Google Earth Engine

WORKSHOP  ON  BIOMASS  ESTIMATION  AND  MAPPING  

Dave Thau
Developer Advocate, Google Earth Engine
thau@google.com
2
Traditional Satellite Data Processing
Google’s Approach

THE CLOUD

Data Archive
Computers
Algorithms
Data Collection
Data Publishing
Data Catalog

•  Daily global satellite feeds for current data

•  40 years of historical data
–  Landsat and MODIS satellite data
–  Elevation data
–  Atmospheric data
–  And more…
•  Upload your own imagery with Maps Engine
•  Everything in original projection
–  With all bands and metadata
10
 Gamma
390 nm
.02 nm

X-Ray
Blue

Green
UV

Red
Visible 750 nm

Near IR

Infrared

Mid IR
Microwave

109 nm
Far IR
Radio
2350 nm 12
 Global-scale Algorithm Processing

Get an Image

Pick your: projection, resolution, bands, bounding-box, visualization

Access as: Web map, KML, GeoTIFF
 Global-scale Algorithm Processing

Get an Image

Apply an algorithm to an image

Library functions or script your own.

 Global-scale Algorithm Processing

Get an Image

Apply an algorithm to an image

Filter a collection

Time, Space & Metadata search

 Global-scale Algorithm Processing

Get an Image

Apply an algorithm to an image

Filter a collection

Map an algorithm over a collection

N→N
 Global-scale Algorithm Processing

Get an Image

Apply an algorithm to an image

Filter a collection

Map an algorithm over a collection

Reduce a collection

N → 1 or N → M
 Global-scale Algorithm Processing

Get an Image

Apply an algorithm to an image

Filter a collection
∑
Map an algorithm over a collection

Reduce a collection

Compute an aggregate
 Global-scale Algorithm Processing

Get an Image

Apply an algorithm to an image

Filter a collection

Map an algorithm over a collection

Reduce a collection

Compute an aggregate

Perform vector operations

Mexico Forest Map

•  Finest-scale Mexican Forest Map created to date

•  15,000 hours of computation over one thousand computers
•  Elapsed time: less than one day
Original image
Original image
... is divided into 256px sub-units.
Sub-units are distributed
Sub-units are distributed
... to separate machines.
Sub-units are distributed
... to separate machines
... where they can be processed
in parallel.
Thousands can be processed
simultaneously
Result is reassembled
Result is reassembled
... into a finished image
Additional Nice Features

Transparency and Reproducibility

All algorithms are versioned.

All data and data sets are versioned.

We keep track of the inputs and algorithms used for each product.

Privacy and Security

All algorithms have access controls.

All data and data sets have access controls.

Extensibility
A programming language for writing your own algorithms.

Tools for building your own EE powered website.

Earth Engine Summary

Easily accessible satellite imagery and vectors

Methods for performing analyses with those data

Parallelized and run in the Google cloud

Navigating the Data Catalog:

http://earthengine.google.org
http://earthengine.google.org/
Zoom into
your area of
interest

Or type a
place into the
search bar
Go to the Data
Catalog
Click on toa
Click on
Landsat 5
Annual
Greenest-
Pixel
Open in
Workspace
To brighten up
the image, click
on the layer.
Then increase
the gain.
Then Save.
Add another
layer – either
by going back
to the data
catalog or
searching for
the dataset.
Change the
gain again, and
jump back in
time to 1985.

Then Save.
The top one is the
one you just added.

Click the eye on the top

layer on and off to see
change.

Rearrange layers by
clicking on the layer’s left
side and dragging.
Things to try:

Explore the maps on the earthengine.google.org home page.

Add other data layers from the Data Catalog.

If you’re bold and/or have a remote sensing background, play

with the Visualization parameters in the data layers.

If you have questions, call one of us over.

Classification in the Cloud
Sign in to http://earthengine.google.org
Go to Workspace
Classification Workspace : Zoom into your region
or type Cacoal, Rondonia into the Search field
Click Satellite for historic imagery,
and choose Train a classifier under Analysis
Select Add data
And choose Percentile Composite
Set Use as: to Input data
And enter some dates – up to 365 days, then Save
Choose Add data again
This time choose Hand-drawn points and polygons
Set this layer as Training data, and Save
Now there is a Classes section
Add classes – two is a good place to start
Choose the point placing tool
Select a class to choose the kind of point to place
Push Train classifier to start the classification
Enjoy the result!

Things to try:

Move the map to the left or right

Zoom in or out (slowly)

Draw polygons as well as points

Turn layers on and off by clicking on eyes

Experiment with different classifiers

Add more points and see if results

Thanks!
To get access to the tools

Send your gmail address to:

earthengine-beta@google.com

and put "bagamoyo" in the subject