earth’s changing conditions.
“Planet is focused on delivering the most timely and accurate data possible to our customers. We are excited about this release because we know it empowers customers to enhance their analyses and decision-making with robust, global-scale data. Our customers and partners will use the new features to power analytics and solutions across broad industries,” said Planet VP of Product Imagery Jim Thomason.
Next-generation PlanetScope Monitoring includes a range of improvements that help our customers spend less time processing and cleaning data before analysis so that they can focus on their critical business needs. The PlanetScope visual data products are sharper and have fewer sensor artifacts, improving human inspection of change. The PlanetScope analytic data products are calibrated to Sentinel-2 and have improved spectral band alignment, enabling accurate time-series analysis and machine learning models. In addition, PlanetScope data now includes the coastal blue, yellow, a second green, and red edge spectral bands to provide deeper understanding of physical change.
PlanetScope data already provides our customers with critical insights for natural resource management and security, and enables them to monitor wetlands, conduct climate research, analyze agricultural regions, and provide emergency response to communities experiencing disasters. With the next-generation PlanetScope capabilities, our customers will now be able to gain even greater data insights, in a more accessible way, to rapidly support people on the ground – from agronomists to civil servants.
This true-color image of Aosta, Italy shows the latest PlanetScope capabilities with improved band-to-band alignment. © 2021, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. With a tighter crop of Aosta, Italy, this side-by-side comparison shows the enhancements between PlanetScope’s previous capabilities (left) with the latest capabilities (right). Green and magenta fringes are visible in the original image (left), while individual bands in the reprocessed data (right) are aligned with sub pixel accuracy. The changes enhance perceived sharpness and improve the accuracy of algorithms (like normalized difference vegetation index) that rely on ratios of brightness between bands. © 2021, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. Early access users of next-generation PlanetScope Monitoring have been able to leverage these enhancements to support environmental monitoring and protect human health in coastal communities. SargAssure, a UK Space Agency-funded project, currently uses the spectral data to monitor large influxes of seaweed, known as sargassum, as it washes up onto coastal beaches. As large piles of the seaweed decompose, they release harmful chemicals that can cause respiratory and skin issues for beach-goers; this has prompted organizations to now monitor and provide early-warning systems for local communities. German-based EOMAP, a remote sensing company that focuses on the safety of marine and freshwater systems, is also using PlanetScope’s eight-band capabilities to collect critical water quality metrics to support human health and livelihoods.
“PlanetScope images provided by SuperDoves hit the sweet spot of spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution needed for tactical sargassum monitoring on beaches and in nearshore waters,” said Geoff Smith, Director at Specto Natura and partner in the SargAssure project. “The influxes of sargassum are highly dynamic depending on tides, ocean currents, and wind directions, requiring high cadence for effective monitoring,” he added, emphasizing the need for PlanetScope’s daily imaging capabilities.
Here is an example of one of the SargAssure products showing the accumulation of sargassum on the beach fronting a hotel on the Mexican Caribbean Coast compared to true color Planetscope data (left) and Bing Aerial coverage (right). At these temporal and spatial resolutions timely mitigation activities can be deployed more effectively. Image credit: SargAssure © Bing Aerial. “Planet SuperDoves deliver additional spectral information. This allows us to retrieve better data on atmospheric properties and specific absorption features of chlorophyll-a or cyanobacteria in inland waters,” said Karin Schenk, Head of Water Quality at EOMAP. “We value the combination of up-to-date daily images and recordings at high spatial resolution. By processing such data, we enable and empower our clients – water managers and authorities – to monitor dynamics in even very small water bodies. For instance, they can better control bathing water in lakes or flushing activities in hydropower installations on rivers.” With our agile aerospace approach, Planet is continually investing in our core products, leveraging the latest software advancements to deliver our customers and partners more value every year. Starting today, this update will provide our PlanetScope customers with spectrally rich, global-scale data and a more streamlined platform experience to access the information they need. To learn more about this new PlanetScope update, join our product webinar on March 24, 2022.
We’re proud to celebrate Women’s History Month at Planet as a time to encourage reflection on Women’s History, the progress made and the progress still needing to be made, and to support and give back to women by way of patronage at women owned businesses throughout San Francisco. We’ve created this self-guided walking tour that begins at San Francisco’s famed Coit Tower and will take you to a few other historical points as well as women owned bars and restaurants throughout the city, ending with another beautiful view at Cupid’s Span where you can take in the beauty of the bay and the Bay Bridge while reflecting on the incredible contributions women have made to our beautiful city.
Start at Coit Tower
1 Telegraph Hill Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94133
Since its completion in 1933, Coit tower has become a classic piece of San Francisco’s skyline, providing a 360 degree viewpoint of the city from its 210 foot tower located in Telegraph Hill. Coit tower was named after Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy and eccentric patron of the city’s firefighters, who in 1929 when she passed away, left a substantial bequest “for the purpose of adding beauty to the city I have always loved.” It was these funds that were used to build Coit Tower in honor of the volunteer firefighters that were so beloved by Lillie Hitchcock Coit. The interior of the tower has another window into history showcasing murals depicting struggles of life during the depression.
Directions to next destination
California Historical Landmark 1024: Briones Rancho Site
Washington Square, RH2R+F5, San Francisco, CA 94133
Just a few minutes walk from Coit Tower is the California Historical Landmark honoring Juana Briones who was a pioneer of the historical district of North Beach in San Francisco. At the site of this small park, Juana Briones raised cattle and grew vegetables for sale to ship crews. She also gave sanctuary to refugees and was revered as a healer and caregiver. She is honored as a humanitarian, astute businesswoman, community builder, and mother of eight children.
Directions to next destination
Enjoy Oysters and other SF Classics at Betty Lou’s Seafood and Grill
318 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, CA 94133
Just a few minutes walk down Columbus Ave. will bring you to Betty Lou’s Seafood and Grill. With over 30 years of experience working together in restaurants, this spot is run by the matriarch, Betty Lou Pesce, her partner. With a long history in North Beach, Betty Lou’s serves San Francisco classics including great oysters, clam chowder and cioppino.
Directions to next destination
Reflect at the “Comfort Women” Monument
651 California Street, San Francisco, CA 91118
Few memorials speak of women, even less of their suffering, courage, endurance and determination to achieve justice. This memorial speaks of all that and more, depicting three young women from Korea, China and the Philippines standing on a pedestal holding hands, while a statue of Kim Hak-sun, a Korean activist, gazes up at them. From 1931 through 1945 during World War II, hundreds of thousands of girls and women from 11 countries were sexually enslaved by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces. They were subjected to exploitation and unspeakable pain and torture every day of their lives. They were the “ Comfort Women” for the Imperial Japanese army, a euphemism for sex slaves. More than 75 years later, their long struggle demanding justice for this unprecedented government-run system of wartime sexual enslavement is not over. In 2015, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution to build a Memorial to the “Comfort Women” in the City and to educate the community about stopping human trafficking of women and girls. This clear mandate by the City of San Francisco, which has supported peace and justice through its vibrant history, and the “Comfort Women” monument, are meant to serve as an international beacon of hope around the world.
Directions to next destination
Drinks and Appetizers at E&O Kitchen
314 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94108
Director of Operations and Executive Chef, Sharon Namh was born in Korea and raised in California where she found her love of cooking and baking. Sharon’s strong association with her cultural roots, and her professional experience create a dynamic cooking style that is a combination of informal know-how and well-honed skills. This combination is displayed at E& O’s modern asian restaurant and lounge in the heart of San Francisco’s vibrant Union Square, where Namh creates exciting and bold flavors in modern Asian dishes.
Directions to next destination
Dinner at Lao Table
149 2nd St. San Francisco, CA 94105
This women-owned Thai restaurant located in the SOMA district of San Francisco has been praised not only for its incredibly spicy dishes, but also for the beauty with which they present their dishes. This is the perfect place to stop and enjoy a drink accompanied by their incredible $38 Happy Hour platter including oysters and other thai inspired bar bites, or go all out with their delicious classic thai dinner offerings!
Directions to next destination
Finish at Cupid’s Span, Rincon Park
The Embarcadero & Folsom St. San Francisco, CA 94105
Complete your self-guided walking tour by making your way to the giant outdoor sculpture of Cupid’s arrow, called Cupid’s Span. This huge fiberglass and steel sculpture is a piece created by Dutch-American Sculptor, Coosje Van Bruggen, in collaboration with her husband Claes Oldenburg. Accenting the bay this piece was inspired by San Francisco’s reputation as the home port of Eros, the god of love. Leydier and Penwarden wrote, “Love’s trade-mark weapon naturally evokes the city’s permissive and romantic reputation, while formally its taut curve resonates wonderfully with the structure of the famous suspension bridge in the background.”
Free Guided Walking Tour – Saturday, March 4, 2022
Notable Women in History: A Walking Tour to the Old Mint– The National Park Service and the San Francisco Maritime are offering a free guided walking tour along which, you will stop and discuss several significant women’s history landmarks. (RSVP ahead of time via the link.)
Time: 10:00 am Meet at the Hyde Street Pier Entrance
Farming has been around for many millennia more than most industries, but when it comes to digital adoption, it’s running a bit behind. Farming is undergoing a digital transformation, but it’s taking time. In fact, some agriculture companies are finding their investments are less than successful. And while massive advancements in machinery over the last half-century have scaled productivity, climate change and population growth are demanding ever higher production.
At Planet’s 2021 user conference, Explore, I met with four leaders in digital agriculture to talk about how to reap a strong ROI from digital transformation. While these leaders were from different parts of the world and in different niches in agriculture, they broadly agreed on what matters most today in their field. Here are my top five takeaways from the conversation.
1. Dialogue with farmers, and the rest of the ag value chain, is key.
Globally, about half of all habitable land is used for agricultural production. Over all that varying terrain, there’s an astonishing diversity of climates and soil types, crops, and practices, and a serious challenge in bringing agri-tech to growers. There’s also huge diversity among farmers themselves, such as how they view and use technology and how they run their businesses.
According to Przemyslaw Zelazowski, founder and chief development officer at SatAgro, directly talking to farmers gives insight into what’s challenging and motivating them. He believes it’s also essential to speak with other businesses in the agriculture value chain. “This is critical because understanding what [other businesses] have been doing with the farms for decades allows you to map where you can help and where you cannot,” Zelazowski says.
2. Farmers need fast and frequent access to data to address issues in the field.
During the growing season, most farmers are out in the field, not tied to a computer. But to make the best decisions for their farms, they need access to frequent data that’s actionable and easy to use. In the recent past, a grower might get PDF reports once a week. Today, that’s not often enough.
“With our shift to mobile-first comes a complete change in how we look at turnaround time,” explains Ofir Schlam, president and co-founder of Taranis. “Before, we worked from the time we flew over a field or captured a satellite image until we had an analytical result to share. Today, turnaround time is from the moment something happens in the field until action is taken to resolve it.”
Hovav Lapidot, CEO of Manna Irrigation, has noticed this shift as well. “We also heard from customers that they want more frequent data,” said Lapidot. “This was one of the reasons why we connected with Planet – to increase the frequency of the data that we provide to users.”
3. The cultural barrier is real, but digital ag companies can overcome it.
Because they know their land and their crops, farmers employ what’s worked well for them in the past. That can pose challenges to digital agriculture providers, who are asking their customers to fundamentally change their approach.
“We’re giving them a method to leverage data and information to make better decisions and improve their efficiency,” says Tanzer Bilgen, co-founder and CEO at Doktar. “But their day-to-day working habits do not require data. So there’s a cultural barrier.”
Lapidot sees the same thing in irrigation. But while he believes we need to respect the experience and knowledge gained through farming’s rich traditions, he also says change is essential. That said, “growers are not the first to adopt new technologies,” he notes. The solution? Providing the simplest and most usable technology to growers.
Manna Irrigation does this by offering a straightforward software app that helps growers decide when and how much to irrigate. “If you don’t need to install, manage, and maintain delicate hardware in the field, then you have a much better way to have it adopted,” Lapidot says.
Ofir Schlam has another solution. Farmers are used to buying products from agricultural retailers and trust their recommendations. “If we generate enough value for [retailers], they help [with product] adoption and can absorb the market education with us,” Schlam says. Since the retailers act as the distribution channel, selling through dealers and retailers can also extend the reach of startups who operate with lean teams.
4. Digital agriculture has a major role to play in sustainable agriculture.
“There’s a big push to increase the role of farmers in climate mitigation,” says Zelazowski. Farmers manage a huge proportion of our planet; therefore, digital agriculture can help make their practices more profitable and more environmentally friendly at the same time. The aim, Zelazowski adds, is “helping the farm to survive from season to season, and then not necessarily [getting] the biggest yields possible, but to get yields good enough to go safely into another season. Quite often, it’s not the highest yields that are linked to the biggest profits.”
Tanzer Bilgen believes digital agriculture can push farther. “First, you create data, then information, then actionable recommendations,” Bilgen says. “This is fully automated currently. The last step, execution, is done by humans. It’s a kind of human-robot cooperation. That’s probably the only way to solve the climate crisis, but it’s extremely difficult.”
5 The future is satellite imagery.
All of our experts talked about how critical satellite imagery is to the future of farming. Taranis pairs drones with PlanetScope monitoring, but is also considering higher-resolution data from SkySat. Together they can provide the complete picture.
“We really think satellite is going to be the best way in the future to monitor the full field,” says Schlam. “We definitely look forward to better resolutions with the same daily revisit times. For the full field, that would be the killer app.”
Lapidot agrees. “I do believe in satellites rather than the logistic constraints of drones and manned airplanes,” he says. “So satellites are the way we want to use data going forward.”
Next steps Zelazowski says he’s seen a lot of changes in how customers think about new digital technologies; for their part, solution providers need to continue providing valuable market education. To learn more:
- Watch the whole session and others in our digital agriculture track from Explore 2021.
- Explore Planet’s Agriculture Solutions.
- Contact us to discuss your unique imagery needs.
Since October 2020, when Norway’s International Climate & Forests Initiative (NICFI) launched its Satellite Data Program with an international contract awarded to Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) with partners Planet and Airbus, the global community has had a tremendous resource available in the fight against tropical deforestation: High-resolution satellite monitoring.
The NICFI Satellite Data Program has three levels of access:
- Purpose Allies, such as Global Forest Watch and Mapbiomas, help share visual, monthly data with the public at large and non-technical users;
- Third Party Participants, including Government, NGO, Academic, and Private Sector stakeholders, can access analysis-ready, monthly data to help achieve NICFI’s strategic purpose; and
- General Partners, selected by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, can access Scenes-level data – including Planet’s daily monitoring and Airbus’ historical archive.
For the past few quarters, we have highlighted the work of our Purpose Allies and Third Party Participants – including those working across the government, private sector, and NGO sectors; and those working across a variety of platform partners, such as Google Earth Engine and Microsoft Planetary Computer.
Today, we are excited to share more information on what the NICFI Satellite Data Program’s General Partners are doing with the additional Scenes-level data for the fight against deforestation.
- The Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) is putting the Planet-NICFI Data to work to monitor and report on native vegetation that could be legally deforested, but that farmers chose not to when participating in the CONSERV program – a private, voluntary mechanism that compensates rural producers for conserving native vegetation.. The high-resolution of the data is helping improve their deforestation, degradation, and fire detection algorithms that are critical to this work, with recent improvements being especially useful for capturing early patterns of degradation at a fine scale.
- The National Sustainable Development Fund of Mozambique is using the data to derive validation information for annual monitoring of deforestation, as well as to test the production of their own high-resolution deforestation alerts (Fig 1). For further information: https://www.fnds.gov.mz/mrv/
Figure 1. * The Peruvian Service for National Protected Areas is accessing the Planet-NICFI Data through the QGIS plug-in to classify deforestation alerts within 38 Nationally Protected Areas of the Peruvian Amazon, covering an area of almost 17 million hectares in high-resolution monitoring. * The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is using the data to research illicit activities (such as illegal logging, mining, and/or cultivation) as drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, noting “The NICFI Program gives great opportunities to carry out applied research, to develop new methods and tools, and to improve the quality of information produced.” * Forests of the World is using the Planet-NICFI Data to empower Indigenous communities to stop the loss of forests, defend their rights, and sustainably govern forest resources. They are working with Indigenous communities across the tropics, including in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Panama, Ethiopia, and Uganda – integrating the high-resolution satellite monitoring into community alert systems; monitoring illegal deforestation as well as compliance with conservation and forest management plans; identifying areas for restoration; and supporting Indigenous rangers in the field.
Forests of the World uses Planet-NICFI Data for the identification of clearings to be restored after timber extraction or forest fires, communities of Río Blanco and Nokoborema in the Indigenous territory of Monte Verde, Bolivia. * The Ministry of Environment of Panama is using the Planet images to verify and map forest cover, refining estimates from Sentinel-2. Given the frequent revisit, it is especially helpful in the cloudy parts of the country.
Forests of the World uses Planet-NICFI Data for the identification of clearings to be restored after timber extraction or forest fires, communities of Río Blanco and Nokoborema in the Indigenous territory of Monte Verde, Bolivia.
The Ministry of Environment of Panama uses the Planet images in the north of Colón. The Ministry uses the 4-Band daily imagery with the aim of identifying sites that are being illegally deforested and works with park rangers to determine the causes of the incidents. The Ministry of Environment of Panama uses the Planet images in the north of Colón. The Ministry uses the 4-Band daily imagery with the aim of identifying sites that are being illegally deforested and works with park rangers to determine the causes of the incidents.
We are amazed with this user community and, as we kick off a new year, more inspired than ever to continue serving the NICFI Satellite Data Program’s Purpose Allies, Participants, and General Partners in their critical work to reduce and reverse tropical forest loss.
Here is the comprehensive user guide on how to access the NICFI Satellite Data Program.
To read this piece in English, view this page.
Segundo a FAO, cerca de 38% da superfície terrestre é ocupada por áreas cultiváveis, um terço por áreas agrícolas e os dois terços restantes como campos e pastagens. No Brasil, a pastagem é o principal uso da terra, ocupando grande parte do território de norte a sul do país, com cerca de 150 milhões de hectares. No entanto, mais de 50% das áreas de pastagens brasileiras apresentam algum sinal de degradação. Consequentemente, isso impacta na disponibilidade de alimentos, tornando a produção sustentável uma questão extremamente relevante em todo o mundo.
O aumento da demanda global por alimentos, aliado à necessidade de preservação dos recursos naturais, exige uma solução para a exploração sustentável da terra para a produção de alimentos. Para atender a essa necessidade, o Brasil vem adotando a integração dos sistemas agrícolas e pecuários como uma alternativa para intensificar a produção de forma sustentável em áreas já destinadas a esses fins.
“Os sistemas de integração lavoura-pecuária (ILP) são sistemas de produção muito dinâmicos que buscam a sinergia entre os recursos agrícolas e pecuários em conjunto com o uso da terra, com práticas de manejo focadas na conservação dos recursos naturais. A integração das atividades agropecuárias tem sido adotada no Brasil como uma abordagem pioneira para alcançar sistemas de produção mais sustentáveis”, disse a Dra. Aliny Dos Reis, Pesquisadora de Pós-Doutorado (UNICAMP).
Hoje, os sistemas de integração lavoura-pecuária são cruciais para a construção de ecossistemas resilientes que podem resistir a mudanças climáticas, às vezes imprevisíveis. A utilização de um sistema de ILP economiza dinheiro dos agricultores enquanto faz as escolhas mais sustentáveis. Assim, a medição rápida e precisa da biomassa de pastagem disponível é essencial para alcançar decisões eficazes de manejo.
Um aumento na adoção de sistemas de ILP no Brasil tem sido observado na última década. Por serem sistemas de produção muito dinâmicos, em que ocorrem constantes mudanças na cobertura da terra, a identificação, o mapeamento e o monitoramento dessas áreas se tornam um desafio muito complexo.
“Nos últimos anos, a combinação sem precedentes de imagens de alta resolução temporal e espacial oferecidas pela constelação PlanetScope melhorou a capacidade de monitoramento de biomassa de pastagens usando dados de sensoriamento remoto”, disse a Dra. Aliny Dos Reis.
Pesquisadores da UNICAMP e da Embrapa Agricultura Digital exploraram o potencial do uso de informações espectrais e texturais derivadas de imagens PlanetScope e algoritmos de aprendizado de máquina para estimar a biomassa acima do solo e a altura do dossel de pastagens em áreas de manejo intensivo sob sistemas de ILP no Brasil. Esses modelos alcançaram acurácia moderadamente alta para prever a biomassa acima do solo e a altura do dossel da pastagem, explicando 65% e 89% da variabilidade dessas variáveis, respectivamente.
Os resultados destacam o potencial do uso de medidas de textura derivadas das imagens PlanetScope para obter uma precisão aprimorada da estimativa de biomassa acima do solo e altura do dossel da pastagem em comparação com bandas espectrais ou índices de vegetação como variáveis preditoras nos modelos de aprendizado de máquina.
Os pesquisadores relataram que as resoluções temporais e espaciais dos dados de sensoriamento remoto óptico comumente aplicados, especialmente imagens de média e baixa resolução espacial, têm sido um obstáculo para alcançar o monitoramento eficaz de sistemas de ILP em uma escala fina em áreas intensivamente manejadas. Este trabalho destacou ainda que “a crescente resolução temporal e espacial oferecida pelos satélites Dove da Planet pode superar essa limitação espaço-temporal”, disse a Dra. Aliny Dos Reis, pesquisadora da UNICAMP.
Este projeto conta com o apoio do nosso parceiro regional SCCON, distribuidor autorizado da Planet no Brasil.
Fonte: Resumo gráfico, MDPI Para saber mais, leia o estudo completo aqui.
Assista ao webinar on demand “Uso de imagens PlanetScope na pesquisa agropecuária” para obter mais informações. Os sistemas de integração lavoura-pecuária (ILP) têm sido adotados no Brasil como uma abordagem pioneira para garantir sustentabilidade econômica e ambiental na produção agropecuária.
Nesse contexto, a utilização de séries de imagens de satélite de alta frequência temporal e alto detalhamento espacial, em conjunto com abordagens robustas de inteligência artificial, se destacam como uma das mais eficientes maneiras de analisar sistemas de ILP, auxiliando produtores rurais e organizações do setor em importantes tomadas de decisão.
Neste webinar, discutimos:
- Os desafios de monitorar sistemas de ILP usando imagens de satélite;
- Como explorar as séries temporais de imagens PlanetScope para o monitoramento de sistemas de ILP utilizando algoritmos de aprendizagem de máquina;
- Um estudo de caso para o mapeamento e a estimativa de biomassa de pastagens em áreas de ILP.
To read this piece in Portuguese, view this page.
According to the FAO, about 38% of the earth’s surface is occupied by agricultural areas, one-third as cropland, and the remaining two-thirds as meadows and pastures. In Brazil, pasture is the main land use, occupying a large part of the territory from north to south of the country—about 150 million hectares. However, over 50% of the Brazilian pasture areas have some sign of degradation. Consequently, this impacts food availability, making sustainable food production an extremely relevant issue worldwide.
The increase in the global demand for food—combined with the need to preserve natural resources—requires a solution for the sustainable exploitation of land for food production. To meet this need, Brazil has adopted the integration of crop and livestock activities as an alternative to intensify production sustainably in agricultural areas.
“Integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS) are very dynamic agricultural systems seeking the synergism between agricultural and livestock resources in combination with land use and management practices focused on conserving natural resources. The integration of crops and livestock activities has been adopted in Brazil as a pioneering approach to achieve more sustainable agricultural systems,” said Dr. Aliny Dos Reis, Postdoctoral Researcher at The University of Campinas (UNICAMP).
Today, ICLS are crucial to building resilient ecosystems that can withstand a changing—and at times unpredictable—climate. Utilizing an ICLS saves farmers money while making the most sustainable choices. Accordingly, fast and accurate measurement of available pasture biomass is essential to achieve effective grazing management decisions.
An increase in the use of ICLS in Brazil has been observed in the past decade. Because these are dynamic production systems with constant changes in land cover, identifying, mapping, and monitoring these areas makes it a complex challenge.
“In recent years, the unprecedented combination of high temporal and high spatial resolution imagery offered by the PlanetScope constellation has improved the capability of monitoring pasture biomass using remote sensing data,” said Dr. Aliny Dos Reis.
Researchers from UNICAMP and Embrapa Digital Agriculture explored the potential of using spectral and textural information derived from PlanetScope imagery and machine learning algorithms to estimate pasture aboveground biomass and canopy height in intensively managed fields under integrated crop-livestock systems in Brazil. These models achieved moderately high accuracy to predict pasture aboveground biomass and canopy height, explaining 65% and 89% of the variability of these variables, respectively.
The results highlight the potential of using texture measures derived from the PlanetScope images to achieve enhanced aboveground biomass and canopy height prediction accuracies compared to spectral bands or vegetation indices as predictor variables in the machine learning models.
The researchers reported that the temporal and spatial resolutions of the commonly applied open-access optical remotely sensed data, especially medium and coarse spatial resolution remotely sensed imagery, have been an obstacle to achieve effective pasture monitoring at a fine scale in intensively managed fields. This work further highlighted that “the increasing temporal and spatial resolution offered by Planet Dove satellites may overcome this spatiotemporal limitation,’” said Dr. Aliny Dos Reis, researcher at UNICAMP.
This project is supported by our regional partner SCCON, an authorized distributor of Planet in Brazil.
Source: Graphical abstract, MDPI To learn more, read the complete study in the open access journal here.
Watch the on demand webinar “Use of PlanetScope images in agricultural research” for additional insight. Integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLS) have been adopted in Brazil as a pioneering approach to ensure economic and environmental sustainability in agricultural production. In this context, the use of satellite images of high temporal frequency and high spatial detail, together with robust artificial intelligence approaches, stand out as one of the most efficient ways to analyze ICLS, helping growers and agricultural organizations in important decision making.
In this webinar, we discuss:
- The challenges of monitoring ICLS using satellite imagery;
- How to explore PlanetScope image time series for monitoring ICLS using machine learning algorithms;
- A case study for mapping and estimating pasture biomass in ICLS areas.
We’re excited to share that we signed a new partnership with Inzpire, a leading supplier of defense training. The partnership enables both companies to better serve their long-standing customers by introducing Planet’s ‘always-on’ satellite dataset to Inzpire’s advanced training methods. Planet believes that greater access to data about our changing world promotes health, safety, prosperity, and security. Together, Planet and Inzpire will work to build a more transparent world.
Inzpire delivers operationally credible solutions to military, private, and public sector customers. With Planet data, Inzpire will be able to provide its customers and their businesses with even greater insight into their workflows – from border security, disasters, to advanced imagery analysis, and more.
“We are thrilled to partner with Inzpire. Their heritage and expertise delivering services to military customers stands out in the market and I am excited to see how they will empower customers to use our unique, daily remote sensing capabilities to make the world a safer and more secure place,” said Charlie Candy, Chief Revenue Officer of Planet.
Inzpire has become an official Enablement Partner of Planet’s which will allow them to deliver official Planet Training developed and maintained by Planet experts, work with organizations around the world to develop in-depth learning experiences, and offer hands-on labs allowing learners to practice real-world scenarios. Inzpire’s deep experience for training and enablement services will enable their customers in need of Earth Observation data, to develop a deep competency of Planet imagery.
“Here at Inzpire, we are delighted and extremely proud to partner with Planet – a company which we feel is helping to make the world a safer and more secure place and is highly innovative, just like us,” said Hugh Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer of Inzpire. “Planet’s superb daily remote sensing capabilities significantly add to our existing portfolio and enable us to offer our customers some very powerful solutions to their problems.”
To learn more about our defense and intelligence solutions, visit our site.
A revolução digital está transformando a agricultura em todo o mundo, e as imagens diárias da superfície terrestre da Planet estão ajudando a indústria a obter dados mais precisos para a tomada de decisão. Este mês, temos o prazer de anunciar nosso mais novo cliente de agricultura, a AMAGGI, uma grande empresa brasileira de commodities, especializada na produção e exportação de algodão, soja e milho. Com as imagens da Planet, a AMAGGI obterá insights diários sobre suas plantações, permitindo revisitar as safras passadas e calibrar novos algoritmos para o crescimento futuro.
Em um total de 362 mil hectares, a AMAGGI realiza o manejo de 154 mil hectares de algodão durante a estação de cultivo. Obtendo as imagens PlanetScope das áreas produtivas de algodão, a AMAGGI criará um banco de dados analítico com imagens atuais e de arquivo. Aproveitando-se do uso de Machine Learning, esses dados oferecerão análises avançadas e serão integrados à plataforma web e ao aplicativo móvel, o Agro SIG. Isso permitirá que os funcionários da AMAGGI, incluindo a equipe de campo e os fornecedores, tenham insights sincronizados.
Os dados satelitais da Planet ajudam a empresa a identificar e monitorar o crescimento de espécies invasoras, reduzir as verificações em campo e gerenciar recomendações de produtos em tempo quase real. Com essas informações, é possível analisar a biomassa e criar alertas tempestivos em campo. A AMAGGI também procura criar um modelo de informações para analisar a altura do algodão, cruzando os dados das imagens da Planet com dados provenientes de outras cinco fontes de referência. Após a implementação dessas soluções, a empresa pretende mensurar o retorno sobre o investimento.
A visão de futuro da AMAGGI está alinhada com suas metas de ESG (Ambiental, Social e Governança), incluindo ter um fornecimento de grãos 100% rastreado e monitorado, livre de desmatamento e conversão até 2025. Aproveitando os dados de satélite da Planet, a empresa busca apoiar esses objetivos e aumentar as práticas de gestão sustentável, incluindo mitigar o retrabalho e permitir sistemas de rastreabilidade e certificação. Desta forma, a AMAGGI tomará decisões de forma mais assertiva nos próximos anos com a contribuição da Planet e o suporte fornecido por nosso parceiro local SCCON.
To read this piece in English, view this page.
To read this piece in Portuguese, view this page.
The digital revolution is transforming agriculture around the world, and Planet’s daily earth imaging is helping the industry gain precise data for informed decision-making. This month, we are thrilled to announce our newest agriculture customer, AMAGGI, a large Brazilian-based commodities company, specializing in producing and exporting cotton, soybeans, and corn. With Planet’s imagery, AMAGGI aims to obtain daily insights about their crops, enabling them to review past seasons and calibrate new algorithms for future growth.
Within a total of 362 thousand hectares, AMAGGI has 154,000 cotton hectares under management during the crop season. Using PlanetScope images of these cotton fields, AMAGGI intends to create a data lake with current and archived images. Leveraging machine learning, this data can offer advanced analytics and be integrated into their existing shared digital platform and mobile app, Agro SIG. This can enable AMAGGI employees, including field staff and those in the supplying process, to have synchronized insights.
Planet’s satellite data can help the AMAGGI identify and monitor the growth of invasive species, reduce time-intensive manual field checks, and manage product recommendations in near real-time. With these insights, they can analyze biomass and create timely alerts in the field. AMAGGI also looks to create an informed model to analyze cotton height by integrating Planet’s imagery with cross-referenced data points from five different sources. After implementing these solutions, the AMAGGI intends to measure their return on investment.
Core to AMAGGI’s future vision is an alignment with their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) goals, including having a 100% tracked and monitored grain supply, free of deforestation and conversion by 2025. Leveraging Planet’s satellite data, the company looks to support these goals and increase sustainable management practices, including mitigating rework and enabling traceability and certification systems. With greater insights supplied by Planet and support provided by our local partner SCCON, AMAGGI hopes to support informed and responsible decision-making for years to come.
Graphics and Data Analysis By: Max Borrmann
Additional Data Support: Joe Kington, Jaap Schellekens, and Tessa Kramer
In late June of 2021, the U.S. Pacific Northwest experienced an unprecedented heatwave. Temperatures climbed to 116 degrees fahrenheit in Portland and 108 degrees fahrenheit in Seattle, causing regional devastation to lives and economies. A second, less severe, heatwave hit the region again in late July. By this point, 93% of the Pacific Northwest region had also been impacted by drought conditions, and Seattle and Portland had experienced a month and a half without rainfall. From March to August, Washington state saw just 6.9 inches of rain, compared to an average of 13.03 in previous years according to the National Weather Service.
This figure shows the spatial and temporal progression of the abnormal heat across Washington from June 24, 2021, through July 1, 2021. Data generated by ClimateEngine.com with modification by Max Borrmann under Creative Commons License. The combined factors of this continued drought and the unprecedented heat waves sapped the soil moisture of the region, threatening a range of crops, including wheat, berries, and evergreen trees harvested for the Christmas season. Such severe weather events present unpredictable and damaging impacts for the agricultural industry. The combined tools of Planet’s daily satellite data and public data on crop conditions and yields can offer ways for agricultural organizations to map, measure, prepare, and respond to the impacts of temperature anomalies and droughts on certain key crops in their region.
This map shows the general distribution of wheat fields in the state of Washington. (Data sources: Planet monthly mosaic, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Natural Earth) The heatwave in the Pacific Northwest proved particularly damaging to regional wheat crops. In 2020,Washington state was ranked fourth in the United States for the top wheat producing state, and the crop represents about $800 million for the state. However, in early July of 2021, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report rated the condition of 68% of Washington’s spring wheat and 36% of the state’s winter wheat as poor or very poor. By September, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual Small Grains 2021 Summary reported that the total wheat production in Washington fell by nearly 50% to 87.1 million bushels in 2021, from 116 million bushels in 2020. At a closer scale, this change was also reflected in Lincoln County, WA. There 2021 spring wheat yields measured 24 bushels/acre, which represents only 45% of the yields reported in 2020: 53.6 bushels/acre.
A group of fields in Lincoln County, WA, which appear to have had spring wheat planted for the 2019, 2020, and 2021 growing seasons. (Data Sources: PlanetScope imagery, US Census Bureau, Washington State Department of Agriculture, USDA NASS) For farmers and growers everywhere, the timing for planting and harvesting is critical. Washington’s spring wheat is planted in early spring while its winter wheat is planted in fall. The winter wheat is then harvested in July while the spring wheat harvest starts around the beginning of August. But this year in the Pacific Northwest, spring rains stopped falling just as farmers began planting the spring wheat. Then farmers reported that the heat waves caused a significant amount of the dry land wheat (wheat that only receives water from precipitation) to mature too early, changing the quality of the wheat. Moreover, farmers were again challenged when planting began for winter wheat in fall as the land still lacked crucial moisture, potentially causing negative impacts to next season’s yield. Satellite data can empower farmers and the companies that serve them to precisely monitor and prepare for these changes in a time-sensitive manner, but it can also illuminate crop conditions in real time.
Using Planet’s surface reflectance datasets, farmers and growers can measure the amount of healthy vegetation in their fields using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which provides an estimate of crop health. This is data acquired from Planet’s satellite images that can be analyzed over time and compared year to year and season to season. In the below graphic, Planet’s data reveals a noticeable decrease in healthy biomass in 2021 for a group of fields near Edwall, Washington, located in Lincoln County. A steep dip in NDVI follows the first unprecedented heat wave, possibly revealing the compounding impacts of both the drought and heat wave.
Using Planet’s bi-weekly surface reflectance mosaics, the average Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated over a group of fields near Edwall, WA. While these fields appear to have been planted all three years, the NDVI peak was notably lower in 2021 — and was reached roughly a month earlier than the peak in 2020. Planet’s recent acquisition of VanderSat, a leading provider of advanced earth data and analytics focused in agriculture and water analytics, will enable even more research and monitoring programs for agricultural production impacted by drought and weather anomalies. VanderSat’s algorithms provide daily data from around the globe on soil moisture, land surface temperature, and biomass. By using satellite microwave measurements, VanderSat is able to provide daily coverage of soil moisture data without the hindrance of cloud cover. Paired with Planet’s high-cadence and high-resolution satellite imaging capabilities, VanderSat’s data can be leveraged by farmers and the companies to mitigate risk, manage crops, and plan their growing seasons with increased accuracy.
In Lincoln County, WA — the location of the selected wheat fields near Edwall — the average soil moisture from early March through the middle of August 2021 stayed below the longer term average of the past 6 years. The 2021 values represent the average soil moisture across the county for the fourteen days before and after a given date. The above graphic highlights how the soil moisture in Lincoln County, Washington was consistently drier than average for almost the whole 2021 spring wheat growing season. VanderSat’s soil moisture in this analysis is at 5cm depth, and represents moisture that is replenished by precipitation, or in other cases irrigation. This type of data can reveal early insights for growers looking to begin their planting, and working to generate expected timelines for harvest. With VanderSat’s average soil moisture data, Planet’s agricultural customers can now analyze time-series data allowing them to retrospectively analyze the impacts of drought and temperature anomalies on their crops. With that knowledge, they can make more informed decisions around planting, irrigation, and harvesting.
This summer, the Pacific Northwest agricultural industry experienced the unprecedented impacts of these two combined environmental stressors. Researchers estimated that a heat wave of this magnitude would have been virtually impossible without human-induced climate change, and with continued warming, these extreme events could become more frequent. Moving forward, as farmers, companies, and world leaders look to mitigate and prevent the worst impacts of global droughts on food systems, they can turn to Planet’s daily satellite insights for informed agricultural decision making, keeping their practices resilient and adaptable.
Planet’s mission to help life on earth extends beyond our products and services. In December 2021, Planet officially became a carbon neutral company as part of our commitment to sustainability. Planet worked with SCS Global Services (SCS), an organization specializing in third-party certification, validation, and verification for environmental and sustainability quality performance claims, to certify our operations as carbon neutral in accordance with the internationally recognized PAS 2060: 2014 Carbon Neutrality Standard. This certification covers the entire supply chain – from manufacturing and launching our satellites to all aspects of our corporate operations – for the 2020 calendar year.
“Planet’s mission is to help life on earth – and to fulfill that mission, we are not only committed to accelerating the adoption of sustainable practices globally, but embodying those practices in our own operations,” said Andrew Zolli, Planet’s Chief Impact Officer. “Using a rigorous, science-based approach, we are committed to reducing our environmental impact wherever possible.”
Planet’s direct and indirect GHG emissions (Scopes 1, 2 and relevant Scope 3) were calculated for several categories, including Purchased Goods and Services, Capital Goods, Fuel and Energy Related Activities, Business Travel, Employee Commuting, Waste Generated, Downstream Transportation and Distribution. This process was completed by SCS who evaluated Planet’s GHG inventory in accordance with the WRI GHG Protocol, a GHG assessment standard. The total 2020 GHG inventory for Planet was 3,482 metric tons CO2e. SCS found that the main source category of GHGs for Planet is Scope 3 (Purchased Goods and Services, Business Travel) and Scope 2 (Purchased Electricity).
“We applaud Planet on their commitment to carbon neutrality and the work they did to assess and verify their claim ultimately earning carbon neutral certification for their company for 2020. It was clear to us that their dedication to acting sustainably extends across their entire company,” said Dave Jonas, SCS’ Program Manager for Climate Consulting Services.
High-Quality Carbon Credits
To achieve carbon neutrality, Planet needed to purchase 3,482 tons of verified and retired carbon credits to fully neutralize the total GHGs associated with our 2020 activities. These were purchased through a custom portfolio of three high-quality REDD+ projects offered by Pachama, a Planet customer who uses ourdata to evaluate forest conservation and reforestation carbon projects globally and monitor them over time. The projects include Agrocortex and Brazil Nut Concessions in the Amazon region, and NIHT Topaiyo in Papua New Guinea, and each of these projects can be found on Planet’s impact webpage on the Pachama website.
PlanetScope image of Pachama NIHT Topaiyo in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. © 2021, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. “We’re grateful to work closely with Planet, a leader in high-frequency satellite imagery. We have a valuable partnership in which Pachama leverages Planet’s data to advance our work to evaluate forest carbon projects, and Planet turns to Pachama to neutralize their emissions with high-quality carbon credits,” said Diego Saez Gil, CEO and co-founder of Pachama.
These offsets were verified against the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), which guarantees that the offsets purchased represent genuine, additional GHG emission reductions. Purchasing these offsets also guarantees that they have been verified by an independent third party, were only issued after the emissions reductions had taken place, and were retired within 12 months from the date of the declaration of this carbon neutrality achievement.
On the Path to Becoming Net Zero
2020 was Planet’s application period, meaning carbon neutrality could be achieved solely based on offsetting. Moving forward, we will work towards demonstrating reductions in its emissions in order to maintain its carbon neutral certification. 2020 was an unusual year with the start of a pandemic three months into the year and employees working from home for the remainder of the year. We embrace this challenge in our Carbon Footprint Management Plan (CFMP), which outlines targets for GHG reductions and details the projects that Planet will implement over the next year to show a GHG reduction on an absolute or intensity basis in order to maintain our carbon neutral certification. For example, Planet commits to reducing operational GHG emissions by utilizing renewable energy options in leased offices, working with travel partners that help reduce carbon emissions, streamlining our shipping for purchased goods and services by reducing the number of shipments and opting for ground transportation. With 2022 underway, Planet aims to promptly evaluate and offset our 2021 emissions so that we can begin devising a carbon reduction plan that will provide substantial cuts in our emissions in subsequent years in an effort to become a net zero company by 2030, if not sooner. In doing so, we hope to join other companies to do their part to create a sustainable future. Planet’s mission to help life on earth also extends across the world through partnerships that look to find solutions for deforestation, advance the Sustainable Development Goals, and enable corporate sustainability and sustainable finance.
We’re proud to celebrate Black History Month at Planet as a time to listen, learn, and reflect on Black culture. We’ve identified a number of self-guided learning opportunities that we’ll be engaging in throughout the month, and encourage you to join us!
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Community + Conversations with a Docent, Creative Griots – The African American History and Culture Museum will host conversations with museum docents to discover how identity, politics, and creativity are articulated through African American performance, music, cultural expressions, and the visual arts. Together, the program will explore the ways African Americans have harnessed these elements to fuel social change while creating a vibrant culture that extends to the African Diaspora.
Time: 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm ET / 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm PT
Celebrate What Unites Us! In Celebration of Black History Month, African Heritage Cooking Demo – Oldways in collaboration with Age-Friendly Boston and Friends of the Armenian Heritage Park on The Greenway will celebrate Black History Month, by learning to make recipes inspired by the African Heritage Diet.
Time: 10:00 am ET / 7:00 am PT
Saturday, February 5, 2022
National Museum of African American History & Culture Livestream Tour – Come take an online, virtual tour of The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. This event is hosted by Robert Kelleman, the Founder/ director of the non-profit community organization, Washington, DC History & Culture.
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm ET / 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm PST
Sunday, February 6, 2022
Moving Together: UNAPOLOGETICALLY BLACK Yoga Joy for Black Joy & Radical Self-Care – Unapologetically Black Yoga will host non-linear, trauma sensitive Yoga for Black people, to address anti-Black racial trauma from a place of being already resourced.
Time: 10:30 am GMT
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Art Afterwards: A Book Discussion – The National Portrait Gallery and the DC Public Library will host a virtual conversation about love, second chances, and the power of a great torch song. The group will analyze a portrait of Ella Fitzgerald and discuss the related book, “Seven Days in June” by Tia Williams. Participants will be encouraged to share their favorite romance novels and love songs during the event.
Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm ET / 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm PT
Author’s Book Talk Event: Class Interruptions: Inequality and Division in African Diasporic Women’s Fiction – Association for the Study of African American Life and Health will host an author’s event with Robin Brooks, author of Class Interruptions: Inequality and Division in African Diasporic Women’s Fiction. Brooks offers compelling new insight on literary portrayals of class inequalities and division. She expands the scope of how the Black women’s literary tradition, since the 1970s, has been conceptualized by repositioning the importance of class and explores why the imagination matters as we think about novel ways to address long-standing and simultaneously evolving issues.
Time: 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT
Monday, February 14, 2022
History Alive! Coming Home: African Americans Coming Home from World War II – The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture will host History Alive! Coming Home – a program that explores stories and artifacts that reflect the economy, health care, education, housing, and political process for military veterans in the aftermath of WWII. Their living history interpreter tells the story of how those engaged in the military made their service useful not only for the good of their country, but to benefit both their personal lives and their community.
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm ET / 10:00 am to 11:00 am PT
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
LaTosha Brown: Black History Month Keynote Address,
Midterm Matters: Fostering the Emotional Stamina to Stay Engaged – GRCC Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will host LaTosha Brown, a catalyst for change, thought leader, and social strategist. Brown’s national and global efforts have been known to organize, inspire and catapult people into action, enabling them to build power and wealth for themselves and their community.
Time: 6:00 pm ET / 3:00 pm PT
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Origins of the African American Middle Class and Entrepreneurship – The Economics & Personal Finance Resources will investigate how individual rights and personal freedoms help lift individuals, their families, and communities up and out of poverty.
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm ET / 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm PST
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
What You Don’t Know about the Legacies of Slavery: Health and Wellness
The Association for the Study of African American Life and Health will host this presentation on social practices, beliefs, and psychological dispositions that are distinct continuities from slavery. As part of UNESCO’s recognition of this decade as The International Decade of People of African Descent, a multinational team began to study the long-term effects of slavery on people of African descendant. A series of international symposiums were held to explore findings and the results published as The Psychological Legacy of Slavery: Essays on Trauma, Healing, and the Living Past (2021).
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm ET / 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm PT
A House Built By Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House
The National Archives Foundation will host author Jonathan W. White to present the story of how President Abraham Lincoln welcomed African Americans to his White House in America’s most divided and war-torn era and why that transformed the trajectory of race relations in the United States. Beginning with his 1862 meetings with Black Christian ministers, Lincoln invited African Americans of every background into his home, from ex-slaves from the Deep South to champions of abolitionism such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. The President conferred with his guests about the essential issues of citizenship and voting rights. Drawing from an array of primary sources, White reveals how African Americans used the White House as a national stage to amplify their calls for equality.
Time: 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm PT
Thursday, February 24, 2022
The Black Family: Representation, Identity & Diversity – The National Archives Foundation in partnership with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History will host a panel discussion with Ida E. Jones, an archivist at Morgan State University, Alison Parker, author of Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell, and Darius Young, author of Robert R. Church Jr. and the African American Political Struggle, where they will look at the Black family in history, literature, the visual arts, film, sociology, anthropology, and social policy.
Time: 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 pm PT
Friday, February 25, 2022
Black Wall Street and the Threat of Black Financial Stability – The Council for Economic Education will host an economics webinar that examines the rise and fall of Black Tulsa, OK, and the historical implications of race in American financial success. Greenwood, or “Black Wall Street,” a once thriving section of 1920s Tulsa, met its ultimate demise at the hand of White rioters. Begin to explore what the success of this Black neighborhood meant for the town’s White counterparts, and how racial minorities’ independence was, and potentially continues to be, a threat to White power structures in the United States.
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm ET / 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm PT
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Taking the Stage: Death and the King’s Horseman – A Play Reading – The National Museum of African American History and Culture will host a virtual staged reading of Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman by the Shakespeare Theatre Company and Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts. Soyinka is a Nigerian novelist, essayist, poet, playwright, and the first sub-Saharan African Nobel Laureate for Literature. Based on an incident in 1946, Soyinka’s work is a powerful examination of the explosive tension between traditional African culture and the West. The 90-minute digital performance will include an overview of the work by LeeAnét Noble, production director and Shakespeare Theatre Company’s director of equity and enrichment, and contributions by Georgetown University’s Dr. Soyica Colbert and Shakespeare Theatre Company dramaturg Dr. Drew Lichtenberg.
Time: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm ET / 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm PT
Watch, Listen, Learn Asynchronous Opportunities
The Oakland Museum of California’s “Black Power” Exhibit
The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.’s “Queens of the Heartland Tour” exhibit focused on the life of Pauli Murray, a Civil Rights Activist
“Langston Hughes 101: Understanding a Poet Of the People, For the People”
Listen to “The Works of Langston Hughes”
Additional Resources
Washington D.C. Virtual Itinerary for Black History Month
Library of Congress – African American History Month
Smithsonian Education – Black History Month
National Park Service – African American Heritage
National Archives – African American History Portal
National Endowment for the Humanities – African American History and Culture
History Channel