Disaster response mission

Planet, NLT to Provide Satellite Imagery Service to FEMA

Earth observation company Planet and New Light Technologies, an integrated science and technology service provider, have partnered to provide satellite imaging services to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

NLT is a Washington, D.C.-based company offering services in cloud, software development, cybersecurity, data science and remote sensing.

The partnership is expected to enhance the situational awareness of the disaster response community through up-to-date information on the condition of impacted communities, Planet said Wednesday.

As part of the collaboration, NLT will integrate Planet’s near-daily PlanetScope imagery into FEMA’s disaster response program.

Planet said its service will help the agency assess damages and plan recovery operations following events such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

The companies intend to use application programming interfaces and cloud-based platforms to streamline PlanetScope’s integration.

Planet added that its imaging program will also be integrated with commercial software platforms such as ESRI and Google Earth Engine.

NLT previously used PlanetScope to evaluate predictive models for tornado damage, examine the New Waverly floods in Texas and perform visual assessments of infrastructure damage caused by winter storms, Planet said.

FEMA has also used Planet’s SkySat satellites to take high-resolution images that complement PlanetScope’s data sets.

Planet said that its fleet of Earth observation satellites is particularly useful for the disaster management community, which the company said can make good use of before-and-after images of catastrophic events.

The company added that its imaging service has evolved since its introduction in 2009, now offering data that support FEMA’s efforts to mitigate risk and plan for climate resilience and adaptation.