Planet Data API

Name: Planet Data API
Brand: Planet Data API
Availability: InStock

✓ Official Vendor SpecGeospatialSatellite ImageryapiKey6 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Search and download satellite imagery from Planet's daily Earth observation constellation using spatial, temporal, and metadata filters.

Install Jentic One Beta

Connect the Planet Data API to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Planet Data API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.

Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.

Step 1: Jentic One Host machine

# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh

Step 2: Agent machine

# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register       # connects your agent to your Jentic One instance

Jentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with Planet Data API.

Search satellite imagery by bounding box, date range, cloud cover percentage, and sensor type

Retrieve detailed metadata for specific imagery items including acquisition time and spectral bands

List available asset types (visual, analytic, UDM2) for each imagery item

GET STARTED

Start building with Planet Data API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Planet operates the largest constellation of Earth observation satellites, capturing daily imagery of the entire landmass at 3-5 meter resolution. The Data API provides programmatic access to search, filter, and download satellite imagery from Planet's archive and daily feeds. Developers use it to build applications that monitor environmental change, track infrastructure development, assess agricultural health, and respond to natural disasters. The API supports spatial queries, temporal filtering, and metadata-driven search across multiple sensor types including PlanetScope, SkySat, and RapidEye. Each image asset includes spectral bands, cloud cover metrics, and geometric correction metadata, enabling integration into GIS workflows and machine learning pipelines.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use Planet Data API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Agricultural Monitoring and Crop Health Analysis

Precision agriculture platforms use Planet imagery to monitor crop health across thousands of fields. The API's daily revisit rate and multi-spectral bands enable NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) calculations that detect irrigation problems, pest infestations, and nutrient deficiencies before they become visible to the naked eye. Agronomists query by field boundaries and date ranges, then download analytic assets containing calibrated surface reflectance values for vegetation modeling.

Search Planet API for imagery covering farm coordinates with <10% cloud cover from the past 7 days, activate analytic assets with NIR bands, and download imagery for NDVI processing.

Natural Disaster Response and Damage Assessment

Emergency management agencies and humanitarian organizations use Planet's rapid imaging capability to assess disaster impact within hours of an event. The quick-search endpoint allows filtering by acquisition time and cloud cover to find the most recent usable imagery post-event, then comparing it to pre-disaster baselines. This supports resource allocation, evacuation planning, and insurance claim processing for floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires.

Execute quick-search for disaster zone coordinates filtering for imagery acquired within 24 hours of event time, retrieve visual assets for damage mapping, and compare with pre-event imagery from 30 days prior.

Infrastructure and Construction Monitoring

Engineering firms and government agencies track infrastructure projects using Planet's high-frequency imaging. The API enables automated monitoring of construction timelines, earthwork volumes, and unauthorized development by comparing sequential imagery. SkySat's sub-meter resolution provides detail sufficient for counting vehicles and identifying equipment, while PlanetScope's daily coverage ensures no critical changes are missed between site visits.

Search for SkySat imagery of construction site with <15% cloud cover at weekly intervals, activate visual assets, and download imagery for change detection analysis comparing current state to baseline.

Environmental Change Detection and Conservation

Conservation organizations and environmental agencies use Planet imagery to monitor deforestation, illegal mining, wetland loss, and habitat fragmentation. The API's temporal query capabilities allow time-series analysis showing vegetation loss rates, while spatial queries target protected areas and biodiversity hotspots. Researchers download both visual and analytic assets to perform classification workflows identifying forest clearing, water body changes, and coastal erosion patterns.

Search Planet API for imagery covering protected forest area from quarterly intervals over past 2 years, filter for <20% cloud cover, download analytic assets, and analyze vegetation loss trends.

Key Endpoints

6 endpoints — planet operates the largest constellation of earth observation satellites, capturing daily imagery of the entire landmass at 3-5 meter resolution.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/item-types

List available satellite imagery item types

GET

/item-types/{itemTypeId}/items/{itemId}

Get detailed metadata for a specific imagery item

GET

/item-types/{itemTypeId}/items/{itemId}/assets

List downloadable assets for an imagery item

POST

/item-types/{itemTypeId}/items/{itemId}/assets/{assetTypeId}/activate

Activate an imagery asset for download

POST

/quick-search

Search imagery using spatial, temporal, and metadata filters

GET

/item-types

List available satellite imagery item types

GET

/item-types/{itemTypeId}/items/{itemId}

Get detailed metadata for a specific imagery item

GET

/item-types/{itemTypeId}/items/{itemId}/assets

List downloadable assets for an imagery item

POST

/item-types/{itemTypeId}/items/{itemId}/assets/{assetTypeId}/activate

Activate an imagery asset for download

POST

/quick-search

Search imagery using spatial, temporal, and metadata filters

Why Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

Planet API keys are stored encrypted in Jentic's vault and injected at request time. Agents never see the raw key, and all API calls are logged for audit purposes.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent like 'find satellite imagery for farmland' and Jentic returns the quick-search operation with its filter schema, eliminating the need to read Planet's extensive documentation on query syntax.

Time to first call

Direct Planet integration: 1-2 days to understand filter syntax, asset activation flow, and error handling. Through Jentic: 15 minutes—search, load schema, execute query with natural language parameters.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

Sentinel Hub

Sentinel Hub provides access to Copernicus Sentinel satellite imagery with on-the-fly processing.

Choose Sentinel Hub for free Sentinel-2 imagery at 10m resolution or when you need custom band combinations and indices computed server-side.

Complementary

Google Earth Engine

Google Earth Engine provides petabyte-scale geospatial analysis combining multiple satellite datasets.

Choose Earth Engine when your workflow requires analyzing Planet imagery alongside Landsat, Sentinel, or climate datasets in a cloud-based computation environment.

Complementary

Mapbox Maps API

Mapbox provides basemaps, geocoding, and visualization for geospatial applications.

Use Mapbox to visualize Planet satellite imagery on interactive maps with custom styling, annotations, and user interfaces.

FAQs

Specific to using Planet Data API through Jentic.

What authentication does the Planet Data API use?

The Planet Data API requires an API key obtained from your Planet account. Authentication uses HTTP Basic Auth with the API key as the username and an empty password, or you can pass it as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.

How often does Planet capture satellite imagery?

Planet's PlanetScope constellation captures imagery of the entire Earth's landmass daily at 3-5 meter resolution. SkySat provides sub-meter imagery with targeted revisit up to 12 times per day for specific areas of interest.

What imagery formats and asset types are available?

The API provides visual RGB assets (PNG/GeoTIFF), analytic multi-spectral assets with calibrated surface reflectance, and UDM2 (Usable Data Mask) files indicating cloud, shadow, and snow coverage. All assets include geometric correction and metadata.

How do I search for cloud-free imagery in the Planet API?

Use the quick-search endpoint with a filter combining your area of interest (GeoJSON geometry), date range, and cloud_cover property. For example, filter for `cloud_cover < 0.1` to find imagery with less than 10% cloud coverage.

Can AI agents use the Planet API through Jentic?

Yes. Search Jentic for 'find satellite imagery for a location' to load the Planet Data API operations. The agent can execute spatial queries, filter by date and cloud cover, activate assets, and retrieve download URLs—all with Planet API credentials vaulted by Jentic.