Big Earth Hackathon Workshop: Planet 101

Overview This workshop introduces Planet.com and its PlanetScope daily imagery, with a focus on practical workflows for discovering, accessing, and analyzing high-resolution satellite data for academic research and instruction. With a constellation of roughly 200 Dove satellites in orbit, PlanetScope provides near-global coverage of the Earth at approximately 3.7-meter spatial resolution, refreshed daily. These data support time-series analysis, environmental monitoring, land-use change detection, and other applications where temporal frequency is critical. Access is available through Planet’s web applications, APIs, and GIS integrations. Audience This session is designed for members of the Stanford research and teaching community who are interested in using PlanetScope imagery at scale. No prior experience with Planet tools or APIs is required, though familiarity with GIS, remote sensing, or Python will be helpful. Attendance is limited to current Stanford University affiliates with full SUNetID privileges. Agenda Introduction to Planet and PlanetScope Overview of Planet’s satellite constellationsPlanetScope daily imagery characteristics and use casesAccess models for academic users at Stanford Searching and Accessing Imagery with Planet Explorer Navigating the Planet Explorer web interfaceDefining areas of interest and time rangesFiltering imagery by date, cloud cover, and other attributesPreviewing scenes and understanding data products Programmatic Access with the Planet APIs Overview of the Planet Data and Orders APIsAuthentication and basic API conceptsTransitioning from interactive search to automated workflows Hands-On Walkthrough Using a Python Notebook Guided walkthrough of the provided Jupyter NotebookDemonstration of searching for PlanetScope imagery via the APISubmitting and managing orders programmaticallyUsing Planet’s server-side processing toolsDownloading and visualizing imagery The notebook emphasizes clarity and transparency over optimization, making it appropriate as both a learning tool and a starting point for custom research pipelines. Logistics Participants who wish to follow along should bring their own laptops. Computers will not be provided. PlanetScope Access at Stanford Stanford provides institutionally supported access to PlanetScope imagery for research and teaching. Details on eligibility, access procedures, and data use guidance are available here: https://guides.library.stanford.edu/c.php?g=1013467&p=10216495