Processing Unit definition

⚠ Costs marked with ** are not yet applied. These will come in effect by April 1st 2023.

General data processing - applicable to Process API, OGC API, Statistical API

Each request costs a proportional amount of processing unit(s), depending on what data and processing is requested. One processing unit (PU) is defined as a request for:

an output (image) size of 512 x 512 pixels,
3 collection input bands,
one data sample per pixel (see sample),
an output (image) format not exceeding 16 bits per pixel,
without additional processing (e.g. orthorectification) applied,

In addition to this:

Minimal cost of a request is 0.005 PU.
The number of remaining processing units is reduced only when a request successfully executes, i.e. when the response code is 2XX.

"Multiplication factors" are used to calculate how many processing units are required for each request. The definition of 1 processing unit and the calculation rules are summarized in the following tables:

Parameter/API	Quantity for 1 PU	Rules for multiplication factors
Area of interest	512 x 512 px	The multiplication factor is calculated by dividing requested input size (BBOX) by 512 x 512 (pixel size depends on the user-defined resolution of the request execution). The minimum value of this multiplication factor is 0.01. This corresponds to an area of 0.25 km² for Sentinel-2 data at 10 m spatial resolution.
Number of input bands	3	The multiplication factor is calculated by dividing the requested number of input bands by 3. An exception is requesting `dataMask` which is not counted, unless it is the only band included.
Output format	8 bit or 16 bit TIFF/JPG/PNG	Requesting 32 bit float TIFF will result in a multiplication factor of 2 due to larger memory consumption and data traffic. Requesting application/octet-stream will result in a multiplication factor of 1.4 due to additional integration costs (This is used for integration with external tools such as xcube.).
Number of data samples	1	The multiplication factor equals the number of data samples per pixel.
** Data fusion	N/A	** The multiplication is only applied when data fusion is used. Multiplication factor is calculated as a sum of all collections within the same endpoint location and twice the sum of all remote collections, i.e. `count(local_collections) + 2x count(remote_collections)`. Example: data fusion request executed on services.sentinel-hub.com endpoint, which includes Sentinel-2 L1C, Sentinel-2 L2A and Landsat-9 would have a multiplication factor of 4 (1 + 1 + 2).

Sentinel-1 data processing - applicable to Process API, OGC API, Statistical API

In addition to General data processing rules defined above, the following optional multiplicators apply as well:

Parameter/API	Quantity for 1 PU	Rules for multiplication factors
** Orthorectification	N/A	** Requesting orthorectification will result in a multiplication factor of 2 due to additional processing requirements .
** Radiometric Terrain Correction	N/A	** Requesting radiometric terrain correction will result in a multiplication factor of 2.5 due to additional processing requirements. The orthorectification factor is not additionally applied as it is a prerequisite.
** Speckle Filtering	N/A	** Requesting speckle filtering will result in a multiplication factor of 2 due to additional processing requirements.

Data querying - applicable to Catalog API, OGC WFS

Each request costs a proportional amount of processing unit(s) depending on what data and processing is requested. One processing unit (PU) is defined as a request for:

** area of 1000 x 1000 km
** time period up to one month

In addition to this:

Minimal cost of a request is 0.1 PU.
The number of remaining processing units is reduced only when a request successfully executes, i.e. when the response code is 2XX.

Parameter/API	Quantity for 1 PU	Rules for multiplication factors
** Area of interest	1 000 000 km2	** The multiplication factor is calculated by dividing requested input area of interest (BBOX) by 1 000 000. The minimum value of this multiplication factor is 0.1. This corresponds to an area of 10 000 km2
** Time period	1 month	** The multiplication factor is calculated by ceiling requested time period in months.

Batch Processing API

"General data processing" and "Sentinel-1 data processing" rules apply with the following exceptions:

** Minimal cost of a request is 100 PU.
Processing with batch processing API will result in a multiplication factor of 1/3. Thus, three times more data can be processed comparing to process API for the same amount of PUs.
** When data is delivered to a bucket in other region within the same system (i.e. CDAS, AWS) there is additional cost of 0.03 PU per MB of data.

Asynchronous Processing API

"General data processing" and "Sentinel-1 data processing" rules apply with the following exceptions:

Minimal cost of a request is 10 PU.
** When data is delivered to a bucket in other region within the same system (i.e. CDAS, AWS) there is an additional cost of 0.03 PU per MB of data.

Batch Statistical API

"General data processing" and "Sentinel-1 data processing" rules apply with the following exceptions:

** Minimal cost of a request is 100 PU.
** When data is delivered to a bucket in other region within the same system (i.e. CDAS, AWS) there is an additional cost of 0.03 PU per MB of data.

Third party data order - applicable to Third Party Data Import API

** Each search request costs 1 PU.
** Each thumbnail request costs 1 PU.
** Each created order/subscription costs 5 PU.
** Each processed order delivery costs 5 PU.
** Each processed subscription delivery costs 2 PU.

Data ingestion - applicable to Bring your own COG API and Zarr API

** Each request to BYOC or Zarr API costs 1 PU.
Usage of your BYOC and Zarr collections is billed the same as usage of public collections.

Request cost calculation examples

Sentinel-1 change detection

An example of calculation of processing units for a Sentinel-1 change detection request (e.g. comparison of two time slices) is presented in the table below.

Parameter	Quantity	Multiplication factor	Details
Output size (width x height)	1024 x 1024 px	x 4	The requested output size is 1024 x 1024 px which is 4 times larger than the output size for one PU (512 x 512 px). Hence the multiplication factor is 4.
Number of input bands	4	x 4/3	4 input bands are requested, which is 4/3 times more than 3 input bands, which are included in one PU. The multiplication factor is thus 4/3.
Output format	32-bit float	x 2	The requested 32 bit float TIFF has a multiplication factor of 2.
Number of data samples	2	x 2	2 data samples (one for each time slice) were requested for each pixel. Thus the multiplication factor is 2.
Orthorectification	Yes	x 2	Ortorectification is requested, which results in a multiplication factor of 2.
	Total	42.667 processing units	To calculate the number of processing units for this request multiply all the individual multiplication factors: 4 x 4/3 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 42.667

Note: Statistical API is also a multi-temporal request. The same rules for calculating multiplication factors apply.

NDVI calculation for a parcel

An example of calculation of processing units of NDVI value over a 4 hectare large parcel at 10 m spatial resolution is presented in the table below.

Parameter	Quantity	Multiplication factor	Details
Output size (width x height)	20 x 20 px	x 0.01	The requested output size is 20 x 20 px which is smaller than the minimum area, thus the multiplication factor is 0.01.
Number of input bands	2	x 2/3	2 input bands are requested, thus the multiplication factor is 2/3.
Output format	16-bit tiff	x 1	The same as in the definition of one processing unit, thus the multiplication factor is 1.
Number of data samples	1	x 1	The same as in the definition of one processing unit, thus the multiplication factor is 1.
Orthorectification	No	x 1	The same as in the definition of one processing unit, thus the multiplication factor is 1.
	Total	0.0067 processing units	To calculate the number of processing units for this request multiply all the individual multiplication factors: 0.01 x 2/3 x 1 x 1 = 0.0067