NICFI Basemaps in Google Earth Engine FAQ

last updated: March 18, 2024

NICFI Basemaps in GEE FAQ

Which NICFI Basemaps are available in GEE?

The following Basemaps are available in GEE:

  • PlanetScope Tropical Normalized Analytic
  • Biannual and PlanetScope
  • Tropical Normalized Analytic Monthly series Basemaps

The following data description pages provide details on the Planet and NICFI Basemaps:

How are the Basemaps organized in GEE?

The NICFI Basemaps are organized by the major rainforest regions (Amazon, Congo, and Indonesia) into 3 regional Image Collections:

  • Tropical Africa
  • Tropical Asia
  • Tropical Americas

Bi-annual and monthly images are included with the same regional image collections:

  • projects/planet-nicfi/assets/basemaps/africa
  • projects/planet-nicfi/assets/basemaps/asia
  • projects/planet-nicfi/assets/basemaps/americas

Add a single mosaic from the collection to your map by using the following command:

var imageCollection = ee.ImageCollection('projects/planet-nicfi/assets/basemaps/africa');

Map.addLayer(imageCollection.first(), {gain: 0.15, bands:["R", "G", "B"]})

How do I filter the Basemaps by date?

The PlanetScope Tropical Normalized Analytic Monthly series Basemaps are stored as images in the Image Collections representing a single month in time. For example, the July 2021 Normalized Analytic Basemap has a start date of 2021-07-01 and an end date on the first of the following month: 2021-08-01. Running a date filter for a specific time period within this month, will not return any results (for example, between 2021-08-02 and 2021-08-19).

Note: The filterDate options use the start date and verify if it is within the date range provided. The start of the month must be included in your query.

For example, the following filter returns only the Basemap for October: 

var filter_collection = planet_collection.filterDate
('2020-09-02', '2020-10-02')

To return both September and October, use the following filter:

var filter_collection = planet_collection.filterDate
('2020-09-01', '2020-10-02')

Where do I find additional information about the NICFI Basemaps?

Additional information on NICFI basemaps is availble in:

How long does it take for NICFI Basemaps to be available in GEE?

NICFI monthly or bi-annual Basemaps are available in GEE within one week of publication on the Planet Platform.

Can I share Basemaps with internal or external colleagues in my organization?

Users are permitted to share data in compliance with the NICFI end user licensing agreement (EULA) terms.

Direct access to the NICFI Basemap Image Collections in GEE is gated by Planet to ensure that a NICFI EULA is signed. The collections do not appear when searching the Public Catalog.

Can I access the Basemap Source Scenes in GEE?

The source scenes are not directly accessible in GEE, however, Planet has a Delivery Integration, described in the Google Earth Engine Overview for NICFI customers to deliver imagery to GEE.

To identify which scene intersects a specific point in a Planet Basemap, use the inspector tool in the Planet GIS integrations (ArcGIS & QGIS) or use the Basemap API or the Planet Basemap viewer.

Where do I go with questions or for support?

For questions contact Planet Support, at support@planet.com.

Additional help for using GEE is available at, Google Earth Engine Get Help.

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