Visual Basemaps Overview

last updated: September 04, 2024

Planet Basemaps are generated by querying PlanetScope scenes that overlap a specific area of interest within a designated time frame. These scenes are then ranked based on quality metrics metadata, such as the presence of clouds and haze, with the highest quality scenes placed at the top. Using a "best-on-top" algorithm, the highest quality scenes are efficiently composited to create the final basemap.

PlanetScope Visual Basemaps (Zoom Level 15 – 4.77 meter cell size at the equator) are optimized to minimize the effects of cloud cover, haze, and topographic variations. These basemaps are generated using the (visual) asset type, and are color-corrected and designed for human viewing and computer vision analytics, enabling users to monitor landscape and infrastructure changes over time and space.

SkySat Visual Basemaps (Zoom Level 18 – 0.596 meter cell size at the equator) can be generated post SkySat tasking over a custom area and time of interest. SkySat Visual Basemaps are generated using (ortho_visual) asset type. In addition, SkySat Visual Basemaps may be purchased as an add-on to our Flexible Tasking product.

For more details please check the Basemaps Webpage and the Basemap Product Technical Specification document.

Visual Basemaps Product Details

Source Imagery Download Bands Streaming Bands Monitoring Frequency Zoom Level Color Target
PlanetScope Visual Product
visual asset
RGB RGB Weekly
Monthly
Quarterly
15 MODIS
SkySat Visual Product
ortho_visual asset
RGB RGB Weekly
Monthly
Quarterly
Custom
18 Planetscope (normalized to MODIS)
none (non-normalized)


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