PLANET EXPLORER

USER GUIDE

[email protected] | PLANET.COM LAST UPDATED JULY 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. OVERVIEW ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 3

2. FEATURES ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4

3. USER INTERFACE FOR PLANET EXPLORER BETA USERS______________________________________________________ 5

3.1 Basemaps _________________________________________________________________________________________ 5

3.2 Imagery __________________________________________________________________________________________ 6

4. COMMON WORKFLOWS_________________________________________________________________________________ 8
4.1 Search for Area of Interest ___________________________________________________________________________ 8
4.2 Using Draw Tools ___________________________________________________________________________________ 8
4.3 Filtering by Date ___________________________________________________________________________________ 12
4.4 Filtering by Metadata ______________________________________________________________________________ 13
4.5 Selecting Imagery Source ___________________________________________________________________________ 14
4.6 Viewing Imagery Product Metadata ___________________________________________________________________ 14
4.7 Comparing Imagery ________________________________________________________________________________ 16
4.8 Download Imagery _________________________________________________________________________________ 17
4.9 Saving Searches __________________________________________________________________________________ 18
4.10 Coverage Map ____________________________________________________________________________________ 19
4.11 Labs _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 20

Disclaimer

This document is designed as a general guideline for customers interested in acquiring Planet Explorer Lab products and
services. Planet takes an agile and iterative approach to its technology, and therefore may make changes to the product(s)
described in this document.
1. OVERVIEW

Planet Explorer is an online tool leveraged to easily search and browse recent and past geospatial data, enabling users to
see change across the planet over time. It can be used to search Planet’s catalog of imagery, view metadata, and download
full-resolution images. The application and all of its features are built entirely on the externally available Planet Data API.

This document provides an overview of the interface and descriptions of commonly used functionality available in the
Planet Explorer graphical user interface (GUI) application. This application is used specifically to search and access
PlanetScope, RapidEye, Skysat, Landsat 8, and Sentinel-2 imagery products.

The link to the Planet Explorer is: www.planet.com/explorer.

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2. FEATURES

For Planet Explorer Users (account required), the GUI allows the user to:

1. V
 iew Timelapse Basemaps: Planet customers and users can preview all quarterly and monthly global basemaps at limited
zoom (30-40 m/pixel).

2. S
 earch: A user can Search for any location or a specific area of interest by entering into the input box OR by uploading a
geometry file (Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, or WKT).

3. Save Search: The Save functionality allows a user to save search criteria based on area of interest, dates, and filters.

4. F
 ilter: A user can filter by a specific date range and/or customizing metadata parameters (e.g. estimated cloud cover,
ground sample distance).

5. Z
 oom and Preview Imagery: Planet customers and users can preview quarterly, monthly, and daily imagery globally at
limited zoom (30-40 m/px), along with the areas of interest according to data subscriptions.

6. File Upload: Upload geometry files as Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, or WKT.

7. View Imagery Details: A user can review metadata details about each imagery product.

8. Order Items: The Order Items link allows a user to order and download imagery based on their data subscription.

9. D
 raw Tools: These tools allow you to specify an area to see imagery results. The draw tool capabilities available are drawing
a circle, drawing a rectangle, drawing a polygon, and/or limiting the size of the drawing to the size of loadable imagery.

10. M
 easurement Tools: These tools allow you to measure the distance between two points, the area within a polygon or the
bearing of a drawn line.

11. Compare Tool: The Compare Tool allows a user to compare sets of Planet imagery from different days, months, and quarters.

12. C
 overage Map: Provides an estimate of the percentage of the area that has been covered by PlanetScope and RapidEye
imagery and/or the number of imagery captures made within a specified timeframe. Note: Changing the metadata filters,
like cloud cover and sensor type, will impact the coverage percentage.

13. Labs: Labs are features that have yet to be launched into production but are available for Explorer users to experiment
with. Note: These features may be unreliable as they are still works in progress. Once they are ready to be launched fully
into production, they will be removed from the list of Labs and added as a regular Explorer feature.

© Planet Labs Inc 2017 Page 4

3. USER INTERFACE FOR PLANET EXPLORER USERS

3.1 BASEMAPS

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 1  Imagery Viewport This area displays all imagery and basemap products. In this view, this area displays the resulting
timelapse basemaps.

2  Draw Tools These tools allow you to specify an area to see imagery results. The draw tool capabilities
available are drawing a circle, drawing a rectangle, drawing a polygon, and/or limiting the size
of the drawing to the size of loadable imagery.

3  Measurement Tools: These tools allow you to measure the distance between two points, the area within a polygon
or the bearing of a drawn line.

4  File Upload Upload geometry files as Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, or WKT.

5  Zoom Allows you to zoom in or out of the selected area. Zoom-in capabilities
allow you to zoom in to zoom level 15 (~5 m pixel resolution per OpenStreetMap) for imagery
available under your subscription and zoom level 12 for everywhere else.

6  Coverage Map Provides an estimate of the percentage of the area that has been covered by PlanetScope and
RapidEye imagery and/or the number of imagery captures made within a specified timeframe.
Note: Changing the metadata filters, like cloud cover and sensor type, will impact the coverage
percentage.

7  Label Toggle Overlays labels of places around the world.

8  Quarterly & Monthly Browse through a series of basemaps generated from Planet imagery. The current basemaps
Basemaps available are from imagery captured in a quarterly or monthly timeframe since January 2016.

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3.2 IMAGERY
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1  Search Search for any location or a specific area of interest by entering a location into the Search Box.

2  Save Search The Save Search functionality allows you to save your search criteria based on area of interest,
dates, and filters. Your Saved Searches can also be pulled from the Search Box.

3  Date Filter Filter by specifying a specific date range.

4  Metadata Filter Filter by customizing metadata. Available metadata filters include (but are not limited to) cloud
cover, ground sample distance, and solar elevation.

5  Results Panel Lists all imagery available, organized by the date it was captured, for your selected area.
By default, the results are listed by most recent captured. You can sort by date of image
acquisition and imagery product type.

6  Item Details View metadata details about each imagery product.

7  Hide Sidebar Hide the left sidebar to just see the imagery window.

8  Order Items The Order Items link allows you to download imagery at full resolution along with supporting data
files based on your subscription.

9  Compare Tool The Compare Tool allows a user to compare sets of Planet imagery from different days, months,
and quarters.

10  Stories Planet’s Stories application will walk you through creating a shareable timelapse movie showing
change over time.

11  View Code Snippet View cURL code snippets and imagery IDs from your search.

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12  Menu The Menu keeps track of your order history, status of pending orders, saved searches, labs
and settings.

13  Imagery Viewport This area displays all imagery and basemap products. In this view, the Viewport highlights
imagery results based on the search in the Imagery Results Window (below) and dims the
surrounding area.

14  Imagery Results This area displays the specific visual imagery product results based on the search.
Display

15  File Upload Upload geometry files as Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, or WKT.

16  Draw Tools These tools allow you to specify an area to see imagery results. The draw tool capabilities
available are drawing a circle, drawing a rectangle, drawing a polygon, and/or limiting the size
of the drawing to the size of loadable imagery.

17  Measurement Tools These tools allow you to measure the distance between two points, the area within a polygon
or the bearing of a drawn line.

18  Zoom Allows you to zoom in or out of the selected area. Zoom-in capabilities allow you to zoom in to
zoom level 15 (~5 m / pixel resolution) for imagery available under your subscription and zoom
level 12 (~40 m / pixel resolution) for everywhere else.

19  Quarterly, Monthly, Browse through imagery in the form of quarterly & monthly basemaps or daily imagery.
Daily Imagery

20  Timeline The Timeline provides indications of the dates with imagery data.

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4. COMMON WORKFLOWS

4.1 SEARCH FOR AREA OF INTEREST

There are different methods you can search for an Area of Interest or any location. The following outlines each method.

METHOD 1: 1. In the Search box, enter the name of a

Entering a Location location. Suggestions will appear in the
dropdown.

2. Hit “enter” after entering your location OR click on the appropriate suggestion that drops down.

3. T
 he resulting imagery of your search will then appear in the Results Panel on the left side panel.

METHOD 2: 1. C
 lick on the upload button in the bottom right corner of the
Uploading a Geometry File Imagery Viewport.

2. Select the file you want to upload. File types supported are:
Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, or WKT.

METHOD 3: 1. C
 lick on the Draw Tools button in the bottom right corner of the
Draw an Area Imagery Viewport.

2. Y
 ou can use the Draw Tools to specify a circle, rectangle, or
polygon to see imagery results. More details in the section below.

4.2 USING DRAW TOOLS

You can customize your Area of Interest by using the Draw Tools. These tools allow you to specify a specific area to see
imagery results. The draw tool capabilities available are drawing a circle, drawing a rectangle, drawing a polygon, and/or
limiting the size of the drawing to the size of loadable, daily imagery.

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DRAW A CIRCLE

1. Click on the “Draw a

circle” icon.

2. In the Imagery Viewport,

click to select the location
of the center of the circle
you want to draw.

3. M
 ove the cursor to change
the radius of the circle.

4. Click again to set the

radius of the circle.

5. The results will then

appear in the left Results
Panel after you set the
shape.

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DRAW A RECTANGLE

1. Click on the “Draw a

rectangle” icon.

2. In the Imagery Viewport,

click to select the location
of the first corner of the
rectangle.

3. Move the cursor to

expand the size of the
rectangle.

4. C
 lick again to set the
size of the rectangle.

5. T
 he results will then
appear in the left Results
Panel after you set the
shape.

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DRAW A POLYGON

1. Click on the “Draw a

polygon” icon.

2. In the Imagery Viewport,

click to select the location
of the first corner of the
polygon.

3. Click and then move

the cursor to select the
location of another corner
of the polygon.

4. To set the shape of the

polygon, double click.

5. The results will then appear

in the left Results Panel
after you set the shape.

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LIMITING THE DRAW TOOL SIZE

1. In some cases, a certain

Area of Interest may be
too large to load daily
imagery (the current limit
is 10,000 sq km). You can
click on the “Constrained
AOI size” button to auto-
matically select a shape
size that will guarantee
daily imagery results.

4.3 FILTERING BY DATE

1. After you search for

an Area of Interest, the
results are loaded for all
time by default.

2. T
 o filter by dates, click
the Date Filter.

3. An “Edit date ranges”

window will display. For
a single date range, you
can select the start date
and end date by clicking
on the calendar.

4. For multiple date ranges,

click on the “Add range”
button and then select
the start date and end
dates for each date range.

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4.4 FILTERING BY METADATA

1. After you search for an Area of Interest, the results are

loaded for all imagery that we have published with no
metadata filters enabled by default. In this example, there
are 501 results for this Area of Interest.

2. You can adjust the metadata filters by clicking on the filter

icons above the Results Panel on the left side. Click on the
filter you would like to adjust. For example, if you want to
filter on cloud cover, click on “Cloud cover.”

3. Y
 ou can move the slider to filter the results for cloud cover
within a desired range. For example, if you would like to
filter out any imagery with more than 20% cloud cover,
move the right end of the slider from 100% to 20%.

4. If you would like to filter on more metadata parameters,

click on “All filters.” A set of metadata parameters for
which you can adjust the filters will display.

5. Adjust for the filters you’d like to make. Return back to

the imagery port and you’ll notice that the results in the
Results Panel has updated to filter imagery based on your
adjusted metadata filter.

In this example, there are now 119 results.

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4.5 SELECTING IMAGERY SOURCE

1. P
 lanet offers data from four different sensors: PlanetScope,
RapidEye, Landsat 8, and Sentinel-2. To select specific sensor
types, use the “Source” selection button in the main window.

2. Click or unclick the sources you’d like to be displayed in

the Results Panel. Click the “Source” filter again to dismiss
the dropdown menu with the source selections.

4.6 VIEWING IMAGERY PRODUCT METADATA

Each image results has associated metadata, such as acquisition time, cloud cover, etc. which you can view in the Planet
Explorer Beta. Full metadata details can be found in Planet Documentation here.

1. In the Results Panel that displays after you search for an
Area of Interest or location, the imagery is organized by
the date it was captured.

2. To view all the singe imagery captures for a specific day,
click on the right side of the image row with “# items.”

3. A
 fter you click on “# items,” a view of all single imagery
captures that were acquired on that specific date will
appear.

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4. T
 o view the metadata
associated with a single
imagery capture, click on
an image item row for a
single image capture.

5. If you’d like to see a

Detailed View of the
Imagery, click on the
right side of the image
item row with “info.”

6. A
 Detailed View will display
in the Imagery Viewport.

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4.7 COMPARING IMAGERY

The Compare Tool allows you to compare sets of Planet imagery from one date with another date.

1. The Compare Tool, located

at the bottom of the
Results Panel, is disabled
by default until the user
enables it. To enable it,
click on “Compare days,”
“Compare months,” or
“Compare quarters,”
depending on the
timeslice you selected.

2. W
 hen the Compare Tool
has been enabled, the
Imagery Viewport will
display a split screen. For
example, if you want to
Compare Days, drag and
drop two images from
two different days from
the Results Panel onto
either side of the map to
compare them with the
slider.

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3. Once you drag and drop
two images from the Results
Panel into both the Left and
Right side, you can move
the slider to see how the
imagery from the two dates
differ.

You can can enable the

Compare Tool to compare
months and quarterly
basemaps if you’ve selected
“1 Month Basemap” or
“3 Month Basemap,”
respectively.

4.8 DOWNLOAD IMAGERY

The Download feature allows you to download imagery and data based on your subscription.

1. Click on the Order items link

on the bottom of the Results
Panel.

2. In the “Confirm order items”

pop up window, you can
enter the name of your
order. You have the option
of selecting the Visual (RGB
bands), Analytic (RGB +
NIR), Basic (RGB + NIR,
if available) assets, or all
imagery products. You also
have the option of remov-
ing individual captures
from the capture date you
selected to download.

3. After entering the name

of your order, click “Place
order.”

4. W
 hen you place the order,
you will see a notification
confirming that your order
has been created and is
being processed. The
status of your order will be
available in the menu screen
(from your profile avatar).

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4.9 SAVING SEARCHES

The Save search functionality allows you to save your search criteria based on area of interest, dates, and filters.

1. If you do a search, click on the “Save search” link in the upper
left under the Search box.

2. In the pop up window, you can enter the name of your search.

3. You also have the option to receive email notifications

whenever there is new imagery published within your search
criteria.

4. A
 ll your saved searches will be available in the menu screen,
viewable by clicking your profile avatar in the top right.

5. If you would like to edit an existing saved search, click on the
saved search from the menu screen as shown in the step above.

6. The data from your saved search will load in the Results
Panel with imagery displayed in the Imagery Viewport. If you
make an edit to any of the filters, you can click on “Update
search” in the top left to update the existing saved search.

7. T
 he Save Search screen will display and you have the
opportunity to update the name of the saved search, add to
folders, or enable or disable notifications. Once you are done,
click on “Update search.”

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4.10 COVERAGE MAP

The Coverage Map provides an estimate of the percentage of the area that has been covered by PlanetScope and RapidEye imagery
and/or the number of imagery captures made within a specified timeframe.

1. To enable the Coverage

Map, click “Cover” in the
bottom right.

2. Y
 ou will now see the
Coverage Map overlayed in
the Imagery Viewport.

3. The left panel displays the

menu with a color scale and
adjustable metadata filters.
Changing the metadata
filters, like cloud cover and
imagery sensor source,
will impact the coverage
percentage.

4. C
 lick the “Image Depth”
tab to see an updated
coverage map showcasing
the number of imagery
captures made for the
same specified filters.

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4.11 LABS

Labs are features that have yet to be launched into production but are available for Explorer users to experiment with. Note: These
features may be unreliable as they are still works in progress. Once they are ready to be launched fully into production, they will be
removed from the list of Labs and added as a regular Explorer feature.

1. To see available Labs, click on the Menu button in

the top right corner

2. Select the Labs tab

3. Choose which labs you’d like to enable by clicking

on the toggle

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