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ee.ImageCollection.select
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Select bands from each image in a collection.
Returns the image collection with selected bands.
| Usage | Returns | ImageCollection.select(selectors, names) | ImageCollection |
| Argument | Type | Details | this: imagecollection | ImageCollection | The ImageCollection instance. |
selectors | List<Object> | A list of names, regexes or numeric indices specifying the bands to select. |
names | List<String>, optional | A list of new names for the output bands. Must match the number of bands selected. |
Examples
Code Editor (JavaScript)
// A Sentinel-2 surface reflectance image collection.
var col = ee.ImageCollection('COPERNICUS/S2_SR')
.filterBounds(ee.Geometry.Point(-122.152, 37.336))
.filterDate('2021-01-01', '2021-02-01');
print('All band names', col.first().bandNames());
print('Select a band by name',
col.select('B11').first().bandNames());
print('Select a band by index',
col.select(10).first().bandNames());
print('Select bands using a list',
col.select(['B11', 'B8', 'B3']).first().bandNames());
print('Select bands by an argument series',
col.select('B11', 'B8', 'B3').first().bandNames());
print('Mixing string and integer selectors is valid',
col.select(10, 'B8', 2).first().bandNames());
print('Rename selected bands using two corresponding lists',
col.select(['B11', 'B8', 'B3'], ['SWIR1', 'NIR', 'Green'])
.first().bandNames());
// Use regular expressions to select bands.
print('Match "QA" followed by any two characters',
col.select('QA..').first().bandNames());
print('Match "B" followed by any character, any number of times',
col.select('B.*').first().bandNames());
print('Match "B" followed by any character, and any optional third character',
col.select('B..?').first().bandNames());
print('Match "B" followed by a character in the range 6-8',
col.select('B[6-8]').first().bandNames());
print('Match "B" followed by a character in the range 1-9 and then 1-2',
col.select('B[1-9][1-2]').first().bandNames());
print('Match "B" or "QA" each followed by any character, any number of times.',
col.select('B.*|QA.*').first().bandNames());
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)
# A Sentinel-2 surface reflectance image collection.
col = ee.ImageCollection('COPERNICUS/S2_SR').filterBounds(
ee.Geometry.Point(-122.152, 37.336)
).filterDate('2021-01-01', '2021-02-01')
print('All band names', col.first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Select a band by name:',
col.select('B11').first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Select a band by index:',
col.select(10).first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Select bands using a list:',
col.select(['B11', 'B8', 'B3']).first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Select bands by an argument series:',
col.select('B11', 'B8', 'B3').first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Mixing string and integer selectors is valid:',
col.select(10, 'B8', 2).first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Rename selected bands using two corresponding lists:',
col.select(['B11', 'B8', 'B3'], ['SWIR1', 'NIR', 'Green'])
.first().bandNames().getInfo())
# Use regular expressions to select bands.
print('Match "QA" followed by any two characters:',
col.select('QA..').first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Match "B" followed by any character, any number of times:',
col.select('B.*').first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Match "B" followed by any character, and any optional third character:',
col.select('B..?').first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Match "B" followed by a character in the range 6-8:',
col.select('B[6-8]').first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Match "B" followed by a character in the range 1-9 and then 1-2:',
col.select('B[1-9][1-2]').first().bandNames().getInfo())
print('Match "B" or "QA" each followed by any character, any number of times:',
col.select('B.*|QA.*').first().bandNames().getInfo())
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Last updated 2025-07-08 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-07-08 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eselect()\u003c/code\u003e method returns an ImageCollection with specified bands selected from each image within the collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBand selection can be achieved using band names, numeric indices, or regular expressions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSelected bands can be renamed by providing a corresponding list of new names.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe method accepts a flexible combination of selectors, including strings, integers, and lists.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eRegular expressions enable versatile pattern matching for selecting multiple bands simultaneously.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The `select` method extracts specific bands from an ImageCollection, returning a new ImageCollection with those bands. Band selection can be done by name, index, or a list of these. New band names can be assigned using an optional list, which must match the number of selected bands. Regular expressions can also be used to select bands based on pattern matching. The code examples demonstrate these selection techniques for both JavaScript and Python.\n"],null,["# ee.ImageCollection.select\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nSelect bands from each image in a collection.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nReturns the image collection with selected bands.\n\n| Usage | Returns |\n|------------------------------------------------|-----------------|\n| ImageCollection.select`(selectors, `*names*`)` | ImageCollection |\n\n| Argument | Type | Details |\n|-------------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| this: `imagecollection` | ImageCollection | The ImageCollection instance. |\n| `selectors` | List\\\u003cObject\\\u003e | A list of names, regexes or numeric indices specifying the bands to select. |\n| `names` | List\\\u003cString\\\u003e, optional | A list of new names for the output bands. Must match the number of bands selected. |\n\nExamples\n--------\n\n### Code Editor (JavaScript)\n\n```javascript\n// A Sentinel-2 surface reflectance image collection.\nvar col = ee.ImageCollection('COPERNICUS/S2_SR')\n .filterBounds(ee.Geometry.Point(-122.152, 37.336))\n .filterDate('2021-01-01', '2021-02-01');\nprint('All band names', col.first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Select a band by name',\n col.select('B11').first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Select a band by index',\n col.select(10).first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Select bands using a list',\n col.select(['B11', 'B8', 'B3']).first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Select bands by an argument series',\n col.select('B11', 'B8', 'B3').first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Mixing string and integer selectors is valid',\n col.select(10, 'B8', 2).first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Rename selected bands using two corresponding lists',\n col.select(['B11', 'B8', 'B3'], ['SWIR1', 'NIR', 'Green'])\n .first().bandNames());\n\n// Use regular expressions to select bands.\nprint('Match \"QA\" followed by any two characters',\n col.select('QA..').first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Match \"B\" followed by any character, any number of times',\n col.select('B.*').first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Match \"B\" followed by any character, and any optional third character',\n col.select('B..?').first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Match \"B\" followed by a character in the range 6-8',\n col.select('B[6-8]').first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Match \"B\" followed by a character in the range 1-9 and then 1-2',\n col.select('B[1-9][1-2]').first().bandNames());\n\nprint('Match \"B\" or \"QA\" each followed by any character, any number of times.',\n col.select('B.*|QA.*').first().bandNames());\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# A Sentinel-2 surface reflectance image collection.\ncol = ee.ImageCollection('COPERNICUS/S2_SR').filterBounds(\n ee.Geometry.Point(-122.152, 37.336)\n ).filterDate('2021-01-01', '2021-02-01')\nprint('All band names', col.first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Select a band by name:',\n col.select('B11').first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Select a band by index:',\n col.select(10).first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Select bands using a list:',\n col.select(['B11', 'B8', 'B3']).first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Select bands by an argument series:',\n col.select('B11', 'B8', 'B3').first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Mixing string and integer selectors is valid:',\n col.select(10, 'B8', 2).first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Rename selected bands using two corresponding lists:',\n col.select(['B11', 'B8', 'B3'], ['SWIR1', 'NIR', 'Green'])\n .first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\n# Use regular expressions to select bands.\nprint('Match \"QA\" followed by any two characters:',\n col.select('QA..').first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Match \"B\" followed by any character, any number of times:',\n col.select('B.*').first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Match \"B\" followed by any character, and any optional third character:',\n col.select('B..?').first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Match \"B\" followed by a character in the range 6-8:',\n col.select('B[6-8]').first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Match \"B\" followed by a character in the range 1-9 and then 1-2:',\n col.select('B[1-9][1-2]').first().bandNames().getInfo())\n\nprint('Match \"B\" or \"QA\" each followed by any character, any number of times:',\n col.select('B.*|QA.*').first().bandNames().getInfo())\n```"]]