Ordering Imagery

Elements automatically handles the complex task of selecting and ordering imagery based on your AOIs (Areas of Interest), TOIs (Times of Interest) and selected analyses. To maximize performance, CV algorithms are trained using specific imagery products offered by each provider.

Advanceds users may also directly upload imagery acquired directly from a provider, but you need to make sure to acquire the right imagery product!

Specific instructions are included for each provider, but some general rules to follow include:

• Always upload the exact data you download from the provider. This is often a zip file that includes both data and metadata. Elements needs access to the metadata!
• Imagery should be in GeoTIFF (.tif) or Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) formats. Do NOT use PNG or JPEG images because they include no spatial information
• Always select 16-bit images, not 8 bit
• For high-accuracy object detection, use imagery that has a resolution of 0.5m or better. General land-use analysis can typically handle up to 1.0m
• Select 4 band (or more) images. Simpler 3 band images contain less information and thus do not perform as well
• Imagery must be orthorectified (aligned to the earth's surface). Without this, building lean and terrain displacement will cause spatial errors in your results

Supported Providers

Elements supports ordering from the following providers:

• Planet - Medium to high-resolution optical imagery through PlanetScope and SkySat constellations
• Maxar - Very high-resolution optical imagery from the WorldView constellation
• ICEYE - High-resolution X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery
• Copernicus - Free, open-access C-band SAR imagery from Sentinel-1

Quick Reference Table

For more information, read the documentation section for each provider