Exploring the Use of PlanetScope Data for Particulate Matter Air Quality Research

Planet, a commercial company, has achieved a key milestone by launching a large fleet of small satellites (smallsats) that provide high spatial resolution imagery of the entire Earth's surface on a daily basis with its PlanetScope sensors. Given the potential utility of these data, this study explores the use for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air quality applications. However, before these data can be utilized for air quality applications, key features of the data, including geolocation accuracy, calibration quality, and consistency in spectral signatures, need to be addressed. In this study, selected Dove-Classic PlanetScope data is screened for geolocation consistency. The spectral response of the Dove-Classic PlanetScope data is then compared to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data over different land cover types, and under varying PM2.5 and mid visible aerosol optical depth (AOD) conditions. The data selected for this study was found to fall within Planet's reported geolocation accuracy of 10 m (between 3-4 pixels). In a comparison of top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance over a sample of different land cover types, the difference in reflectance between PlanetScope and MODIS ranged from near-zero (0.0014) to 0.117, with a mean difference in reflectance of 0.046 +/- 0.031 across all bands. The reflectance values from PlanetScope were higher than MODIS 78% of the time, although no significant relationship was found between surface PM2.5 or AOD and TOA reflectance for the cases that were studied. The results indicate that commercial satellite data have the potential to address Earth-environmental issues.