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AOI — Area of Interest

The geographic region you want imaged. Shape and size both affect feasibility and pricing.

VALID · 52 km²clean polygonwidth 7 km · area 52 km²TOO NARROW · BILLED AS BBOXrequested corridor · 1.2 km widebilled area → 3.9 km²→ rounded up to 25 km² minimumviolates 2 km width ruleTOO SMALL · PADDED UPmin 25 km²2 km²charged at minimum tierAOI RULES — GEOPERA DEFAULTSArchive25 km² minimum · 2 km widthWyvern whole-scene exceptionTasking50–100 km² · 2–5 km width (swath-dependent)Vantor 50 · 21AT 70 · default 100
Fig. 1 Area of Interest (AOI) is the polygon defining where you want data. Sensor providers charge minimum area (typically 25 km² archive, 50–100 km² tasking) and minimum width (typically 2–5 km across the narrow axis). Pipeline corridors and coastlines often violate the width minimum and get billed at the enclosing bounding box instead.

AOI is the geographic region you want imaged, usually defined as a polygon. It can be a simple bounding box, a precise property boundary, an entire country, or a long linear feature like a pipeline or power line.

AOI shape matters

A square 1,000 km² AOI may need 1–2 passes to cover. A long thin AOI of the same area covering a 500 km pipeline may need 5–10 passes because each satellite swath only covers part of the length. AOI shape affects feasibility, pricing, and revisit cadence.

Minimum AOI sizes

Most commercial providers have minimum AOI sizes — typically 25 km² for tasking, smaller for catalog. The minimum is usually defined either as an absolute area or as a minimum width (e.g., 'at least 2 km wide'). See each collection page for specific minimums.