ee.Geometry.MultiLineString.difference

  • The difference() method returns a Geometry representing the portions of the 'left' geometry that do not intersect with the 'right' geometry.

  • It is used on MultiLineString geometries in Earth Engine to remove areas covered by a second geometry.

  • The operation can be performed using a specified projection or, by default, in a spherical coordinate system with distances in meters.

  • Optional parameters maxError and proj control the reprojection tolerance and projection used during the operation, respectively.

 Returns the result of subtracting the 'right' geometry from the 'left' geometry.

UsageReturns
MultiLineString.difference(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 MultiLineString object.
var multiLineString = ee.Geometry.MultiLineString(
   [[[-122.088, 37.418], [-122.086, 37.422], [-122.082, 37.418]],
    [[-122.087, 37.416], [-122.083, 37.416], [-122.082, 37.419]]]);

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

// Apply the difference method to the MultiLineString object.
var multiLineStringDifference = multiLineString.difference({'right': inputGeom, 'maxError': 1});

// Print the result to the console.
print('multiLineString.difference(...) =', multiLineStringDifference);

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

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 MultiLineString object.
multilinestring = ee.Geometry.MultiLineString([
    [[-122.088, 37.418], [-122.086, 37.422], [-122.082, 37.418]],
    [[-122.087, 37.416], [-122.083, 37.416], [-122.082, 37.419]],
])

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

# Apply the difference method to the MultiLineString object.
multilinestring_difference = multilinestring.difference(
    right=input_geom, maxError=1
)

# Print the result.
display('multilinestring.difference(...) =', multilinestring_difference)

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