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ee.Date.difference
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Returns the difference between two Dates in the specified units; the result is floating-point and based on the average length of the unit.
| Usage | Returns | Date.difference(start, unit) | Float |
| Argument | Type | Details | this: date | Date | |
start | Date | |
unit | String | One of 'year', 'month', 'week', 'day', 'hour', 'minute', or 'second'. |
Examples
Code Editor (JavaScript)
// Demonstrates the ee.Date.difference method.
var DATE_1 = ee.Date('2020-01-01');
var DATE_2 = ee.Date('2020-01-15');
var diff_1 = DATE_2.difference(DATE_1, 'days');
var diff_2 = DATE_1.difference(DATE_2, 'weeks');
print('The difference between ',
DATE_2,
' relative to ',
DATE_1,
' is ',
diff_1,
' days.');
print('The difference between ',
DATE_1,
' relative to ',
DATE_2,
' is ',
diff_2,
' weeks.');
Python setup
See the
Python Environment page for information on the Python API and using
geemap for interactive development.
import ee
import geemap.core as geemap
Colab (Python)
DATE_1 = ee.Date('2020-01-01')
DATE_2 = ee.Date('2020-01-15')
# Format the dates as strings.
t1 = DATE_1.format('YYYY-MM-DD').getInfo()
t2 = DATE_2.format('YYYY-MM-DD').getInfo()
# Calculate the differences between dates.
diff_1 = DATE_2.difference(DATE_1, 'days').getInfo()
diff_2 = DATE_1.difference(DATE_2, 'weeks').getInfo()
print(f'The difference between {t2} relative to {t1} is {diff_1} days.')
print(f'The difference between {t1} relative to {t2} is {diff_2} weeks.')
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Last updated 2025-06-23 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-06-23 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003e\u003ccode\u003eDate.difference()\u003c/code\u003e calculates the difference between two dates, returning a floating-point number.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe difference is calculated based on the average length of the specified unit (e.g., 'year', 'month', 'week', 'day', 'hour', 'minute', or 'second').\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe function takes two \u003ccode\u003eee.Date\u003c/code\u003e objects as input, representing the start and end points for the calculation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe result is relative to the first date and can be positive or negative depending on the order of the dates.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["`Date.difference` calculates the difference between two dates, returning a floating-point number based on the average length of the specified unit. The function takes a `start` date and a `unit` string ('year', 'month', 'week', 'day', 'hour', 'minute', or 'second') as arguments. The output represents the difference in the chosen unit. Examples show calculating differences in days and weeks between two dates, showcasing both JavaScript and Python implementations.\n"],null,["# ee.Date.difference\n\nReturns the difference between two Dates in the specified units; the result is floating-point and based on the average length of the unit.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n| Usage | Returns |\n|--------------------------------|---------|\n| Date.difference`(start, unit)` | Float |\n\n| Argument | Type | Details |\n|--------------|--------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| this: `date` | Date | |\n| `start` | Date | |\n| `unit` | String | One of 'year', 'month', 'week', 'day', 'hour', 'minute', or 'second'. |\n\nExamples\n--------\n\n### Code Editor (JavaScript)\n\n```javascript\n// Demonstrates the ee.Date.difference method.\n\nvar DATE_1 = ee.Date('2020-01-01');\nvar DATE_2 = ee.Date('2020-01-15');\n\nvar diff_1 = DATE_2.difference(DATE_1, 'days');\nvar diff_2 = DATE_1.difference(DATE_2, 'weeks');\n\nprint('The difference between ',\n DATE_2,\n ' relative to ',\n DATE_1,\n ' is ',\n diff_1,\n ' days.');\n\nprint('The difference between ',\n DATE_1,\n ' relative to ',\n DATE_2,\n ' is ',\n diff_2,\n ' weeks.');\n```\nPython setup\n\nSee the [Python Environment](/earth-engine/guides/python_install) page for information on the Python API and using\n`geemap` for interactive development. \n\n```python\nimport ee\nimport geemap.core as geemap\n```\n\n### Colab (Python)\n\n```python\nDATE_1 = ee.Date('2020-01-01')\nDATE_2 = ee.Date('2020-01-15')\n\n# Format the dates as strings.\nt1 = DATE_1.format('YYYY-MM-DD').getInfo()\nt2 = DATE_2.format('YYYY-MM-DD').getInfo()\n\n# Calculate the differences between dates.\ndiff_1 = DATE_2.difference(DATE_1, 'days').getInfo()\ndiff_2 = DATE_1.difference(DATE_2, 'weeks').getInfo()\n\nprint(f'The difference between {t2} relative to {t1} is {diff_1} days.')\nprint(f'The difference between {t1} relative to {t2} is {diff_2} weeks.')\n```"]]