PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Planet is announcing an important change in our communication strategy regarding product releases. We have decided to deprecate the practice of announcing product updates in the Planet Changelog. Instead, we will be moving our product release announcements to the Planet Community site.Effective immediately, all product release announcements will be posted on our community site at Planet Product Announcements.This change enables us to streamline our communication process and also provide a central hub for product updates. By consolidating all release information on the Planet Community site, you will have access to the most up-to-date information and can collaborate and discuss among our community members.We look forward to your feedback in the Planet Community forum!

Planet introduces support for delivery from the Subscriptions API to the Sentinel Hub collection. You can now subscribe to Planetary Variables and Imagery and send it to Sentinel Hub for further analysis. Interested in learning more about how to configure your delivery options? Get the details in the Subscriptions Delivery documentation. Read about Planet APIs at Get Started with Planet APIs.Find a collection of guides and tutorials on Planet University.

  The Planet Field Boundaries new data set is now available through the Subscriptions API. Field Boundaries provide critical infrastructure for agriculture solutions, including regional crop monitoring and yield estimation over broad areas, serving customers in civil government, commercial agriculture, finance, and consumer packaged goods industries. Field Boundaries automatically trace the boundaries of agricultural parcels for a specified area and Time of Interest (TOI). To do this, the Planet proprietary algorithm estimates a parcel’s extent and perimeter from a time series of satellite images. This dataset can be generated globally dating back to 2018.ImageryThe first version of the Field Boundaries PV uses Sentinel-2 data with 10 m resolution input. Interested in learning more about the Field Boundaries Planetary Variable?Review an example of subscribing to Field Boundaries using the Subscriptions API. Get the details in the Field Boundaries Technical Specification. Read about Planet APIs at Get Started with Planet APIs. Find a collection of guides and tutorials on Planet University.

The Planet Mission Operations team recently managed the final operations and re-entry of two of our decommissioned SkySats. As a part of our commitment to responsible space use, bringing these SkySats down from space ensured that they would not pose a risk to other spacecraft or further contribute to space debris.As a reminder, this was a planned re-entry and does not have any notable impact on our high-resolution fleet’s capacity or your tasking abilities, given the Planet team’s continued efforts to innovate and improve the tasking capabilities across the program. We are able to apply learnings from the SkySat fleet as we look forward to launching additional high-resolution Pelican satellites. 

Planet Features API (Beta) Planet recently released its Features API (Beta). The Features API is a great way to improve the efficiency of your data discovery and delivery workflows by enabling you to store your Areas of Interest (AOIs) once and reference them, as needed, across the platform. Planet discovery and delivery APIs that now support saved Feature references include:Orders API  Subscriptions API  Data API The Features API also includes endpoints for validating and simplifying your AOIs so that they meet the Planet geometry rules (such as max 1500 vertex limit) before saving them. After a Feature is saved, it can be accessed as an OGC-compliant Features API.API docs for the Planet Features API can be found in the Planet Features API documentation. Example Features API workflow Note: For more detailed workflow examples, refer the Planet Jupyter Notebook.  To create a Feature Collection make a POST to the Collection endpoint and include a Collection name and description.  POST to https://api.planet.com/features/v0/ogc/my/collections To validate that your Features (AOIs) meet the Planet geometry requirements, make a POST request to the /validate endpoint. The API response provides more details if your Feature does not meet the geometry rules.  POST https://api.planet.com/features/v0/ogc/my/collections/validate To add Features (AOIs) to your Feature Collection, make a POST to the items endpoint. You can include Title, ID, and Description properties.  POST https://api.planet.com/features/v0/ogc/my/collections/:collectionID/items  To share a Feature Collection so that other users in your Organization can find and access the AOI Features, make a POST request to the permission endpoint: POST https://api.planet.com/features/features/v0/ogc/my/collections/:collectionID/permission  After a Feature is saved, you can reference it in the Planet delivery APIs. For example, make a POST request to the Orders API to deliver data where you need it.  POST https://api.planet.com/compute/ops/orders/v2 Feature Reference: A reference (URL, ID) to a specific Feature.Learning ResourcesFor information on working with Planet APIs, see Get Started with Planet APIs.Note: The Planet Features API is currently in Public Beta and future releases may not be backwards compatible. Following the General Availability (GA) release of the API, we will provide support for a duration of six months.FeedbackHave feedback? Please let us know using the Planet Features API Beta Feedback form.

 Planetary Variables and Sentinel HubNew datasets are available in Sentinel Hub! Land Surface Temperature Soil Water Content Crop BiomassForest CarbonPlanetary Variables are now a supported data layer in Sentinel Hub. You can order Planetary Variables with the Sentinel Hub Third Party Data Import API to be delivered to your Sentinel Hub collections to benefit from all the analysis and streaming capabilities of the Sentinel Hub APIs.You can provide an area of interest, time of interest, and specific Planetary Variable and the data that matches the criteria is delivered to a specified Sentinel Hub collection.Refer to Third Party Data Import API documentation for more information.Interested in learning more about Planetary Variables in Sentinel Hub? Check out this recent blog from Matt Ballard, Technical Marketing Manager at Planet, for a deep dive into our Sentinel Hub datasets! 

Planet implemented an improved normalization approach for surface reflectance basemaps that use Sentinel-2 as a normalization target.Why is this important?PlanetScope imagery is collected using a constellation of different satellites—including different satellite generations—that have different relative spectral responses (RSRs). The different RSRs are due to the different sensors, and the variability in PS surface reflectance (SR) data. SR correction for PS data relies on MODIS estimates of the atmospheric optical thickness, which is collected at a different time of day and at a coarser spatial resolution when compared with PS imagery. This leads to significant variability in PS SR data even for images that have the same RSR. For example, same satellite generation and sensor. Therefore, we apply normalization to correct for the variability of SR data leading to more consistent time series.What did we change?We processed the entire Sentinel-2 imagery catalog between 2017 and 2023 using the Framework for Operational Radiometric Correction for Environmental monitoring (FORCE) method then created monthly-cadence, multi-year composites by estimating the 30th percentile for each pixel location using only cloud-free data. How does this improve the product?Sentinel-2 normalized basemaps will have better correlation to FORCE making them more consistent and accurate for time series use.  The improvements were intentionally made to be fully backwards compatible with our current normalization models so existing customer and archive data is still 100% valid and usable.Are there any possible impacts?The new approach works best when there are a high number of observations to build the model. In areas where observations are limited due to clouds or other conditions, the algorithm may produce inaccurate results that manifest as artifacts in the final product. Examples of this are shown in the technical datasheet. If you notice this or any other artifacts please file a ticket and the customer support team will address the issue. This is not expected to be widespread so there is minimal risk of impact.For additional information, refer to the Surface Reflectance Basemaps Technical Datasheet.

New Cloud Mask Launched ✨Planet introduces a new Cloud Mask, UDM2.1, which significantly improves upon the accuracy of the previous mask, UDM2.0. For full details, see our updated developer center page.

This update provides support for our newest Planetary Variable, Forest Carbon Diligence 30 m, through the Subscriptions API.You can subscribe to both raster and time series data. With this new feature, you have access to the data for the following:Forest Carbon Diligence 30 mIf you are interested in Forest Carbon Diligence 30 m, you can create a subscription and specify this new Planetary Variable source type. If you subscribe to Imagery, this update does not require additional action.For more information, refer to Subscribing to Planetary Variables.

Planet introduces a new Cloud Filter tool to the Subscriptions API. This new tool enables you to filter out imagery that exceeds customer provided Area of Interest cloud cover metadata thresholds.For more information, refer to Subscriptions Tool. 

This update will simplify how quality issues are managed and also how quality information is presented in the Tasking Dashboard.In preparation for this change, we will also simplify how we surface quality information in the dashboard.These improvements are part of a broader initiative to make Planet quality processes faster, more accurate, and easier to interact with - more to come in the next months!What's New?New Evaluation field API Tasking DashboardThe Evaluation field replaces the Assessment field, which is deprecated and will not reflect future improvements to our quality processes.Rejecting a capture in the Tasking DashboardIf you disagree with the quality evaluation for an order, the Tasking Dashboard allows you to request an additional review of the capture within two weeks from the capture publication date.The Assessment feature replaces the current manual process and you no longer have to contact your Planet representative.Please provide as much information as possible in your request to expedite the process.The process of the capture review is visible in the dashboard in the capture detail view and in the order history.The Planet team reviews your request and might re-task or re-process the image if our quality commitments are not met. Email notifications will be sent to the order creator once a decision is made. Your Planet representative may also reach out for more information about this issue.

Path Prefix Support is now available using the Subscriptions APIYou can now use the path_prefix parameter in the Subscriptions API when you deliver subscriptions to one of our supported cloud storage providers. This is an optional string that will prepend to the files delivered to the bucket.

You can now use geometries with up to 1,500 vertices in the Planet Subscriptions API.

On September 14, 2023, archival PlanetScope images will only be available through the PSScene item type. PSOrthoTile archive images will no longer be available through the Planet API or Planet Explorer. This change allows Planet to improve your experience by streamlining access to PlanetScope data through a single source.If you use PSScene with the default filter options, you do not need to make any changes to your account. There is no impact on your workflows or ability to access orthorectified imagery through PSScene.  If you use PSOrthoTiles to change filters, please update the item type in your workflow from PSOrthoTile to PSScene before September 14, 2023. Please see our PSOrthoTile Deprecation and Migration Plan for additional information.For additional information and support, please contact your Customer Success Manager or submit a support ticket to Planet Support.  

When you order imagery in Planet Explorer, you have the option to deliver the order to Hosted Data.  Hosted Data allows you to visualize the imagery in full resolution and customize the rendering for enhanced visual interpretation. More information is available in How to Order and Stream Hosted Data.In applications that support the WMTS and XYZ protocols, you are now able to stream Hosted Data without revealing your API key. Simply go to the Hosted Data section of Planet Explorer and enable tile streaming links for your Hosted Data folders. This enables the availability of streaming services links that do not require your Planet API key and do not have an expiration date.  You can stream all of the images in your Hosted Data folder in the WMTS specification.  When you do this, images are grouped together by item type and date.  For a given date, the most recent images are  shown on top and there is a limit of 30 scenes that can be streamed at once.  You can also stream individual scenes within a folder with the XYZ or WMTS specifications and as a Cloud-Optimized Geotiff (COG). 

Planet has enhanced the availability of PlanetScope images by lifting the existing restrictions on publishing unrectified images, and therefore increasing the amount of published images. Starting on July 19, 2023, PlanetScope customers can expect a noticeable increase in the availability of published imagery over their area of interest (AOI) and their time of interest (TOI), especially over coastal, water and very cloudy regions. Users will observe less gaps between images in a given strip.  Planet expects the global publication rate to increase by approximately 10%.  Analysis has shown that 90% of unrectified images are fully cloud covered and provide minimal value. However, with this effort, Planet plans to increase the understanding of Dove collection rates for both the AOI and the TOI. More information about the changes and what this means is available in the Publishing All Unrectified PlanetScope Imagery Knowledge Base article. 

Hey there! We have two awesome improvements for you in the Tasking platform! Now, we’re linking your Account Quota as part of your Tasking journey. So, every time you place an order, we’ll show you how much quota you have left. Once you've reached your existing quota limit, we’ll pause the ordering process. These changes give you the opportunity to strategize and plan for optimal quota usage! Available Quota  Limit EnforcementThere are no changes to how you are charged or how your quota usage is measured. The Tasking platform updates provide ease of use, and greater visibility and predictability into your quota usage. 💡Remember, you can conveniently monitor your current tasking quota usage on your Planet Account page any time! You can access the Account page from the Tasking Dashboard by clicking the Account icon, top right link. Questions or Issues?Contact Planet Support or email tasking-feedback@planet.com with any questions or issues. Also, if needed, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Customer Success Manager or Account Executive. 

What’s New with the GEE Integration? Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a supported delivery destination for the Orders API. New in this release: All Orders API tools are now supported allowing  you to apply preprocessing to your imagery before it is delivered to GEE.  Added support for ordering Planet Basemaps.Interested in learning more about Planet's GEE delivery enhancements? Check out this recent blog from Kevin Lacaille for a deep dive into our integration! GEE Integration: a Planet Developers Deep DiveRefer to the Google Earth Engine Delivery documentation.

Planetary Variables are now Available via the Subscriptions API ✨Planet's satellite-observed Soil Water Content (SWC), Land Surface Temperature (LST), and Crop Biomass (BP) Planetary Variables are now delivered entirely through Planet's infrastructure. New support for the delivery of Planetary Variables is available through the Subscriptions API. With this new feature, customers can subscribe to both raster and time series data for the following Planetary Variables:Soil Water Content: The amount of water stored in the soil above groundwater levels. Land Surface Temperature: Radiative skin temperature of the land surface, or the temperature directly on the surface of Earth.  Crop Biomass: Index (from 0 to 1) of the relative amount of biomass in an area, especially useful in cloudy regions.How to SubscribeCustomers interested in Planetary Variables via the API can create a subscription and specify a Planetary Variable source type. This change requires no action on the part of users who subscribe to imagery.Read more about Subscribing to Planetary Variables.

This is a repost. See the original post: hereA few months ago, we let you know about the first beta release of our new Python SDK and CLI. On behalf of the Developer Relations team here at Planet, I’m so excited to announce that this new toolkit is now live and available to all. This new and improved toolkit took the best parts of the original Planet Python library and added a number of great improvements. If you’ve had the opportunity to use the beta tool, you’ll already be familiar with how much easier it makes working with Planet’s APIs in Python: the 2.0 release of our Python SDK abstracts out all the details of interacting with Planet’s APIs, so you can focus on actually using the data and building workflows. We’ve also built a new Command-Line Interface to enable that same easy interaction with Planet APIs – without using code. If you’re already familiar with Planet’s V1 CLI, the new and improved CLI is similar while also allowing you to work in a more modular fashion, enabling a wider array of workflows. Check out the documentation here to learn more about how it works, and don’t miss the Tips & Tricks section for some nifty examples of how you can use the Planet CLI alongside your favorite geospatial tools like GDAL/OGR, Fiona (fio), Kepler.gl, Placemark.io, and more. Both the SDK and the CLI support the Orders, Data, and Subscriptions APIs. To get started, install it from pip with ‘pip install planet’, explore the CLI, and then dive into the Python Guide. Be sure to not miss the SDK Examples that link to a number of Python Notebooks. If you’re already a user of the V1 Python Client, check out our upgrade guide for tips on migrating your code to V2. We’re very interested in hearing from you all as you start using this new toolkit, so don’t hesitate to ask for help or share your feedback with us: just post here on the Planet Community Developers Forum and tag your post with ‘sdk’ or ‘cli’.

Tasking Dashboard and the Planet Account PageNow you can access the Planet Account page directly from the Tasking Dashboard.        Quota Usage and Reports on the Planet Account PageFrom the Planet Account Page, you can:View the quota bars for current tasking quota usage. Run Quota Usage reports for a detailed breakdown of information about quota availability and usage.Note: The Usage reports do not include Data on orders from before November 17, 2022.Tasking Dashboard ImprovementsThere are several improvements in the Tasking Dashboard to enhance the Customer experience.New BasemapThe Tasking Dashboard Basemap has been refreshed to offer a more detailed view. The new Basemap uses imagery from the PlanetScope constellation to navigate and target your area of interest (AOI) more easily. This is especially helpful in areas with few geographical features.New Filter OptionTrack expiring Flexible orders with the new Expiring soon filter in Orders by State.Date PickerWith the new date picker, you can select the date range for your imagery search results. Select the Dates to filter your search for one or more date ranges. The dates are UTC by default. 

Planet Explorer Updates April 19, 2023✨ New ✨It is now easier to preview and order imagery. When you search for imagery, there are three new buttons.Click the X items button to check out each satellite image from that date and make the best choice. Click the eye button to preview the imagery from that date on the map. Click the cart button to add the imagery to your order. You can select and de-select imagery from multiple dates. You can also lock the footprint of an image onto the map to get a better sense of coverage.When you place an order, there is a new option to composite images, which stitches them together. You will receive fewer files and consume less quota. Composite all will give you one file and composite by strip will provide the most consistency (spatial, spectral, environmental, etc). Take a look at the impact of each option on the map to get a sense of what you will receive.You can now more easily use your Hosted Data in other tools and platforms. Download the Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) and pull it into other web applications at no extra cost.Improvements 🙌🏻You can now select MGRS as a format in Settings, under the Coordinate System section. You can also easily copy MGRS coordinates out of Explorer to paste into other systems. The coordinates can be found in the bottom banner of the app. Please note: precision varies by the zoom level and resolution.

Improvements It is now easier to select your time of interest in Explorer, especially for date ranges beyond two months. You can now enter your start and end date ranges as well as select them on the calendar. We have made improvements to Compare mode. You can now see the search field while in Compare mode. If you’d like to search for another location, you can do so faster now. If you try to place an order clipped to a complex geometry, the order fails. We now include a fail-safe in Explorer that disables the clipping option if your geometry is too complex. This check gives you the confidence that your order won’t fail because of a complex geometry. We have changed the defaults when you place an order. Harmonization is no longer on by default. The Harmonization tool is best applied if someone is ordering PlanetScope data from various constellations (for example, SuperDove and Dove-R); this situation does not apply to most people because SuperDoves provide full coverage. The clipping tool is on by default.Bug Fixes Small AOIs now show their area correctly up to 3 decimal places instead of 0 km2. We’ve fixed an issue that led to the application crashing when SkySat items were ordered as Hosted Data.

There are substantial improvements to Quota calculations and Planet’s Terms of Service (ToS) for order creation in the Tasking Dashboard. Automated Quota CalculationQuota calculation functionality is greatly improved for order entry. It is now evident which tasking parameters impose higher or lower quota cost. A quota preview displays costs directly in the Tasking Dashboard. Quota estimates are automatically updated as you input requirements.The dashboard now displays how much quota is used for each order. The information is available in both the order details view and the table view. Used quota is always current, reflecting the amount of quota used in a given order to date.Planet’s Terms of Service AlignmentThe tasking parameters at the order entry stage are now consistent with Planet’s current ToS and the capabilities of the SkySat constellation. The improvements allow Planet to maximize order fulfillment and deliver as many high quality captures as possible.The following parameters apply to all orders:  A minimum duration of 14 days for the Time of Interest (TOI)  The order must be submitted at least 24 hours before the TOI start time A maximum 30º Off-nadir angle (ONA) applies to all orders   

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.  To read more about this please check out this Planet Pulse article.