Above: PlanetScope image of salt marshes study site in Saeftinghe, Netherlands taken April 24, 2022. Coastal wetlands, including river deltas, estuaries, coastal lagoons and open coasts, consist of important ecosystems, like mangroves and salt marshes. These areas are home to vast amounts of biodiversity, and they support critical ecosystem services, protecting coastal […]
Image above: Planet satellite image taken of Athens, Greece covered in snow on January 26, 2022. © 2022, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly first declared the Sustainable Development Goals. These 17 interconnected global goals were set to be achieved by the year 2030 and […]
Governments and NGOs around the globe are looking at ways to effectively monitor and report on carbon sources and sinks in an effort to mitigate climate change. Large programs within these initiatives focus on the protection of forests and the measurement of forest biomass as a way to quantify the role of […]
Image above taken March 19, 2022 of eucalypt tree plantations in Mato Grosso, Brazil. © 2022, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. Through the NICFI Satellite Data Program, researchers can access Planet’s satellite data to evaluate tropical forest basemaps. In a paper generated by scientists at the University of Maryland, University of […]
Image above of rubber tree plantation taken March 8, 2022 near Danzhou, City, China. © 2022, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. Rubber trees are an important resource used for natural rubber and timber products globally, and rubber tree plantations can often be impacted by changing government policies and economic incentives. With […]
Above: Near-infrared PlanetScope image taken June 12, 2019 of research study site over the Siberian Braided River. © 2019, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. In high latitudes, seasonal temperature changes cause dramatic variations in water and ice presence in terrestrial areas like lakes and river systems. This water and ice is […]
True-color image above taken on March 12, 2022 displays deforestation in Jerantut Pahang, Malaysia. © 2022, Planet Labs PBC. All Rights Reserved. The conversion of global tropical forests for large-scale commodity or small-scale agriculture activities contributes greatly to greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, there is significant uncertainty in recent measurements of land carbon […]
Arctic permafrost is the frozen ground in and around the arctic circle which holds mass amounts of soil organic carbon. But due to warming global temperatures, Arctic permafrost is beginning to unfreeze and degrade, releasing stored greenhouse gas emissions including carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. Within this landscape, thawing land, […]
Coral reefs and their surrounding ecosystems, like seagrasses, are faced with a myriad of challenges due to both local and global stressors. To support the resilience of these vital marine ecosystems, countries have established marine protected area programs, safeguarding the species and habitats within designated regions of their coastlines. However, many nations […]
The Amazon rainforest is faced with daily forest loss and degradation, harming local biodiverse ecosystems. This study from Conservation International, Boise State University, and the University of Guyana, demonstrates how scientists can monitor the drivers of this deforestation, including gold mining, with PlanetScope imagery. By capturing satellite images of remote locations near […]
