Access 'Maxar' and 'Vantor' Satellite Imagery APIs

Provides a client for the 'Maxar' and 'Vantor' 'REST' and 'OGC' APIs (< https://developers.maxar.com/docs/>), enabling programmatic access to high-resolution satellite imagery (such as 'WorldView', 'Vivid' base maps, and analysis-ready data). Includes functions for 'OAuth2' and API key authentication, discovery and 'STAC' catalog search, 'OGC' web services ('WMS', 'WMTS', 'WFS'), survey fieldwork resource generation (printable field atlases, index grids, 'Survey Solutions' and 'ODK' assignment tables, offline 'GeoPackage' and 'Esri' tile packages), interactive 'leaflet' and 'shiny' application modules, and spatial data retrieval integrated with 'sf', 'terra', and 'stars'.

vantorr

The vantorr package provides an R interface to the Maxar / Vantor Hub APIs, enabling programmatic access to high-resolution satellite imagery (such as Vivid Mosaic basemaps, WorldView archives, and analysis-ready data). It natively integrates with sf, terra, stars, leaflet, and shiny.

Key Features

• Flexible Authentication: Session credential management via API Keys (maxar-api-key) or OAuth 2.0 Bearer Tokens (vantor_auth()) with automatic token caching and refresh.
• Multi-Package Spatial Dispatch: Pass sf, terra (SpatRaster, SpatVector, SpatExtent), or stars objects to any spatial query via vantor_as_bbox(), and receive outputs as GeoTIFF files, SpatRaster, or stars objects.
• Basemaps, Tiling & Seamline Metadata: Download Vivid 30 cm / 15 cm GeoTIFFs (get_maxar_wms_basemap()), automatically tile and mosaic large areas (get_maxar_wms_tiles()), and retrieve vector seamline polygons with acquisition dates and sensor metadata via OGC WFS (vantor_get_seamlines()).
• Account Quota Monitoring: Query credit limits and consumption breakdowns via the Usage API v2 (vantor_get_usage()).
• Survey Fieldwork & World Bank Survey Solutions Resources: Create alphanumeric survey index grids (vantor_survey_grid()), audit imagery vintage across Enumeration Areas (vantor_vintage_report()), encode offline Google Plus Codes (vantor_plus_code()), export CAPI & Survey Solutions .tab preload tables (vantor_export_capi()), generate multi-page printable PDF Field Atlases (vantor_field_atlas()), build multi-zoom Esri Tile Packages (.tpk / .tpkx and _tpk.zip via vantor_write_tpk()), and bundle offline GeoPackages & Shapefiles (vantor_offline_package()).
• Interactive leaflet & shiny Integration: Stream WMTS/WMS basemaps, seamlines, and archive strips in leaflet (add_vantor_basemap(), add_vantor_seamlines(), add_vantor_imagery()), or embed drop-in Shiny modules (vantor_auth_ui(), vantor_explorer_ui(), run_vantor_demo_app()).

Installation

Once available on CRAN, you can install vantorr with:

install.packages("vantorr")

You can also install the development version of vantorr from GitHub with:

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("michael-cw/vantorr", build_vignettes = TRUE)

Authentication

The Vantor API supports both API Keys (long-lived, up to 180 days) and OAuth 2.0 Bearer Tokens (session-based, with automatic refresh). Note that different Vantor API services accept different credential types:

• OGC & Non-Administrative APIs (get_maxar_wms_basemap(), get_maxar_wms_tiles(), vantor_get_seamlines()): Accept either an API Key or an OAuth2 Bearer Token.
• Browser-Based leaflet Tile Layers (add_vantor_basemap(), add_vantor_seamlines(), add_vantor_imagery()): Require an API Key (maxar_api_key).
• Account Services / Admin APIs (vantor_get_usage()): Require an OAuth2 Bearer Token (username and password), as Vantor’s Admin APIs do not accept API keys.

You can configure credentials in your .Renviron file (VANTOR_API_KEY, or VANTOR_USERNAME and VANTOR_PASSWORD) or set them interactively for your R session with vantor_auth():

library(vantorr)

# Option 1: Set an API Key for the session (for OGC & Leaflet functions)
vantor_auth(api_key = "your_api_key")

# Option 2: Authenticate via OAuth2 (automatically caches and refreshes tokens;
# required for Admin endpoints such as vantor_get_usage())
vantor_auth(username = "[email protected]", password = "your_password")

# Check account credit usage and quota (requires OAuth2 Bearer token & Admin permissions)
usage <- vantor_get_usage(category = "PRODUCT", unit = "CREDIT")

Retrieving WMS Basemaps & Seamlines

vantorr accepts spatial objects from sf, terra, and stars (as well as numeric bounding boxes in EPSG:4326 or EPSG:3857) and automatically transforms coordinates to the required projection.

library(vantorr)
library(sf)
library(terra)

# Define an Area of Interest (AOI) in WGS84 (EPSG:4326)
aoi <- st_bbox(
  c(xmin = -77.040, ymin = 38.888, xmax = -77.030, ymax = 38.892),
  crs = st_crs(4326)
)

# Retrieve a 30cm Vivid Basemap directly as a terra SpatRaster
basemap_rast <- get_maxar_wms_basemap(
  bbox = aoi,
  resolution = 0.3,
  product = "VIVID_STANDARD_30",
  return_type = "SpatRaster"
)

terra::plotRGB(basemap_rast, r = 1, g = 2, b = 3, stretch = "lin")

# Fetch vector seamline polygons and acquisition timestamps (OGC WFS)
seamlines_sf <- vantor_get_seamlines(bbox = aoi, product = "VIVID_STANDARD_30")

For larger areas of interest that exceed single-request pixel limits, use get_maxar_wms_tiles() to automatically grid, download, and mosaic tiles:

large_mosaic <- get_maxar_wms_tiles(
  bbox = aoi,
  tile_size = 2500,
  resolution = 0.3,
  merge_tiles = TRUE,
  return_type = "SpatRaster"
)

Fieldwork Resources for Survey Data Collection

Generate alphanumeric survey index grids, audit imagery vintage across Enumeration Areas, prepare CAPI sample preload tables (with offline Google Plus Codes, ODK geopoint strings, and World Bank Survey Solutions .tab assignment files), print multi-page PDF Field Atlases, and export offline Esri Tile Packages (.tpk / .tpkx and clean _tpk.zip upload archives) for Survey Solutions and ArcGIS Field Maps:

# 1. Create a 500 m alphanumeric survey grid (A1, A2, B1, ...)
grid_sf <- vantor_survey_grid(aoi, cell_size = 500)

# 2. Audit imagery acquisition dates and flag outdated cells (> 2 years old)
vintage_grid <- vantor_vintage_report(grid_sf, seamlines = seamlines_sf, max_age_days = 730)

# 3. Export CAPI & Survey Solutions preload table and multi-page PDF Atlas
capi_pts <- vantor_export_capi(
  sample_pts,
  grid = vintage_grid,
  seamlines = seamlines_sf,
  output_suso_tab = "suso_assignments.tab",
  suso_gps_var = "hh_gps"
)
vantor_field_atlas(vintage_grid, points = capi_pts, raster = basemap_rast, output_file = "field_atlas.pdf")

# 4. Write a zoomable Esri Tile Package (.tpk + clean _tpk.zip) for Survey Solutions HQ
vantor_write_tpk(
  raster = basemap_rast,
  output_file = "ea_basemap.tpk",
  zoom = 15:17,
  zip_for_suso = TRUE
)

See vignette("fieldwork-survey-resources", package = "vantorr") and vignette("survey-solutions-workflow", package = "vantorr") for the complete fieldwork and Survey Solutions guides.

Interactive leaflet Maps & R Shiny Modules

Stream Vantor Vivid mosaics (WMTS or WMS), seamline cutlines (mode = "wms" or interactive mode = "wfs" polygons), and archive strips directly into leaflet maps, or embed the pre-built Shiny modules (vantor_auth_ui() and vantor_explorer_ui()):

library(leaflet)
library(vantorr)

# Stream Vantor Vivid 30cm WMTS tiles and seamlines in Leaflet
leaflet() |>
  setView(lng = -104.995, lat = 39.740, zoom = 15) |>
  add_vantor_basemap(
    product = "VIVID_STANDARD_30",
    service = "WMTS",
    show_seamlines = TRUE
  )

# Launch the interactive Shiny Explorer demo app
if (interactive()) {
  run_vantor_demo_app()
}

See vignette("shiny-leaflet-integration", package = "vantorr") or visit the companion website for full documentation.

Acknowledgments

Parts of the development of this package were co-financed by the Yemen Resilience, Recovery, and Reconstruction Trust Fund (Yemen Fund), which was established by the World Bank in 2022 as a pooled funding mechanism and a partnership platform to support Yemen’s transition over a 10-year horizon. The Yemen Fund is supported by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Swiss Confederation, and the European Union Delegation to Yemen. The author would like to express gratitude for this important and timely contribution.

For more information about the Yemen Fund, visit: https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-yemen-fund

License

MIT