9 Google Earth Engine User Interface Guide
This guide introduces the Google Earth Engine (GEE) Code Editor user interface and walks you through creating scripts, managing data assets, and using the map toolbar.
9.1 Step-by-Step UI Guide
To access the platform, log in at: code.earthengine.google.com.
9.1.1 1. The Scripts Panel (Managing Repositories & Files)
The Scripts panel in the top-left panel is used to store and manage your Javascript code. * Create a Repository: Click New and select Repository to create a root repository. Enter a repository name according to your project requirements. * Organize Folders: You can create folders inside your repository to group related files. * Create a File: Add script files to your folders and name them appropriately based on your analysis task.
9.1.2 2. The Docs Panel (API Reference)
The Docs panel (tab adjacent to Scripts) lists all available Earth Engine API functions, algorithms, and libraries. Use this panel to browse and search for spatial data processing functions.
9.1.3 3. The Assets Panel & Data Uploads
The Assets panel in the top-left section allows you to upload, organize, and manage your private vector and raster datasets.
- Asset Types: Earth Engine supports uploading vector shapefiles and raster GeoTIFF files.
- Upload Shapefiles: Click New and select Table Upload (Shapefile).
- Practice Data: You can download the practice shapefiles from the following Google Drive folder:
Download Practice Shapefiles (Google Drive) - Setting Asset ID: Specify the destination path and name for the asset, choose the local files (including
.shp,.dbf,.shx,.zip, etc.), and click Upload. - Tracking Progress: Monitor the upload process under the Tasks tab in the top-right panel.
9.1.4 4. Code Editor Controls
- Save: Click the Save button above the editor to save script updates.
- Run: Click the Run button to execute the active script and render outputs.
- Reset: Use the Reset dropdown to clear the current code editor workspace.
- Get Link: Generate a shareable URL to share your script with team members for collaboration.
9.1.5 5. Interactive Panels & Tabs
- Inspector: Select the Inspector tab in the top-right panel and click on any map coordinate to query pixel values, features, or chart time-series data at that point.
- Console: Displays text outputs, debugging messages, print statements (
print()), and metadata outputs. - Tasks: Manages long-running server-side tasks, such as raster/vector file uploads or exporting map results to Google Drive.
- Apps: Allows publishing code scripts as standalone interactive web applications.
9.1.6 6. Map drawing & Geometry Tools
The map toolbar (located in the top-left corner of the map canvas) allows you to define new spatial boundaries by manually drawing points, lines, or polygons directly on the basemap. These drawn geometries are automatically converted into GEE ee.Geometry objects and added as imports at the top of your script.
9.2 📄 GEE User Interface Guidebook
The complete Google Earth Engine User Interface guidebook is available below for reading and download: