Getting started with Google Earth Engine w/ Python

Authentication and initialization¶

The first step for you to be able to use GEE in Python is by authenticating/linking your GEE project.

import ee

# Trigger the authentication flow.
ee.Authenticate()

# Initialize the library.
ee.Initialize(project='your-gee-project-id-here') #replace your-gee-project w/ your actual GEE project name

🪪 Where’s my project ID?

Log-in to your Google account with Earth Engine access.
Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/earth-engine/welcome
On the upper right corner (to the right of Google Cloud), click Select Project.
It will open a list of projects w/ their corresponding ID. Use that ID.

⚠️ IMPORTANT

Earth Engine is introducing noncommercial quota tiers to safeguard shared compute resources and ensure reliable performance for everyone. All noncommercial projects will need to select a quota tier by April 27, 2026 or will use the Community Tier by default. Tier quotas will take effect for all projects (regardless of tier selection date) on April 27, 2026.

Documentation and Tutorials¶

📖 RTFM

When in doubt, refer to the GEE API Documentation.
GEE has good documentation for Earth Engine Python API
Other free resources you can use include:
- Cloud-Based Remote Sensing with Google Earth Engine (Book)
- End-to-End Google Earth Engine (Spatial Thoughts / Ujaval Gandhi)