Announcement: All noncommercial projects registered to use Earth Engine before
April 15, 2025 must
verify noncommercial eligibility to maintain Earth Engine access.
ee.Terrain.hillshade
Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
Computes a simple hillshade from a DEM.
| Usage | Returns | ee.Terrain.hillshade(input, azimuth, elevation) | Image |
| Argument | Type | Details | input | Image | An elevation image, in meters. |
azimuth | Float, default: 270 | The illumination azimuth in degrees from north. |
elevation | Float, default: 45 | The illumination elevation in degrees. |
Examples
Code Editor (JavaScript)
var elevation = ee.Image('NOAA/NGDC/ETOPO1').select('bedrock');
var exaggeration = 20;
var hillshade = ee.Terrain.hillshade(elevation.multiply(exaggeration));
Map.addLayer(hillshade, null, 'ETOPO1 Hillshade');
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)
elevation = ee.Image('NOAA/NGDC/ETOPO1').select('bedrock')
exaggeration = 20
hillshade = ee.Terrain.hillshade(elevation.multiply(exaggeration))
m = geemap.Map()
m.add_layer(hillshade, None, 'ETOPO1 Hillshade')
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\u003eComputes a hillshade, which is a shaded relief map, from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) to visualize terrain.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003eee.Terrain.hillshade()\u003c/code\u003e function takes an elevation image, azimuth, and elevation as input to generate the hillshade.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers can customize the illumination direction by specifying the azimuth (direction) and elevation (angle) of the light source.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn example is provided using the ETOPO1 bedrock elevation data to demonstrate hillshade creation and visualization.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The core content details how to compute a hillshade from a digital elevation model (DEM) using the `ee.Terrain.hillshade` function. This function takes an elevation image (`input`), an illumination azimuth (`azimuth`, default 270 degrees), and an illumination elevation (`elevation`, default 45 degrees) as arguments, and it returns a hillshade image. The examples showcase using elevation data, multiplying it by an exaggeration factor, then applying the function to produce the final hillshade image.\n"],null,["# ee.Terrain.hillshade\n\nComputes a simple hillshade from a DEM.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n| Usage | Returns |\n|------------------------------------------------------------|---------|\n| `ee.Terrain.hillshade(input, `*azimuth* `, `*elevation*`)` | Image |\n\n| Argument | Type | Details |\n|-------------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------|\n| `input` | Image | An elevation image, in meters. |\n| `azimuth` | Float, default: 270 | The illumination azimuth in degrees from north. |\n| `elevation` | Float, default: 45 | The illumination elevation in degrees. |\n\nExamples\n--------\n\n### Code Editor (JavaScript)\n\n```javascript\nvar elevation = ee.Image('NOAA/NGDC/ETOPO1').select('bedrock');\nvar exaggeration = 20;\nvar hillshade = ee.Terrain.hillshade(elevation.multiply(exaggeration));\nMap.addLayer(hillshade, null, 'ETOPO1 Hillshade');\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\nelevation = ee.Image('NOAA/NGDC/ETOPO1').select('bedrock')\nexaggeration = 20\nhillshade = ee.Terrain.hillshade(elevation.multiply(exaggeration))\nm = geemap.Map()\nm.add_layer(hillshade, None, 'ETOPO1 Hillshade')\nm\n```"]]