Planet releases slew of datasets for planetary variables

Planet Labs PBC has announced the release of Planetary Variables, a new product offering consisting of three pre-processed, accurate data feeds that measure the conditions of dynamic systems on the surface of the Earth. The three Planetary Variables feeds consist of Soil Water Content, Land Surface Temperature, and Vegetation Biomass Proxy to help customers make informed decisions in industries ranging from agriculture to emergency response.

This novel data product is a result of the increased product capabilities gained by Planet's recent acquisition of Earth analytics company VanderSat. The data supporting these three feeds draws on observations from public satellites that use passive microwave sensors, which provide unique insight in measuring water content in soils and vegetation. This enables Planetary Variables to be unhindered by cloud cover, providing Planet customers with new, globally available insights.

"We believe the combination of Planet's constellation of satellites and our data analytics capabilities will create value for our customers far greater than the sum of its parts. Planetary Variables presents data to customers pre-processed, and our goal is to help customers spend less time manipulating data and more time monitoring and understanding the places that matter to them," said Thijs Van Leeuwen, Director of Product at Planet and previous CEO of VanderSat.

The Soil Water Content feed provides measurement of the volume of water contained in the soil at a 5cm depth, and along with the Land Surface Temperature, it is delivered at 100m resolution, while the Vegetation Biomass Proxy feed provides relative measurement of the above-ground crop biomass at 10m resolution. The three data streams can offer unique insights across multiple industries, including agriculture, insurance, and banking.

VanderSat's Soil Water Content data has been used to track flooding threats, and develop insurance products with companies like Swiss Re and Axa Climate, to help protect farmers against the effects of drought. Furthermore, Land Surface Temperature data has supported VanderSat's work in yield forecasting for a range of crops, including row crops, like corn and soy, and specialty crops, like cocoa and coffee. By combining optical and radar data, VanderSat also produced a Biomass Proxy product, which was used by agricultural companies like BASF, to help monitor the health of their customers' fields.

Now, with these capabilities combined with Planet's daily satellite image datasets, customers will be able to leverage these advanced Earth data insights to gain a multidimensional view of the areas they monitor. This rich, easy-to-obtain data provides Planet customers the ability to leverage measurements as time-series to maximize their analysis.

The Planetary Variables feeds are backed by extensive archives, which provide context for modeling and a historical baseline to understand what the normal conditions for a given location are. We believe such information can provide insights on pressing environmental issues, and help companies, governments, and NGOs build resilience in the face of ecological shifts and climate change.

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