In this monthly feature, we span the globe to examine Our Changing Landscape with a time series of medium-resolution PlanetScope satellite imagery. The PlanetScope constellation dates back to 2016 and collects hundreds of millions of square kilometers of four and eight-band 3-meter imagery daily! In April, we checked out a historic January 2025 snowfall in Kansas City. For the May edition of this series, we are looking at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India, which is considered to be the world’s largest human gathering.
The PlanetScope Microsat Constellation
Click on the image above to see an animation of 3-meter natural color PlanetScope image collected over the Maha Kumbh Mela on December 22, 2024, as well as January 28 and 29, and February 3, 2025. In this animation, it is easy to spot just how much infrastructure must be built up before the Maha Kumbh Mela to handle the influx of millions of pilgrims – check out the two areas we circled in red. And it is also pretty amazing how quickly the tent-cities are created as in the December 22nd image, the area is nearly empty. We chose imagery from January 29th as it corresponded to Manui Amavasya, and then from February 3rd as it corresponded to Basant Panchami, both of which are key dates during this month-plus religious festival – the scale of which is almost overwhelming! (Images Courtesy: © Planet 2025)PlanetScope is a constellation of more than 240 microsats referred to individually as Doves. Each Dove is able to collect up to 20,000 square kilometers (sq km) per day of 3-meter (m) 4-band multispectral (i.e. blue, green, red and near-infrared [NIR]) imagery; and newly launched SuperDoves collect 8-band multispectral adding in valuable red-edge spectral data. Across the constellation, PlanetScope is archiving more than 200 million sq km of medium-resolution imagery a day, making it the go to source for daily imagery over most locations. This massive archive dates back to 2016, offering the most complete and continuous record of spatial data on the planet since the start of the constellation’s ongoing launch schedule. Collecting 3-meter multispectral imagery is the equivalent of ‘high-resolution’ multispectral data imaged by a 75-centimer (cm) satellite (as this satellite would feature 75-cm panchromatic and 3-m multispectral), making PlanetScope an extremely competitively priced option at just $2.25 per sq km. With well registered images and nearly daily collections of most locations, PlanetScope is the ideal imagery source for this current-events focused series, Our Changing Landscape.
Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India
The Maha Kumbh Mela is a Hindu pilgrimage festival that took place in Prayagraj, India, from January 13 through February 26, 2025. It is considered to be the world’s largest gathering of people and one of the most important festivals in the Hindu calendar.
Also known as the festival of the sacred pitcher, it is anchored in Hindu mythology. The congregation, primarily, includes Ascetics, Saints, Sadhus, Sadhvis, Kalpvasis and Pilgrims from all walks of life. Each site’s celebration is based on a distinct set of astrological positions of the Sun, the Moon and Jupiter. The celebrations occur at the exact moment when these positions are fully occupied, as it is considered to be the holiest time in Hinduism.
More than 660 million people took a dip in the river during the 2025 pilgrimage. The 2025 edition was unique since the constellation alignment seen is witnessed only once in 144 years, organizers said. In the images shared here, on January 29th, we can see Mauni Amavasya. Regarded as one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals, Mauni Amavasya is celebrated on the new moon (Amavasya) in the Magha month. The spiritually significant day is dedicated to the ancestors and bathing in the sacred rivers is thought to bestow virtue and salvation.
Then just a few days later on February 3rd, we see Basant Panchami in the imagery here. This festival starts the preparation for the arrival of spring. Basant Panchami is celebrated in Indian religions in different ways depending on the region. Basant Panchami also marks the start of preparation for Holika and Holi, which take place 40 days later.
If you would like to find out more about using 3-meter PlanetScope imagery for your academic studies, engineering projects or any landscape analysis, let us know at sales@apollomapping.com or (303) 993-3863.
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