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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.

Awesome news! I saw in the email release that we now have the ability to filter imagery on cloud cover specific to a clipped AOI, but I’m having trouble finding out how to do that in the references… Any advice?


Hi @pauldingus , you should be able to see this functionality by default now enabled on Planet Explorer, as well as the ArcGIS and QGIS integrations upon order. If you are using our API’s ensure you are using  the cloud_filter tool (https://developers.planet.com/docs/subscriptions/tools/#cloud-filter). 

 

Please let me know if you continue to run into any issues trying any of these methods!


Awesome! So I currently have my API quick searches set up with a geometry_filter and a cloud_filter (and the way I understand it, this was pulling any image that contains the geometry and meets the cloud_filter limits). I’m wondering what I need to change (if anything) about this request structure for the quick search to evaluate the cloud_filter only within the geometry_filter portion of any images, if that makes sense? 


Just now noticing that this might be something I need to apply at the order stage, rather than the search stage -- is that correct?


@pauldingus , yep that’s correct. The tool is available in the subscriptions API. (EDITED)


And I should clarify for others referencing this thread, the same goes for Planet Explorer and the ArcGIS and QGIS integrations (I am updating the thread above with a clarifying line)


Hopping back on this thread to ask another clarifying question about the new cloud mask…

I am trying to place some orders using a clip, harmonization, a coregister (with an anchor image), and a cloud_mask. I’m getting a 400 error stating that “Op 'cloud_filter' is incompatible with op ‘coregister’", but on the coregister reference, it claims that coregister should support all item types except for REScene?

Wondering whether this is intended, unintended, or if I’m just doing something incorrectly. Thanks for the help!

My request structure, for reference:

{
"name": "order_name",
"order_type": "partial",
"products":
{
"item_ids": list-of-IDs,
"item_type": "PSScene",
"product_bundle": "analytic_sr_udm2"
}
],
"tools":
{
"clip": {
"aoi": aoi-shape
}
},
{
"harmonize": {
"target_sensor": "Sentinel-2"
}
},
{
"coregister": {
"anchor_item": "anchor-item-ID"
}
},
{
"cloud_filter": {
"clear_min": 90
}
}
],
"delivery": {
"google_earth_engine": {
"project": "project-name",
"collection": "collection-name",
"credentials": "credentials"
}
}
}

 


@pauldingus , apologies here. I did some more digging, and it looks like this feature is not yet supported in the Orders API, only the subscriptions API today. 

 

I am going to update my responses to reflect this for other viewers as well, and have submitted your request to our product team. A post to the ideation section of this forum would also be massively helpful.