ee.Geometry.MultiLineString.distance

  • Calculates the minimum distance between a MultiLineString and another geometry.

  • Returns the distance in meters when the projection is not specified, otherwise uses the specified projection.

  • Accepts an optional maxError parameter to control the accuracy of reprojection.

  • The distance is calculated between the MultiLineString and the nearest point on the input geometry.

 Returns the minimum distance between two geometries.

UsageReturns
MultiLineString.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 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.Point(-122.090, 37.423);

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

// Print the result to the console.
print('multiLineString.distance(...) =', multiLineStringDistance);

// 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');

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.Point(-122.090, 37.423)

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

# Print the result.
display('multilinestring.distance(...) =', multilinestring_distance)

# 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