ee.Geometry.MultiPolygon.distance

  • distance() calculates the minimum distance between a MultiPolygon and another geometry.

  • The function returns the distance as a float, potentially in meters on the sphere depending on the projection used.

  • Optional parameters include maxError for reprojection tolerance and proj to specify the projection for the calculation.

  • The distance is computed from the boundary of the MultiPolygon to the nearest point on the other geometry.

 Returns the minimum distance between two geometries.

UsageReturns
MultiPolygon.distance(right, maxError, proj, spherical)Float
ArgumentTypeDetails
this: leftGeometryThe geometry used as the left operand of the operation.
rightGeometryThe geometry used as the right operand of the operation.
maxErrorErrorMargin, default: nullThe maximum amount of error tolerated when performing any necessary reprojection.
projProjection, default: nullThe projection in which to perform the operation. If not specified, the operation will be performed in a spherical coordinate system, and linear distances will be in meters on the sphere.
sphericalBoolean, default: falseIf true, the calculation will be done on the unit sphere. If false, the calculation will be elliptical, taking earth flattening into account. Ignored if proj is specified. Default is false.

Examples

Code Editor (JavaScript)

// Define a MultiPolygon object.
var multiPolygon = ee.Geometry.MultiPolygon(
    [[[[-122.092, 37.424],
       [-122.086, 37.418],
       [-122.079, 37.425],
       [-122.085, 37.423]]],
     [[[-122.081, 37.417],
       [-122.086, 37.421],
       [-122.089, 37.416]]]]);

// Define other inputs.
var inputGeom = ee.Geometry.Point(-122.090, 37.423);

// Apply the distance method to the MultiPolygon object.
var multiPolygonDistance = multiPolygon.distance({'right': inputGeom, 'maxError': 1});

// Print the result to the console.
print('multiPolygon.distance(...) =', multiPolygonDistance);

// Display relevant geometries on the map.
Map.setCenter(-122.085, 37.422, 15);
Map.addLayer(multiPolygon,
             {'color': 'black'},
             'Geometry [black]: multiPolygon');
Map.addLayer(inputGeom,
             {'color': 'blue'},
             'Parameter [blue]: inputGeom');

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)

# Define a MultiPolygon object.
multipolygon = ee.Geometry.MultiPolygon([
    [[
        [-122.092, 37.424],
        [-122.086, 37.418],
        [-122.079, 37.425],
        [-122.085, 37.423],
    ]],
    [[[-122.081, 37.417], [-122.086, 37.421], [-122.089, 37.416]]],
])

# Define other inputs.
input_geom = ee.Geometry.Point(-122.090, 37.423)

# Apply the distance method to the MultiPolygon object.
multipolygon_distance = multipolygon.distance(right=input_geom, maxError=1)

# Print the result.
display('multipolygon.distance(...) =', multipolygon_distance)

# Display relevant geometries on the map.
m = geemap.Map()
m.set_center(-122.085, 37.422, 15)
m.add_layer(
    multipolygon, {'color': 'black'}, 'Geometry [black]: multipolygon'
)
m.add_layer(input_geom, {'color': 'blue'}, 'Parameter [blue]: input_geom')
m