Mapflow FAQ

Payment

How to buy credits for using the platform? How much is it?

The cost of the Services is determined in conventional units, Credits, where 1 Credit is equal to USD 0.1. To make a payment, go to the Settings of your personal account, or click on the balance icon and select the required number of credits ($50, $90 or $800). See Mapflow prices.

I represent a company and would like to perform large volume of processing. Do you have corporate rates?

Check our commercial plans for Enterprise. Contact our sales to send your inquiry and get the quotation.

Satellite imagery

What satellite imagery do you use? What are their resolution, alignment accuracy and other characteristics?

Currently, we only support RGB or PAN images as raw data. By default, Mapflow uses the Mapbox Satellite satellite mosaic, which primarily consists of Vivid Basic imagery from Maxar. These images have a spatial resolution of 0.5m, the georeferencing accuracy is about 3-5m and the age is no more than two years. A complete list of Maxar satellite imagery specifications can be found here.

Can I choose another satellite mosaic?

Yes, the user has the ability to set his own XYZ or TMS layers. To use Google or some other services you should beware of their terms of use. Under the Mapflow commercial plans, we provide Maxar SecureWatch, a service that contains basemaps and imagery updates. We are continuosly working on adding more commercial providers.

Can I upload my own images for processing?

Yes, but only when using the Geoalert API or plugin Mapflow for QGIS. It is planned to add this functionality to Mapflow Web in the next releases.

Can I buy satellite imagery from you? How can I validate the results?

You can’t buy as we don’t resell iamges. We provide service to extract data from images. However you can preview input images as XYZ layer to conduct the results validation.

Can you control the channels of the RGB data used?

In the current version, the Mapflow platform uses only the standard set and configuration of RGB channels.

Can I use non-RGB data like radar data?

No, you can’t. We currently don’t support SAR imagery as raw data.

Vector data

Can I download the results in a format other than GeoJSON?

Yes, you can, as soon as you are a paying user. To do this, in your Project in the Results tab, select “Open in geojson.io”, then, in the menu bar, select Save and the format you need (you can save in formats: CSV, KML, GeoJSON, TopoJSON, WKT, Shapefile).

Is it possible to process multiple areas in one request?

Only one area can be drawn or loaded for one processing at a time. If your GeoJSON has multiple scopes in the FeatureCollection, only the first one will be used (if you start processing via our plugin for QGIS, or Select object (s) tool to select one area from the loaded layer with multiple areas). Alternatively, you can convert your GeoJSON into Mulipolygon.

Results contain gaps / false contours / inaccuracies / errors in classification and / or heights. Why?

The images are processed by artificial intelligence, so inaccuracies may occur. We are constantly improving our models and neural networks, but 100% of the result can be achieved only by combining automatic processing with subsequent validation.

Do you provide validation service for autoatic results?

Mostly, we provide service and a reasonable customization to the project requirements (model fine-tuning). However, depending on the project requirements the validation can be provided by request, contact our sales.

Projects and processings

What is a “project”? Do I have to create every new processing in a new project?

Project allows you to collect all logically related processing for a more efficient and faster search for the one you need. It’s like a folder on your computer. One project can have many jobs.

Immediately after registration, I got a project called “Demo processings”. What is it and why?

This project allows you to get acquainted with the capabilities of Mapflow without spending Credits. In the History of processings, you can view and check the results. It is also possible to view the selected processing parameters, to do this, click source details.

Are there any restrictions on the processing area?

Yes, the processing area must be at least 1 sq. km and no more than 50 sq. km (free account). If you need to process a large area, you can divide the area to be treated into several smaller areas, one per file, and start processing for each.

Why are the options for Building heights and Forest heights only available when processing over 50 sq. km?

Calculating heights requires additional resources from us. At this stage, we can perform a limited number of such processing. In the future, we are going to reduce this limitation or completely remove it.

Support and other questions

Do you have any documentation on working with the platform?

Yes, we do.

Do you have an API?

Yes, we do.

Do you have GIS integration?

Yes, we do. Our plugin Mapflow for the open GIS QGIS.

What is API token and why do I need it?

The API token is used as password in external applications that use the resources of the Mapflow platform. It is passed as the Basic Auth authorization parameter. Currently this application is plugin for QGIS.

I have another question, where can I ask it?

You can ask your question on the Mapflow website in the online chat, where we will try to answer your questions in real time. Also, you are welcome to write to us at help@geoalert.io.