Google Earth Engine (GEE) — Getting Started¶

The world's most powerful free geospatial platform — petabytes of satellite data, processed in Google's cloud.

Provider

Google LLC

Website

code.earthengine.google.com

Access Level

🟡 Free Registration Required (Google Account)

Languages

JavaScript (Code Editor), Python (earthengine-api)

Data Available

Landsat (1972–now), Sentinel, MODIS, ERA5, DEM, and 1,000+ datasets

Cost

Free for research/education

What Is Google Earth Engine?¶

Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a cloud-based geospatial platform that provides:

A massive data catalogue — 60+ years of satellite imagery and climate data
Unlimited computing — analysis runs on Google's servers, not your laptop
A code environment — JavaScript or Python to write analyses
Instant visualisation — see results on an interactive map

The key advantage: You don't need to download a single file. Write code → GEE runs it on their servers → Results appear on your screen.

How to Register¶

Step 1: Go to earthengine.google.com/signup

Step 2: Sign in with your Google account

Step 3: Fill the registration form: - Purpose: Select "Research" or "Education" - Institution: Your college, university, or organisation name - Project description: Briefly describe what you'll use GEE for

Step 4: Wait for approval email — usually within 24 hours for academic users

Step 5: After approval, go to code.earthengine.google.com to start coding

The GEE Code Editor¶

When you open the Code Editor, you'll see three panels:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Script Panel    │  Map (Interactive)        │
│  (write code)    │  (see results here)       │
│                  │                           │
├──────────────────┤                           │
│  Console Panel   │  Layers control           │
│  (print output)  │                           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

GEE Data Catalogue (Key Datasets for India)¶

Dataset	GEE ID	Description
Sentinel-2 Surface Reflectance	`COPERNICUS/S2_SR_HARMONIZED`	10m optical, 2017–now
Landsat 9 C2 L2	`LANDSAT/LC09/C02/T1_L2`	30m, 2021–now
Landsat 8 C2 L2	`LANDSAT/LC08/C02/T1_L2`	30m, 2013–now
MODIS NDVI 16-day	`MODIS/061/MOD13Q1`	250m, 2000–now
MODIS Land Surface Temp	`MODIS/061/MOD11A1`	1km, daily
SRTM Elevation	`USGS/SRTMGL1_003`	30m DEM
ERA5 Climate	`ECMWF/ERA5_LAND/MONTHLY_AGGR`	10km weather
CHIRPS Rainfall	`UCSB-CHG/CHIRPS/PENTAD`	5.5km, 1981–now
ESA World Cover	`ESA/WorldCover/v200`	10m global LULC 2021
GHSL Urban	`JRC/GHSL/P2023A/GHS_BUILT_S`	Global urban extent

Your First GEE Script: NDVI Map of India¶

Coming soon...

Next Dataset: Sentinel-1 & 2 →