Image above: SkySat image of tailings dam failure in Jagersfontein, South Africa, captured September 12, 2022, the day after the failure. Global conversations around the safety of tailings dams –  infrastructure where mining waste is meant to be contained – have been ongoing for the last few years. In 2019, the failing […]

Image above: PlanetScope image of the Amazon rainforest in Peru taken June 5, 2023. © 2023, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. Many are familiar with news stories and reports regarding deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. However, some may be surprised to see that it is estimated that forest degradation has actually […]

Image above: PlanetScope image of rice paddies along the slopes of Mount Lawu, Indonesia taken September 17, 2022. © 2022, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. Along the sloping landscape of Mount Lawu in Central Java, Indonesia, farmers experience a wide variety of crop growth as a result of water availability. As […]

Above image: Bull kelp habitat off the coast of California taken April 10, 2023. © 2023, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. Ecosystems are full of complex and interacting elements, both biotic and abiotic. But when several of these elements begin to change at the same time, scientists have witnessed a dramatic […]

Want to learn more about how Planet’s data is being leveraged by scientists around the world? Explore our recent Planet Science Applications e-books: 2020- 2021 Planet Science Applications E-book 2019 Planet Science Applications E-book

Image above: PlanetScope image of crop biomass estimation site in Washington County, Mississippi taken April 9, 2022. © 2022, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. In agricultural fields, cover crops are planted at certain times of the year to cover up the farming soil. These plants are not set to be harvested […]

Image above: Flooding in Brazilian Amazon study site following hydroelectric complex installation taken June 28, 2022. © 2022, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. In Brazil, approximately 60% of the country’s electricity is powered by hydro dams. However, since the 1990s, there has been pressure on the country’s environment because of the […]

Image above: Planet image of a landslide in the Hurunui district of Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand taken March 22, 2019. © 2019, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. In mountainous regions around the world, landslides cause significant harm to lives and economies. Between 1990 and 2017, these disasters […]

Image above: PlanetScope image of Durban, South Africa taken January 9, 2023. © 2023, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. In the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the improvement of informal settlements was listed as a priority. Informal settlements can be characterized as urban developments with densely packed housing typically made […]

Image above: Mangrove ecosystems around Batticaloa Lagoon, Sri Lanka taken January 11, 2023. © 2023, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. In 2015, Sri Lanka made history as the first nation to take strides to protect the full extent of their mangroves. Along the coastlines of Sri Lanka, these valuable mangrove ecosystems […]