Cloud-free Crop Monitoring Webinar FAQs

In this webinar we discuss Crop Biomass. This product combines optical and radar satellite observations that penetrate the cloud cover to provide daily 10-meter data over agricultural fields. You can watch the on-demand recording here. 

If you want to get started with Crop Biomass reach out to Adela Holgado Fornes at adelaholgado@planet.com.

We also rounded up some FAQs from the live event: 

How do you deliver data every day given that Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 frequency is not daily?

The Crop Biomass is delivered daily because the values for each pixel are the result of a rolling average from the latest observations. In the figure below, you can see on top a time series for the Crop Biomass versions 2 and 3 (current), and at the bottom the S-1 and S-2 direct observations.

What is the spatial resolution of the Crop Biomass?

The spatial resolution of the raster is 10 meters.

Can I use the Crop Biomass in pastures?

Our customers had good results using the product to monitor pastures. However, the reduced frequency of Sentinel-1 observations over some regions can result in differences between the dynamic changes in biomass due to grazing or mowing and the daily data delivered.

What is the current geographic availability of the product?

The coverage is limited to the availability of Sentinel-1 data. The most updated coverage (from September 2023) is as follows:

Source: https://asf.alaska.edu/data-sets/sar-data-sets/sentinel-1/sentinel-1-acquisition-maps/

When are you expecting to release the next version of Crop Biomass?

We expect to release our next version 4 by the end of February 2024. We are interested in getting early feedback so contact Ariel Zajdband if you are interested.