Planet Releases Planetary Variables, Delivering Solutions for Soil Water Content, Land Surface Temperature, and Vegetation Biomass

Rhea-AI Summary

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL) has launched a new product named Planetary Variables, offering three data feeds: Soil Water Content, Land Surface Temperature, and Vegetation Biomass Proxy. These feeds aim to assist industries like agriculture and emergency response by providing precise environmental insights. The product results from Planet's recent acquisition of VanderSat, enhancing their data capabilities. The feeds can deliver valuable information unaffected by cloud cover, allowing users to monitor ecological changes effectively.

Positive

• Launch of Planetary Variables, enhancing data offerings.
• Acquisition of VanderSat improves data capabilities.
• Provides precise measurements for various industries.
• Data feeds are unaffected by cloud cover for comprehensive insights.

Negative

• Reliance on third-party data sets, which may become unreliable.
• Uncertainty in customer adoption of new products.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, today announced the release of Planetary Variables, a new product offering consisting of three pre-processed, accurate data feeds that measure the conditions of dynamic systems on the surface of the Earth. The three Planetary Variables feeds consist of Soil Water Content, Land Surface Temperature, and Vegetation Biomass Proxy to help customers make informed decisions in industries ranging from agriculture to emergency response.

This novel data product is a result of the increased product capabilities gained by Planet’s recent acquisition of Earth analytics company VanderSat. The data supporting these three feeds draws on observations from public satellites that use passive microwave sensors, which provide unique insight in measuring water content in soils and vegetation. This enables Planetary Variables to be unhindered by cloud cover, providing Planet customers with new, globally available insights.

“We believe the combination of Planet’s constellation of satellites and our data analytics capabilities will create value for our customers far greater than the sum of its parts. Planetary Variables presents data to customers pre-processed, and our goal is to help customers spend less time manipulating data and more time monitoring and understanding the places that matter to them,” said Thijs Van Leeuwen, Director of Product at Planet and previous CEO of VanderSat.

The Soil Water Content feed provides measurement of the volume of water contained in the soil at a 5cm depth, and along with the Land Surface Temperature, it is delivered at 100m resolution, while the Vegetation Biomass Proxy feed provides relative measurement of the above-ground crop biomass at 10m resolution. The three data streams can offer unique insights across multiple industries, including agriculture, insurance, and banking.

VanderSat’s Soil Water Content data has been used to track flooding threats, and develop insurance products with companies like Swiss Re and Axa Climate, to help protect farmers against the effects of drought. Furthermore, Land Surface Temperature data has supported VanderSat’s work in yield forecasting for a range of crops, including row crops, like corn and soy, and specialty crops, like cocoa and coffee. By combining optical and radar data, VanderSat also produced a Biomass Proxy product, which was used by agricultural companies like BASF, to help monitor the health of their customers’ fields.

Now, with these capabilities combined with Planet’s daily satellite image datasets, customers will be able to leverage these advanced Earth data insights to gain a multidimensional view of the areas they monitor. This rich, easy-to-obtain data provides Planet customers the ability to leverage measurements as time-series to maximize their analysis. The Planetary Variables feeds are backed by extensive archives, which provide context for modeling and a historical baseline to understand what the normal conditions for a given location are. We believe such information can provide insights on pressing environmental issues, and help companies, governments, and NGOs build resilience in the face of ecological shifts and climate change.

To inquire about the Planetary Variables product, please contact Planet’s Sales team at sales@planet.com.

About Planet
Planet is a leading provider of global, daily satellite imagery and geospatial solutions. Planet is driven by a mission to image the world every day, and make change visible, accessible and actionable. Founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists, Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest Earth observation fleet of imaging satellites, capturing and compiling data from over 3 million images per day. Planet provides mission-critical data, advanced insights, and software solutions to over 700 customers, comprising the world’s leading agriculture, forestry, intelligence, education and finance companies and government agencies, enabling users to simply and effectively derive unique value from satellite imagery. Planet is a Public Benefit Corporation trading on the New York Stock Exchange as PL. To learn more visit http://www.planet.com and follow us on Twitter.

Forward-looking Statements

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the Company’s ability to capture market opportunity; whether the Company will realize any of the potential benefits from strategic acquisitions and product launches; whether customers will ultimately adopt existing and new products as expected, or at all; and whether the Company will be able to convert interest in our analytics products and services into sales. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “perceive,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “can,” “should,” “would,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “strategy,” “opportunity,” “aim,” “continue” and similar expressions or the negative thereof, or discussions of strategy, plans, objectives, intentions, estimates, forecasts, outlook, assumptions, or goals, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to them. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future events and results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: whether current customers or prospective customers adopt the Company’s platform or new products; whether third party data sets, which the Company does not control, and some of which are publicly sourced, become unavailable or unreliable for any reason, to the Company or to customers who integrate such data into the Company’s platform; the Company’s ability to develop and release product and service enhancements to respond to rapid technological change, or to develop new designs and technologies for its satellites, in a timely and cost-effective manner; the effects of acts of terrorism, war or political instability, both domestically and internationally, including the current events involving Russia and Ukraine, changes in laws and regulations, or the imposition of economic or trade sanctions affecting international commercial transactions; and the other factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and any subsequent filings with the SEC the Company may make. Copies of each filing may be obtained from the Company or the SEC. All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220412005409/en/

Investors

Cleo Palmer-Poroner

Planet Labs PBC

ir@planet.com



Press

Claire Bentley

Planet Labs PBC

comms@planet.com

Source: Planet

FAQ

What is Planet Labs PBC's new product announced on April 12, 2024?

The new product is called Planetary Variables, featuring Soil Water Content, Land Surface Temperature, and Vegetation Biomass Proxy data feeds.

How does Planet Labs' acquisition of VanderSat impact its product offerings?

The acquisition improves Planet's data capabilities, enabling the delivery of enhanced environmental insights through Planetary Variables.

What industries can benefit from Planetary Variables data?

Industries such as agriculture, insurance, and emergency response can utilize this data for informed decision-making.

How is the Soil Water Content feed measured in the Planetary Variables product?

The Soil Water Content feed measures the volume of water in the soil at a depth of 5cm.

What challenges does Planet Labs PBC face regarding its new product?

Potential challenges include the reliance on third-party data sets and uncertainty around customer adoption of the new products.