When selecting a dataset in Plex-Earth, each one comes with metadata, which descriptive properties that tell you about the image's source, quality, and capture conditions. This article explains what each metadata field means, organized by provider.
How to view metadata
The metadata panel is available directly from the dataset list, but the button differs depending on the provider and workflow.
For Airbus and Vantor/Maxar (Timeviews or Site Area): When adding a view to a Timeline, hover over any dataset in the list and click the ⓘ icon on the right to open the metadata panel.
In older versions of Plex-Earth (PE23/PE5D/PE5), this button appears as ≡ (three horizontal lines), similar to the Vexcel interface.
For Vexcel (mosaic creation): During the Select Dataset step of the Select Source Wizard, hover over any dataset and click the ≡ icon on the right.
Metadata Samples
The fields displayed will vary depending on the provider and data availability.
Airbus
Available in: Timeviews or Site Area
Field |
Definition |
| Acquisition date | The date and time the imagery was acquired |
| Azimuth Angle | The angle measured from the sub-satellite point (point on the ground below the platform) between the scene center and true north. Measured clockwise from north in degrees (0-360) |
| Cloud Cover | Corresponds to the average cloud coverage of an image, 0 meaning that the image is cloud-free, and 1 meaning that the image is totally cloudy |
| Constellation | Name of the constellation, in the case of OneAtlas Data, this value could be equal to SPOT, PHR (Pléiades), or PNEO (Pléiades Neo) |
| Format | This is the requested image format |
| Id | Unique identifier of the image in the catalog |
| Illumination Azimuth Angle | From the scene center point on the ground, this is the angle between true north and the sun. Measured clockwise in degrees (0-360) |
| Illumination Elevation Angle | The angle from the tangent of the scene center point to the sun. Measured from the horizon in degrees (0-90) |
| Incidence Angle | The angle from the target point of view. It represents the angle between the ground normal and look direction from the satellite, combining the pitch and roll angles. |
| Incidence Angle Across Track | Incidence in the OrthoScan axis direction |
| Incidence Angle Along Track | Incidence in the Scan axis direction (image line axis on the ground) |
| Last Update Date | The date the acquisition record was modified in an ISO-8601-formatted string |
| Organisation Name | Name of the company that owns the copyrights to the imagery |
| Parent Identifier | Corresponds to the Datastrip identifier, a datastrip being a portion of image downlinked during a pass of the satellite to a given ground station |
| Platform | The name of the satellite used to collect the image |
| Processing Level | This value could be equal to SENSOR (images which meet Living Library criteria) and ALBUM (images that do not meet Living Library criteria in terms of Incidence angle and Cloud cover. |
| Product Category | The category of the product (usually image) |
| Product Type | Spectral Band Combinations like Panchromatic, Multispectral, or Bundle |
| Publication Date | The date and time when the data was published in the online archive |
| Resolution | This corresponds to the satellite used. Ground resolution tied to the satellite: 0.3 m for Pléiades Neo, 0.5 m for Pléiades, 1.5 m for SPOT |
| Sensor Type | Type of sensor used to capture the imagery |
| Snow Cover | Indicates the percentage of the image covered by snow |
| Spectral Range | The range of the spectrum the captured imagery is in |
Vantor (formerly Maxar)
Available in: Timeviews or Site Area
Field |
Definition |
| Acquisition Date | The date and time the imagery was acquired |
| Feature Id | The unique identifier assigned to the feature. |
| Sensor Type | The type of sensor used to acquire the image |
| Source | The satellite that acquired the image |
| Source Unit | The type of product described by the Feature. |
| Product Name | The product line the image belongs to |
| Product Type | The product type depending on the available Spectral Band Combinations |
| National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale | A standardized image quality score ranging from 0 (lowest quality) to 9 (highest quality) |
| Earliest Acquisition Date | The earliest date and time of acquisition for an image associated with the feature |
| Latest Acquisition Date | The latest date and time of acquisition for an image associated with the feature |
| CE90 Accuracy | The geographic accuracy of the product described by the Feature, in Meters, as a CE90 value. CE90, Circular Error of 90%, is commonly used for quoting and validating geodetic image registration accuracy. |
| RMSE Accuracy | The geographic accuracy of the product described by the Feature, in Meters, as a 2d RMS Error value. RMSE, Root Mean Squared Error, is commonly used for quoting and validating geodetic image registration accuracy. |
| Cloud Cover | The percentage of the image covered by clouds |
| Off Nadir Angle | the angle from the sensor between nadir (straight down) and the scene center, measured in degrees |
| Sun Elevation | The angle from the tangent of the scene center point to the sun. Measured from the horizon in degrees (0-90). |
| Sun Azimuth | From the scene center point on the ground, this is the angle between true north and the sun. Measured clockwise in degrees (0-360). |
| Ground Sample Distance | The distance between two consecutive pixel centers measured on the ground |
| Ground Sample Distance Unit | Unit of the ground sample distance |
| Ingest Date | The date and time when the data was made available in the online archive |
| Copyright | Contains the copyright information for the imagery |
Note: Not all fields will appear in the metadata list
Vexcel
Available in: Mosaic creation (premium provider)
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Layer | The name of the layer or virtual layer requested |
| Source Layer | The imagery product type under which the data was collected. May match Layer, but distinguishes when a virtual layer resolves to a different underlying product |
| Collection | The name of the geographic area captured through one or more flight missions and processed as a single unit |
| First Capture Date | Date and time of the earliest imagery capture in the collection |
| Last Capture Date | Date and time of the most recent imagery capture in the collection |
| Minimum Ground Sample Distance | Smallest GSD in the collection, in meters per pixel; smaller values mean finer spatial detail |
| Maximum Ground Sample Distance | Largest GSD in the collection, in meters per pixel |
| Average Ground Sample Distance | Average GSD across the collection, in meters per pixel |
| First Publish Date | Date and time the collection was first published |
| Last Publish Date | Date and time of the most recent collection update |
| Product Type | The processing stage and product type of the imagery (e.g., final-ortho = water-edited and fully quality-reviewed) |
| Name | A human-readable display label for the collection |
| Max Zoom | The maximum supported tile zoom level for the collection |
| Camera Technology | Make, model, and version of the camera system used to capture the imagery |
| Area | Geographic surface area of the collection, in square kilometers (km²) |
| Z-index | Stacking order when multiple collections overlap; higher values render on top |
| Bands | Spectral band combination: rgb (red, green, blue) or irg (infrared, red, green; color-shifted for display) |
| Occlusion Estimate | Human-generated visibility score for GraySky imagery (0 = fully clear, 1 = fully occluded). Accounts for clouds, smoke, and haze |
| Occlusion Score | Programmatic histogram-based visibility score for GraySky imagery (0 = fully clear, 1 = fully occluded) |
Note: Occlusion Estimate and Occlusion Score only apply to GraySky imagery. For standard collections, these fields will be empty.
With all the abundant data available, pick the preferred dataset to create a Timeline and observe how a project progressed through time. For other historical datasets, explore Vexcel as well as Nearmap and Hexagon.