Announcement: All noncommercial projects registered to use Earth Engine before
April 15, 2025 must
verify noncommercial eligibility to maintain Earth Engine access.
ee.ImageCollection.sort
Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
Sort a collection by the specified property.
Returns the sorted collection.
| Usage | Returns | ImageCollection.sort(property, ascending) | Collection |
| Argument | Type | Details | this: collection | Collection | The Collection instance. |
property | String | The property to sort by. |
ascending | Boolean, optional | Whether to sort in ascending or descending order. The default is true (ascending). |
Examples
Code Editor (JavaScript)
// A Landsat 8 TOA image collection (2 months of images at a specific point).
var col = ee.ImageCollection('LANDSAT/LC08/C02/T1_TOA')
.filterBounds(ee.Geometry.Point(-90.70, 34.71))
.filterDate('2020-07-01', '2020-09-01');
print('Collection', col);
// Sort the collection in ASCENDING order of image cloud cover.
var colCldSortAsc = col.sort('CLOUD_COVER');
print('Cloud cover ascending', colCldSortAsc);
// Display the image with the least cloud cover.
var visParams = {
bands: ['B4', 'B3', 'B2'],
min: 0.01,
max: 0.25
};
Map.setCenter(-90.70, 34.71, 9);
Map.addLayer(colCldSortAsc.first(), visParams, 'Least cloudy');
// Sort the collection in DESCENDING order of image cloud cover.
var colCldSortDesc = col.sort('CLOUD_COVER', false);
print('Cloud cover descending', colCldSortDesc);
// Display the image with the most cloud cover.
Map.addLayer(colCldSortDesc.first(), visParams, 'Most cloudy');
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 Landsat 8 TOA image collection (2 months of images at a specific point).
col = (
ee.ImageCollection('LANDSAT/LC08/C02/T1_TOA')
.filterBounds(ee.Geometry.Point(-90.70, 34.71))
.filterDate('2020-07-01', '2020-09-01')
)
display('Collection', col)
# Sort the collection in ASCENDING order of image cloud cover.
col_cld_sort_asc = col.sort('CLOUD_COVER')
display('Cloud cover ascending', col_cld_sort_asc)
# Display the image with the least cloud cover.
vis_params = {'bands': ['B4', 'B3', 'B2'], 'min': 0.01, 'max': 0.25}
m = geemap.Map()
m.set_center(-90.70, 34.71, 9)
m.add_layer(col_cld_sort_asc.first(), vis_params, 'Least cloudy')
# Sort the collection in DESCENDING order of image cloud cover.
col_cld_sort_desc = col.sort('CLOUD_COVER', False)
display('Cloud cover descending', col_cld_sort_desc)
# Display the image with the most cloud cover.
m.add_layer(col_cld_sort_desc.first(), vis_params, 'Most cloudy')
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\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003esort()\u003c/code\u003e method allows you to order an ImageCollection based on a specified property, such as cloud cover.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBy default, \u003ccode\u003esort()\u003c/code\u003e arranges the collection in ascending order; to sort in descending order, set the \u003ccode\u003eascending\u003c/code\u003e parameter to \u003ccode\u003efalse\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThis method is useful for tasks like identifying images with the least or most cloud cover within a collection.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe sorted collection is returned, enabling further processing or analysis.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# ee.ImageCollection.sort\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nSort a collection by the specified property.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nReturns the sorted collection.\n\n| Usage | Returns |\n|-------------------------------------------------|------------|\n| ImageCollection.sort`(property, `*ascending*`)` | Collection |\n\n| Argument | Type | Details |\n|--------------------|-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| this: `collection` | Collection | The Collection instance. |\n| `property` | String | The property to sort by. |\n| `ascending` | Boolean, optional | Whether to sort in ascending or descending order. The default is true (ascending). |\n\nExamples\n--------\n\n### Code Editor (JavaScript)\n\n```javascript\n// A Landsat 8 TOA image collection (2 months of images at a specific point).\nvar col = ee.ImageCollection('LANDSAT/LC08/C02/T1_TOA')\n .filterBounds(ee.Geometry.Point(-90.70, 34.71))\n .filterDate('2020-07-01', '2020-09-01');\nprint('Collection', col);\n\n// Sort the collection in ASCENDING order of image cloud cover.\nvar colCldSortAsc = col.sort('CLOUD_COVER');\nprint('Cloud cover ascending', colCldSortAsc);\n\n// Display the image with the least cloud cover.\nvar visParams = {\n bands: ['B4', 'B3', 'B2'],\n min: 0.01,\n max: 0.25\n};\nMap.setCenter(-90.70, 34.71, 9);\nMap.addLayer(colCldSortAsc.first(), visParams, 'Least cloudy');\n\n// Sort the collection in DESCENDING order of image cloud cover.\nvar colCldSortDesc = col.sort('CLOUD_COVER', false);\nprint('Cloud cover descending', colCldSortDesc);\n\n// Display the image with the most cloud cover.\nMap.addLayer(colCldSortDesc.first(), visParams, 'Most cloudy');\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 Landsat 8 TOA image collection (2 months of images at a specific point).\ncol = (\n ee.ImageCollection('LANDSAT/LC08/C02/T1_TOA')\n .filterBounds(ee.Geometry.Point(-90.70, 34.71))\n .filterDate('2020-07-01', '2020-09-01')\n)\ndisplay('Collection', col)\n\n# Sort the collection in ASCENDING order of image cloud cover.\ncol_cld_sort_asc = col.sort('CLOUD_COVER')\ndisplay('Cloud cover ascending', col_cld_sort_asc)\n\n# Display the image with the least cloud cover.\nvis_params = {'bands': ['B4', 'B3', 'B2'], 'min': 0.01, 'max': 0.25}\nm = geemap.Map()\nm.set_center(-90.70, 34.71, 9)\nm.add_layer(col_cld_sort_asc.first(), vis_params, 'Least cloudy')\n\n# Sort the collection in DESCENDING order of image cloud cover.\ncol_cld_sort_desc = col.sort('CLOUD_COVER', False)\ndisplay('Cloud cover descending', col_cld_sort_desc)\n\n# Display the image with the most cloud cover.\nm.add_layer(col_cld_sort_desc.first(), vis_params, 'Most cloudy')\nm\n```"]]