Microsoft - STAC Explorer Plugin

Kartoza was contracted by Microsoft to create a plugin for QGIS that allowed for the exploration of data from providers using the STAC API, with an emphasis on allowing easy exploration of Microsoft’s Planetary Computer data. Kartoza created the plugin in a way that mimicked the standard QGIS user experience and allowed for a standard integration into the QGIS platform.

In 2021 Microsoft engaged with Kartoza to fund an open source plugin for QGIS to provide users with STAC API support. This plugin was set by default to pull data from Microsoft’s Planetary Computer, but allowed users to access any other available STAC catalogs they wished to interact with. Since it’s development, the STAC plugin for QGIS has been popular with users. However, several additional STAC plugins have come to QGIS and now STAC support is available in QGIS Core (although not yet at full parity to what we implemented in the plugin). The features of the STAC plugin include connection handling, filters (date, extent, and advanced), search functionality, downloading and loading STAC items, and settings management.

Links:

QGIS Plugin

GitHub Repository