High Res Imagery Options

Data Sources
1

Hello,

I work for a state agency in the United States that is interested in getting some higher resolution imagery made available to us. The generic Sentinel-2 imagery is decent at a larger scale, but we have a need for greater detail. Is this available through a subscription using commercial data? Would a basic package fit our needs? Is the higher res commercial data updated as frequently as Sentinel-2 (ie, every couple of days)? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
TC

2

Hi @james.collins,
commercial data (Pleiades, SPOT, WorldView and PlanetScope) requires:

  • active subscription to one of the Sentinel Hub plans (in order to support processing of the data; for individual use Exploratory or Basic model should be sufficient) and
  • quota purchase for each of the relevant satellite constallations, see prices, second row (to compensate for the data license); for PlanetScope the quota is purchased based on “hectares under management” model, for the rest it is based on “sq. km used”.

You can check this short video on how you can make use of the data, once you have the above, or this webinar focused on commercial data.

VHR data is not updated as regularly as Sentinel-2 is, as there are simply not enough satellites up there to acquire such volumes. VHR data is acquired sporadically, or when someone specifically orders it (so called “tasking”, which gets quite a bit more expensive). Depending on the location you migth expect a few observations per year for each of the satellite constallation.
If you want to check the availability in your area, you can make use of the EO Browser and simply search for it (without ordering). You will require Sentinel Hub subscription to do so, but the lowest cost model will be sufficient.

PlanetScope data is an exception as it actually is acquired systematically, every day (weather permitting). Therefore, if 3.7-4.1 m resolution is sufficient for you, this is the best option.