Announcement: All noncommercial projects registered to use Earth Engine before
April 15, 2025 must
verify noncommercial eligibility to maintain Earth Engine access.
ee.Geometry.Rectangle.difference
Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
Returns the result of subtracting the 'right' geometry from the 'left' geometry.
Usage | Returns | Rectangle.difference(right, maxError, proj) | Geometry |
Argument | Type | Details | this: left | Geometry | The geometry used as the left operand of the operation. |
right | Geometry | The geometry used as the right operand of the operation. |
maxError | ErrorMargin, default: null | The maximum amount of error tolerated when performing any necessary reprojection. |
proj | Projection, default: null | The projection in which to perform the operation. If not specified, the operation will be performed in a spherical coordinate system, and linear distances will be in meters on the sphere. |
Examples
Code Editor (JavaScript)
// Define a Rectangle object.
var rectangle = ee.Geometry.Rectangle(-122.09, 37.42, -122.08, 37.43);
// Define other inputs.
var inputGeom = ee.Geometry.BBox(-122.085, 37.415, -122.075, 37.425);
// Apply the difference method to the Rectangle object.
var rectangleDifference = rectangle.difference({'right': inputGeom, 'maxError': 1});
// Print the result to the console.
print('rectangle.difference(...) =', rectangleDifference);
// Display relevant geometries on the map.
Map.setCenter(-122.085, 37.422, 15);
Map.addLayer(rectangle,
{'color': 'black'},
'Geometry [black]: rectangle');
Map.addLayer(inputGeom,
{'color': 'blue'},
'Parameter [blue]: inputGeom');
Map.addLayer(rectangleDifference,
{'color': 'red'},
'Result [red]: rectangle.difference');
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)
# Define a Rectangle object.
rectangle = ee.Geometry.Rectangle(-122.09, 37.42, -122.08, 37.43)
# Define other inputs.
input_geom = ee.Geometry.BBox(-122.085, 37.415, -122.075, 37.425)
# Apply the difference method to the Rectangle object.
rectangle_difference = rectangle.difference(right=input_geom, maxError=1)
# Print the result.
display('rectangle.difference(...) =', rectangle_difference)
# Display relevant geometries on the map.
m = geemap.Map()
m.set_center(-122.085, 37.422, 15)
m.add_layer(rectangle, {'color': 'black'}, 'Geometry [black]: rectangle')
m.add_layer(input_geom, {'color': 'blue'}, 'Parameter [blue]: input_geom')
m.add_layer(
rectangle_difference, {'color': 'red'}, 'Result [red]: rectangle.difference'
)
m
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2023-10-06 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2023-10-06 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eReturns a Geometry representing the portion of the 'left' geometry that does not intersect with the 'right' geometry.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAccepts a 'right' Geometry as input to define the area to subtract.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eOptionally allows specifying 'maxError' for reprojection tolerance and 'proj' for the operation's projection.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIf 'proj' is not specified, the operation is performed in a spherical coordinate system with linear distances in meters.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The `difference` method subtracts a 'right' geometry from a 'left' geometry. It accepts the 'right' geometry, an optional `maxError` to control reprojection tolerance, and an optional `proj` to specify the projection. The method returns a new geometry representing the difference. Code examples in JavaScript and Python demonstrate defining a Rectangle and another geometry, applying the `difference` method, and displaying the original and resulting geometries on a map.\n"],null,["# ee.Geometry.Rectangle.difference\n\nReturns the result of subtracting the 'right' geometry from the 'left' geometry.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n| Usage | Returns |\n|--------------------------------------------------------|----------|\n| Rectangle.difference`(right, `*maxError* `, `*proj*`)` | Geometry |\n\n| Argument | Type | Details |\n|--------------|----------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| this: `left` | Geometry | The geometry used as the left operand of the operation. |\n| `right` | Geometry | The geometry used as the right operand of the operation. |\n| `maxError` | ErrorMargin, default: null | The maximum amount of error tolerated when performing any necessary reprojection. |\n| `proj` | Projection, default: null | The projection in which to perform the operation. If not specified, the operation will be performed in a spherical coordinate system, and linear distances will be in meters on the sphere. |\n\nExamples\n--------\n\n### Code Editor (JavaScript)\n\n```javascript\n// Define a Rectangle object.\nvar rectangle = ee.Geometry.Rectangle(-122.09, 37.42, -122.08, 37.43);\n\n// Define other inputs.\nvar inputGeom = ee.Geometry.BBox(-122.085, 37.415, -122.075, 37.425);\n\n// Apply the difference method to the Rectangle object.\nvar rectangleDifference = rectangle.difference({'right': inputGeom, 'maxError': 1});\n\n// Print the result to the console.\nprint('rectangle.difference(...) =', rectangleDifference);\n\n// Display relevant geometries on the map.\nMap.setCenter(-122.085, 37.422, 15);\nMap.addLayer(rectangle,\n {'color': 'black'},\n 'Geometry [black]: rectangle');\nMap.addLayer(inputGeom,\n {'color': 'blue'},\n 'Parameter [blue]: inputGeom');\nMap.addLayer(rectangleDifference,\n {'color': 'red'},\n 'Result [red]: rectangle.difference');\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\n# Define a Rectangle object.\nrectangle = ee.Geometry.Rectangle(-122.09, 37.42, -122.08, 37.43)\n\n# Define other inputs.\ninput_geom = ee.Geometry.BBox(-122.085, 37.415, -122.075, 37.425)\n\n# Apply the difference method to the Rectangle object.\nrectangle_difference = rectangle.difference(right=input_geom, maxError=1)\n\n# Print the result.\ndisplay('rectangle.difference(...) =', rectangle_difference)\n\n# Display relevant geometries on the map.\nm = geemap.Map()\nm.set_center(-122.085, 37.422, 15)\nm.add_layer(rectangle, {'color': 'black'}, 'Geometry [black]: rectangle')\nm.add_layer(input_geom, {'color': 'blue'}, 'Parameter [blue]: input_geom')\nm.add_layer(\n rectangle_difference, {'color': 'red'}, 'Result [red]: rectangle.difference'\n)\nm\n```"]]