How Do I Add a Shapefile to Google Earth Engine?

You can add a shapefile to Google Earth Engine by using the ee.FeatureCollection constructor and providing the path to your shapefile.

Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. Upload your shapefile: Go to the Google Earth Engine Code Editor and click on "Assets" in the left sidebar. Then, click on "Upload" and select your shapefile.
2. Import the shapefile: In your Earth Engine script, use the following code to import the shapefile:

var shapefile = ee.FeatureCollection('users/your_username/your_shapefile_name');

Replace your_username with your Google Earth Engine username and your_shapefile_name with the name you assigned to your shapefile when uploading it.

3. Use the shapefile: Now you can use the shapefile variable to perform various operations like:

   • Visualize it:

     Map.addLayer(shapefile, {color: 'red'}, 'Shapefile');

   • Extract data from other datasets:

     var image = ee.Image('MODIS/006/MOD13A2');
     var extractedData = image.reduceRegions({
     collection: shapefile,
     reducer: ee.Reducer.mean()
     });

Practical Insights:

• Make sure your shapefile uses a supported projection, such as WGS84.
• If your shapefile is large, you might need to split it into smaller parts before uploading.
• You can use tools like QGIS to convert your shapefile to GeoJSON format, which is a common format supported by Google Earth Engine.

Example:

Let's say you have a shapefile named "cities.shp" that you uploaded to your Google Earth Engine account. You can then import and visualize it using the following code:

// Import the shapefile
var cities = ee.FeatureCollection('users/your_username/cities');

// Visualize the shapefile
Map.addLayer(cities, {color: 'blue'}, 'Cities');

This code will display the cities on the map in blue.