PRODUCT UPDATES

  Cloud Forecast Data VisibilityPlanet now provides an updated cloud forecast time, enhancing your visibility of the latest cloud data on the Tasking Dashboard.Order entry: When you select the Assure window or in the order summary, hover on the cloud tag to view information about the last cloud update. Non-fulfilled Assure order: The Order detail now provides the scheduled time, chance of cloud, information when the cloud data was last updated, and estimated off-nadir. Fulfilled: After a successful collection, the order detail displays the collected data, the cloud cover over AOI at collection with the previously estimated cloud forecast value, and the off-nadir angle at collection with the estimated off-nadir value. 

Planet Labs is performing engineering maintenance on the systems used for user authentication, which will result in user-visible changes to the platform. These changes will be deployed between early July and the end of August. User credentials (API keys and passwords) will continue to work without disruption. Important! Most of these changes are not expected to require user-facing downtime, but a brief outage in the functionality that links Planet and Sentinel Hub accounts will be required.User-visible ChangesThe user-visible changes include the following: User authentication services will be migrating from account.planet.com to login.planet.com Deep links into account.planet.com will not be maintained.  Please bookmark www.planet.com as the platform homepage and use the login link on this page. The format of the login prompts will be changing. The format of authentication emails (password reset, etc.) will change. Users who have not logged in within the last several years must perform a “forgotten password” password reset. The user must opt into this from the login screen, which is not automatic.Additionally, new user account security features will be enabled to protect accounts from brute-force attacks.What to ExpectUsers may experience additional authentication prompts during this maintenance period as systems gradually migrate on the back end. Depending on the user’s activity and status vis-a-vis the underlying platform maintenance work, users may experience new and old authentication services. This is to be expected and does not indicate a problem with the service.Thank you for your patience as we perform this system maintenance. These changes have prepared our internals better to serve future security needs, including enhanced user account attack detection/protection features, end-user multi-factor authentication, OAuth2 authentication for API access, and enterprise user federation. Note: None of these features are part of this migration, but this migration prepares engineering infrastructure for future work in these areas.

Features Manager is a new application that helps you upload and manage areas of Interest (AOIs) on the Planet Insights Platform. The application is built on Planet APIs, including the Features API. Features Manager is designed to help you manage your AOIs on the Planet Insights Platform so that you can use them as references in downstream applications, such as requesting data through the Orders and Subscription APIs. As a Planetary Variable user, Features Manager also provides a special view into quota management, enabling you to determine how much quota you have used for your AOIs. Features Manager CapabilitiesUpload and save AOI Features  Validate and simplify AOI Features  Organize Features in Feature Collections and add metadata  Share Feature Collections with your organization Copy Feature Reference IDs to use in downstream APIs like Subscriptions  For Planetary Variable customers, preview PV quota for your AOIFeatures Manager & Planetary Variables Quota To access Planetary Variables for your AOIs, upload your AOIs using Features Manager or Features API. Once uploaded, ask your Planet support manager to “reserve” the PV quota for your Feature Collection. Upload your AOIs using Features Manager or API.  To share Feature Collection(s) with your support manager, click the More menu on your collection and click copy link. Email your support manager a link to your Feature Collection and specify which Planetary Variable you want to access for those AOIs.Once your quota is reserved and data is created in those areas, your support manager will let you know that you can start requesting PV data through the Subscriptions API. Additional Resources Please take a look at the Features Documentation for more about this release. 

 What’s NewPlanet introduces support for delivery from the Orders API to a Sentinel Hub collection. You can now order PlanetScope and SkySat 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 Orders Delivery documentation Read about Planet APIs at Get Started with Planet APIs Find a collection of guides and tutorials on Planet University

Planet is excited to announce the implementation of an advanced security feature for your collections. This enhancement guarantees that your data remains safe and secure.What’s New Default ProtectionFrom now on, all newly created collections will be protected by default. Your new collections are automatically limited only to your user account, even if you share your collection ID with others.Note: The existing collections and configurations with these collections remain the same.Protect Your Existing CollectionsNow, you can manage how your existing collections are shared! To protect them, open your Dashboard and click My Collections. Click the icon with an unlocked lock to enable this feature. Note: Once you enable this feature, any users with whom you have previously shared your collection ID will lose access.Selective SharingPlanet is introducing the option to share your protected collections with specific users. By specifying a list of users with their account IDs, you have complete control over who can access your collections.Important ReminderOnce you have protected a collection, it cannot be changed back to unprotected by you. Only Sentinel Hub Support has the authority to change this setting. If you ever want to make a protected collection unprotected again, submit a request in the Help Center. and we’ll be happy to assist you. Need Help or More Information?Check out our Protected Collections documentation for more details about our advanced security features.If you have any questions or need assistance with this new feature, please do not hesitate to contact our support team by submitting a request in the Help Center.

On July 31, 2024, public data will no longer be available through the Planet API, Planet Explorer, or Planet Integrations. This change allows Planet to improve your experience by streamlining access to public data through single-source Sentinel Hub services.If you do not access Landsat8, Sentinel-2L1C, Sentinel1, and MODIS data through Planet API, Planet Explorer, or Planet Integrations, 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, SkySat, and RapidEye.  If you access Landsat8, Sentinel-2L1C, Sentinel1, and MODIS data through Planet API, Planet Explorer, or Planet Integrations, please register for Sentinel Hub 6 Month Access for Planet Customers to access this data. More InformationRefer to our Public Dataset Deprecation and Migration Plan for additional information.Please get in touch with your Customer Success Manager or submit a support ticket to Planet Support.  

If you disagree with the quality evaluation for a tasking order, the Tasking Dashboard allows you to request an additional review (according to the respective Flexible or Assured Tasking Terms of Service) of the capture within two weeks from the capture publication date. Considerations for Additional ReviewApplied to Input Area - The rules are applied to the user’s input area, which could be as small as 25 square kilometers or as large as the full collection. Less than your contracted Cloud Cover Threshold - Collections must be less than or equal to (<=) the contracted cloud cover threshold. This does not include haze and shadows. Exceptions include Assured tasks. Scene Alignment - We do not guarantee scene alignment where we cannot create tie points for rectification. For example, significant clouds or the scene has <= 10% land intersection. We should be able to align where haze is present. UDM2.1 as a Starting Point - If you believe UDM2.1 has mislabeled your collection, please dispute and we will review it. For example, if UDM2.1 mislabels clouds as haze.Planet might re-task or re-process the image if our quality commitments are not met. We will assess if your collection is a good candidate for reprocessing. Other outcomes include declining the request, quota adjustment, or refund.For More InformationPlease review our Terms of Service Enforcement Rules Refer to the Flexible and Assured Tasking Capture Review Terms of Service Enforcement knowledge base article

This product release announces Crop Biomass version 4In this new version, Planet improved the spatial distribution of the data by adding PlanetScope as a source of optical data, and by increasing the contribution of spatial information from Sentinel-1, especially during periods of persistent cloud cover.Also, integrating our pipeline with Sentinel Hub enables instantaneous on-demand data delivery. In other words, we are removing all the steps involved in data activation, simplifying the provisioning, and significantly reducing the time required to deliver data in new areas. Crop Biomass FeaturesCloud-free vegetation biomass estimation at a 10-meter resolution daily Analysis-ready data An archive dating back to January 1, 2019Interested in learning more about the Crop Biomass Planetary Variable?Crop Biomass in Subscriptions API Planetary Variables in EO Browser  

This product release announces the Forest Carbon Diligence version 1.1New FeaturesThis Forest Carbon Diligence version update improves year-over-year consistency for the Canopy Height and Aboveground Carbon Density products in undisturbed landscapes and fixes two known dataset bugs. The underlying models for each product remain unchanged, and these updates solely implement post-processing changes.For more information, refer to the following documentation: Planet Forest Carbon Diligence Technical Specification Planet Forest Carbon Diligence Release Notes Forest Carbon Diligence Workflows

This product release announces the Forest Carbon Diligence product validation and intercomparison report The Forest Carbon Diligence Validation and Intercomparison report provides a multi-scale, multi-method assessment of the quality of Planet’s Forest Carbon Diligence data products, with an emphasis on jurisdictional and voluntary carbon monitoring applications, using a combination of intercomparison and validation approaches.Refer to the Validation and Intercomparison report for more information. 

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).