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Google Earth Engine Basics and General Applications

Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a cloud-based platform designed for scientific analysis and visualization of geospatial datasets, offering access to over forty years of satellite imagery. It differs from Google Earth by focusing on geospatial analysis rather than exploration, enabling users to automate data processing, apply machine learning algorithms, and monitor land changes. GEE provides a user-friendly interface and is available for free for academic and research purposes, while also offering paid commercial use.

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80 views32 pages

Google Earth Engine Basics and General Applications

Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a cloud-based platform designed for scientific analysis and visualization of geospatial datasets, offering access to over forty years of satellite imagery. It differs from Google Earth by focusing on geospatial analysis rather than exploration, enabling users to automate data processing, apply machine learning algorithms, and monitor land changes. GEE provides a user-friendly interface and is available for free for academic and research purposes, while also offering paid commercial use.

Uploaded by

the hungrypanda101 panda
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Introduction to Google Earth Engine

Functionalities and Available Data


Types

Esubalew N.M. (PhD)


EiABC, Addis Ababa University

1
✓What is Earth Engine?
✓How is Earth Engine different from Google Earth?
✓What can earth engine can do?
✓Google Earth Engine Functionality
Outline ✓Pros of GEE
✓Exploring GEE datasets
✓The GEE platform and its interface
✓How to create a GEE account

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What is Earth Engine?
A cloud-based platform for scientific
analysis and visualization of geospatial
datasets.

For academic, non-profit, business and


government users.

It hosts satellite imagery of more than


forty years and stores it in a public data
Credit: google earth engine
archive.
The images ingested on a daily basis and
made available for global-scale data
mining.

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How is Earth Engine different from Google Earth?

Google Earth enables you to travel, explore,


and learn about the world by interacting with
a virtual globe.

You can view satellite imagery, maps, terrain,


3D buildings, and much more.

On the other hand, Earth Engine is a tool for


analyzing geospatial information such as
flood delineation, land use change, forest
dynamics etc.
Credit: google earth engine
4
Earth Engine
Earth Engine is a public data catalog,
compute infrastructure, geospatial
APIs and an interactive app server.

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Google Earth Engine platform
Google Earth Engine (GEE) provide
users with a single place for
accessing satellite data, applying
geospatial methodologies, and
displaying analysis results.

GEE’s API allows users to easily


apply land cover monitoring
algorithms and classifications with
coded commands.

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What can earth engine do?

Apply an
Get an image algorithm to an Filter a collection
image

Compute
Map an algorithm Reduce a
aggregate
over a collection collection
statistics

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Google Earth Engine Functionality

Uses of GEE for satellite imagery analysis include:

Automation of data processing and display

Near real-time monitoring (limited by the availability of data in the catalog)

Machine learning algorithm application

Graphical User Interface implementation

Scientists, researchers, and developers use Google Earth Engine to detect changes,
map trends, and quantify differences on the Earth's surface 8
Pros of GEE

❑Unprecedented speed: reduce processing time


using cloud-based computing power.

❑Store petabytes (massive) amount of data in


the archive.

❑Easy of use once familiar with geospatial


science.

❑Online platform for easy access to data,


scientific algorithms and computational power.
Note that one petabyte holds 1000 terabytes (TB 9
Cloud based raster computing removes barriers and
limitations

Data hosting and Personal computing Imagery access and


storing capabilities availability

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The EE catalog

Credit: Google Earth


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GEE Land Monitoring Applications
❑Long-term monitoring of landscape change
and land cover type.

❑ Computation of indices relevant to land


management such as normalized difference
indices for vegetation, water, soil, and urban
areas.

❑Landscape time series analysis and


change detection Summary statistics.

❑ Validation and accuracy assessment


methods.

❑Visualization and presentation of results. Time series of MODIS NDVI displayed using Google Earth
Engine. Image Credit: Google Earth Engine Developers
12
Available Satellite Sensor Data in GEE: Land Cover Products

Copernicus Global Land Cover


Layers (CGLS).

MODIS Land Cover Type Yearly


Global 500m.

Global PALSAR-2/PALSAR Copernicus Global Land Cover Layers: CGLS-LC100 collection 3 displayed
Forest/Non-Forest Map. globally in
Credit: Earth Engine Data Catalog
USGS National Land Cover Database
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✓Global PALSAR-2/PALSAR
✓ High-resolution maps of global surface water
Forest/Non-Forest Map.
occurrence, change, seasonality, recurrence,
and transitions.

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Exploring GEE

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Datasets

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MODIS Collections in Earth Engine

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Sentinel collections

❑ Provides data from a dual-polarization C-band ❑ The Sentinel-2 mission collects high-resolution
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument. multispectral imagery useful for a broad range of
❑ SAR instruments are capable of acquiring data in applications, including monitoring of vegetation,
all weather conditions. soil and water cover, land cover change, as well as
humanitarian and disaster risk. 19
✓To understand the whole essence of GEE, watch the short video using
the link below
• https://earthengine.google.com/#

(credit: google earth engine).


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The platform
Three components
✓ Overview
✓ Code editor
✓ Documentation

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Code Editor

❑A web-based Integrated Dev’s Env’t (IDE)


for writing and running scripts.

❑ It requires log in with a Google Account


that’s been enabled for Earth Engine
access.

❑ Code Editor features are designed to


make developing complex geospatial
workflows fast and easy.

❑ It uses JavaScript and Python.


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Code Editor Interface

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GEE interface

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Getting familiar with GEE

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Google Earth Engine Account
1.Get a google account at: accounts.google.com

2.Create Earth Engine account at:


earthengine.google.com/signup

3. Earth Engine, Google's geospatial science platform in


Google Cloud, is available for paid commercial use and
remains free for academic and research use.

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Where to create a GEE account

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References

Gorelick, N., Hancher, M., Dixon, M., Ilyushchenko, S., Thau, D., & Moore, R. (2017).
Google Earth Engine: Planetary-scale geospatial analysis for everyone. Remote
Sensing of Environment.

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