ee.Geometry.LinearRing.symmetricDifference

  • The symmetricDifference method returns a Geometry representing the parts of two geometries that do not intersect.

  • It takes a Geometry as the right operand and optional maxError and proj parameters for reprojection.

  • The operation can be performed in spherical coordinates with distances in meters or a specified projection.

  • This method can be applied to a LinearRing object to find the areas where it does not overlap with another geometry.

 Returns the symmetric difference between two geometries.

UsageReturns
LinearRing.symmetricDifference(right, maxError, proj)Geometry
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.

Examples

Code Editor (JavaScript)

// Define a LinearRing object.
var linearRing = ee.Geometry.LinearRing(
    [[-122.091, 37.420],
     [-122.085, 37.422],
     [-122.080, 37.430]]);

// Define other inputs.
var inputGeom = ee.Geometry.BBox(-122.085, 37.415, -122.075, 37.425);

// Apply the symmetricDifference method to the LinearRing object.
var linearRingSymmetricDifference = linearRing.symmetricDifference({'right': inputGeom, 'maxError': 1});

// Print the result to the console.
print('linearRing.symmetricDifference(...) =', linearRingSymmetricDifference);

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

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 LinearRing object.
linearring = ee.Geometry.LinearRing(
    [[-122.091, 37.420], [-122.085, 37.422], [-122.080, 37.430]]
)

# Define other inputs.
input_geom = ee.Geometry.BBox(-122.085, 37.415, -122.075, 37.425)

# Apply the symmetricDifference method to the LinearRing object.
linearring_symmetric_difference = linearring.symmetricDifference(
    right=input_geom, maxError=1
)

# Print the result.
display(
    'linearring.symmetricDifference(...) =', linearring_symmetric_difference
)

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