Planet Labs PBC, a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Planet Labs Germany GmbH, has signed a new contract with the German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) to provide the agency with daily, high-resolution satellite data for crisis response, environmental and nature conservation, as well as forest and agricultural monitoring.
Access to Planet’s satellite data will help the BKG promote public and civil safety throughout the Federal Republic of Germany. The collaboration was launched in November 2021 and is now being expanded following a successful trial period.
Planet’s more than 200 satellites image the entire land mass of the Earth, including the Federal Republic of Germany, in up to eight spectral bands every day. The BKG uses the remote sensing data, among other datasets, to produce up-to-date analyses of environmental changes caused by climate change. Through this contract with its German subsidiary, employees of more than 400 German federal institutions now have the opportunity to gain direct access to Planet’s data.
“Planet’s goal is to make changes on Earth visible through frequently updated global satellite data. In doing so, we are able to provide valuable and timely insights to our partners. We are happy to be working with the BKG and are confident that our data can make an important contribution to the digitization of public authorities in Germany,” says Dr. Marcus Apel, Director of Business Development at Planet.
“It is particularly important for us to meet the specific needs and requirements of the German federal government with our services. High-frequency satellite data is an essential part of this. We want to promote the use of earth imaging data in the federal government by providing it to all federal agencies,” says Thomas Wiatr, head of satellite-based crisis and situation services (SKD) at the BKG.
For this cooperation, the BKG has set up a completely new infrastructure that provides access to Planet’s satellite data as well as individual and rapid consulting services for the entire German federal administration, training for federal staff, and the production and provision of maps. These services are combined in the BKG’s satellite-based crisis and situation services (SKD) for the German federal government.
The BKG will have access to Planet’s high cadence global data as well as the company’s deep archive, dating back to 2009. This will enable the federal agencies to not only monitor regularly updated geo data, but to also create historical comparisons. Employees of all German federal agencies can access this data through the BKG either viewing it online or using it in their local IT systems for further analysis.
