Tile Services

The API Tile Service and Basemap Tile Service make it easy to visualize Planet imagery in desktop or web mapping applications that support either the XYZ or the WMTS protocol. Planet tile services provide a way for web developers and GIS analysts to interact with, and derive value from Planet imagery without additional image processing.

Authentication

A valid Planet account is required to access either of the tile services (XYZ or WMTS). Authenticate by providing a valid api_key as a query parameter to all tile requests.

info

You must be authenticated to use Planet tile services. If you do not have the correct permissions, the tile request results in a 404 error. To be properly authenticated, provide a valid api_key as a query parameter in all tile requests.

API Key Security

Your Planet API key grants you access to Planet products. Like other credentials, you must take precautions to ensure it stays secure.

If you use your API key to load tiles for web map applications, additional steps are required to keep the key secure. Do not commit your API key to code repositories, do not store or use the API key in code used by the public or your users (For example, frontend web applications), and make sure that requests made by web applications you create do not expose the API key while fetching tiles. We recommend that you use your API keys only within secure environments that you control. For security purposes, applications running on end users' systems must not fetch tiles directly from Planet using your API key. This includes web applications that users access with their browser.

Contact Planet Support to obtain a new key or if your API key is shared or exposed.

Tile Service URLs

The Planet tile services provide tiles by using the following domains:

• https://tiles0.planet.com
• https://tiles1.planet.com
• https://tiles2.planet.com
• https://tiles3.planet.com

Load more tiles concurrently in web browsers by using multiple subdomains. Libraries such as OpenLayers and Leaflet provide the ability to access all subdomains by using the proper string patterns.

API Tile Service

The API Tile Service acts as an extension to the Planet API by visually listing the Planet assets that are available in the item archive as tiles. The imagery returned by the tile service is a compressed version of the high-quality visual asset, making it easy to incorporate into any supporting client. Currently, only clients using the XYZ tile protocol are supported.

API Tile Service Request Structure

https://tiles{0-3}.planet.com/data/v1/{item_type}/{item_id}/{z}/{x}/{y}.png?api_key={pl-api-key}

API Tile Service Request in Python with Basic HTTP Authentication

Python

import os

# import os module to access environmental modules

import requests
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

# import helper functions to make Basic request to Planet API

PLANET_API_KEY = os.getenv("PL_API_KEY")
# Setup the API Key from the `PL_API_KEY` environment variable

BASE_URL = "https://tiles{0-3}.planet.com/data/v1/{item_type}/{item_id}/{z}/{x}/{y}.png"

if PLANET_API_KEY is None:
    PLANET_API_KEY = "12345"
# pass in your API key

auth = HTTPBasicAuth(PLANET_API_KEY, "")
# HTTPBasicAuth() wants a username & password; you can pass an empty string for the password

res = requests.get(url=BASE_URL, auth=auth)

print(res.status_code)
# make a request to Tile Services API and test the response

Parameter	Value
item_type	Item type of the item to view.
item_id	Item id of the item to view.
z	Tile zoom level.
x	Tile row in the grid.
y	Tile column in the grid.

The following example is a complete URL for a tile request for the PSScene item with an id of 20161221_024131_0e19:

https://tiles1.planet.com/data/v1/PSScene/20161221_024131_0e19/14/12915/8124.png?api_key={pl-api-key}

Basemap Tile Service

The Planet Basemap tile service provides access to tiles for weekly or monthly, color corrected global mosaics. The Basemap tile service works with any client that supports the XYZ or the WMTS protocol.

Details on Planet specifications are available in Planet Basemaps Product Specifications.

Dynamically Rendering False-Color Indices

The Planet Surface Reflectance Basemap products are also available in false-color visualizations to support a wider range of analysis. Currently the following seven band combinations and indices are available via Tile Service:

• Red-Green-Blue (RGB)
• Color-infrared (CIR)
• Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
• Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI)
• Visual Atmosphere Resistance Index (VARI)
• Modified Soil-adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI2)
• Modified Triangular Vegetation Index (MTVI2)
• Triangular Greenness Index (TGI)

note

False-color indices and band math visualizations are available only on Surface Reflectance basemaps.

Remote Sensing Indices

Index	Formula	Legend	URL Parameters
NDVI	$\frac{ir - r}{ir + r}$		?proc=ndvi
NDWI	$\frac{g - ir}{g + ir}$		?proc=ndwi
MSAVI2	$\frac{2 * ir + 1 - \sqrt{(2 * ir + 1)^2 - 8(ir - r)}}{2}$		?proc=msavi2
MTVI2	$\frac{1.5 * ( 1.2 * (ir - g) - 2.5 * (r - g)}{\sqrt{(2 * ir + 1) ^ 2 - (6 * ir -5 * \sqrt{r})} - .5}$		?proc=mtvi2
VARI	$\frac{g - r}{g + r - b}$		?proc=vari
TGI	$\frac{(120 * (r - b)) - (190 * (r - g))}{2}$		?proc=tgi

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Planet University

Dive deeper into Planet services with guides and tutorials

Tile Services in ArcGIS Online

Explore Using Planet Tile Services in ArcGIS Online