Q&A + Resources - Agile EO: Streaming and Sharing Planet Data

In the June Agile EO episode, we shared the upcoming improvements to the Planet Add-in for ArcGIS Pro (not yet released, but coming soon!).

In this new version of the Planet ArcGIS integration you will be able to store data in cloud data collections on Planet Insights Platform, and visualize it through streaming OGC services without downloading the imagery. Watch the webinar on-demand now to learn more or jump right in and download the add-in.

Below are answers to questions from the live event and resources to get you started.

Question: Can you visualize a collection/ordered imagery in an ArcGIS Online webmap?

Answer: Yes, you can stream imagery from data you deliver to a collection through OGC services. You can see an example of this in the recorded demo.

Question: How do you access your Planet account in the add-in?

Answer: You can log in to the Planet Add-in for ArcGIS Pro with the same credentials as you use for your Planet account. You can find steps for getting started with the add-in in our documentation.

Question: If you download from ArcGIS will it be deducted from your quota?

Answer: Yes, ordering data from the Planet Add-in for ArcGIS Pro consumes quota just as if you were using Explorer or the Orders API.

Question: Will our previous orders be able to use the default visualizations or do we need to make an image collection?

Answer: If you’ve previously ordered imagery for local download or cloud delivery, your data won’t be part of a Data Collection. You would need to re-order the data to add it to a collection. Please contact your Planet account representative or technical support if you have questions about this.

Question: I already have the add-in, how can I update it when the new version comes out?

Answer: When the add-in is updated, you will automatically receive a notification in the Planet add-in ribbon toolbar within ArcGIS Pro. You can also always get the latest version here.

Question: What kind of account or subscription is needed to access this data?

Answer: You need to have a plan that includes the ability to order data to use the Planet Add-in for ArcGIS Pro. This can be for PlanetScope or SkySat. Please contact sales if you have any questions.

Question: Can these tools be used for looking at water and land for showing pollution from companies?

Answer: Yes, Planet imagery has been used extensively for monitoring pollution including sewage, trash burning, air quality, algal blooms, and more. Also check out our publications database to find scientific studies for topics related to your use case.

Question: Can you carry out more complex processing, such as PCA? If so, where is the derivative product stored?

Answer: We currently don’t support Principal component analysis (PCA) as a tool that you can use on Planet Insights Platform. One option is to leverage our Python SDK to access this satellite data and run the analysis in your own environment.

Question: Can offline areas (for disconnected field use) be created within ArcGIS Online from Planet data collections?

Answer: You need to be connected to the internet to access Planet Insights Platform. You can always download the imagery locally and prepare it for offline use in ArcGIS if needed.

Question: Can you process the Planet data, with external data, such as ISAR?

Answer: On our Platform, we provide access to Sentinel and Landsat data.

If you’d like to process Planet data with other datasets, you can also connect your own rasters in the Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs (COGs) format through the Bring Your Own COG (BYOC) API. Essentially, this API reads data from your own AWS S3 storage and makes it accessible through our platform for analysis and data fusion.

Lastly, there are scenarios where you might need to process Planet data with other not directly supported sources or with other 3rd-party software. For this, we offer extensive REST APIs and a Python SDK for interoperability.

Question: When adding data to the collection, would it still be considered in the limit of data we download?

Answer: Yes, ordering data and choosing the option to deliver to a collection consumes data download quota.

Question: Can we stream the collection into desktop software like Socet GXP for further imagery analysis?

Answer: What we demonstrated is based on our OGC API and those services can be added to any compatible geospatial software that accepts services like WMTS, WMS, and XYZ.

Question: If I have an E&R (student or academic) account, is this available to me?

Answer: Currently, the ability to deliver data to Data Collections is not included in E&R plans, but we do offer a plan which is ideal for education and research use cases. For this, you can see pricing here. If you’d like to see this capability added to E&R accounts, please submit a feature request over in our product ideas section.