Announcement: All noncommercial projects registered to use Earth Engine before April 15, 2025 must verify noncommercial eligibility to maintain Earth Engine access.
The geometry used as the left operand of the operation.
right
Geometry
The geometry used as the right operand of the operation.
maxError
ErrorMargin, default: null
The maximum amount of error tolerated when performing any necessary reprojection.
proj
Projection, default: null
The 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.
spherical
Boolean, default: false
If 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.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-06-23 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eCalculates the minimum distance between two geometries, returning the result as a float.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTakes an optional \u003ccode\u003emaxError\u003c/code\u003e parameter to specify the maximum allowed error for reprojection.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe calculation can be performed in a specified projection using the \u003ccode\u003eproj\u003c/code\u003e parameter, or defaults to spherical coordinates with distances in meters.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAccepts a second geometry as input (\u003ccode\u003eright\u003c/code\u003e) to measure the distance against.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The `Geometry.distance` method calculates the minimum distance between two geometries. It takes a right geometry as input and optional parameters: `maxError`, `proj` for projection, and `spherical` for spherical calculations. If `proj` is absent, distances are in meters on a sphere. Setting `spherical` to true computes the unit sphere distance, false uses an elliptical model. The output is a float representing the distance. An example is given using two geometries: `geometry`, and `inputGeom`.\n"],null,["# ee.Geometry.distance\n\nReturns the minimum distance between two geometries.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n| Usage | Returns |\n|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|\n| Geometry.distance`(right, `*maxError* `, `*proj* `, `*spherical*`)` | Float |\n\n| Argument | Type | Details |\n|--------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| this: `left` | Geometry | The geometry used as the left operand of the operation. |\n| `right` | Geometry | The geometry used as the right operand of the operation. |\n| `maxError` | ErrorMargin, default: null | The maximum amount of error tolerated when performing any necessary reprojection. |\n| `proj` | Projection, default: null | The 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. |\n| `spherical` | Boolean, default: false | If 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. |\n\nExamples\n--------\n\n### Code Editor (JavaScript)\n\n```javascript\n// Define a Geometry object.\nvar geometry = ee.Geometry({\n 'type': 'Polygon',\n 'coordinates':\n [[[-122.081, 37.417],\n [-122.086, 37.421],\n [-122.084, 37.418],\n [-122.089, 37.416]]]\n});\n\n// Define other inputs.\nvar inputGeom = ee.Geometry.Point(-122.090, 37.423);\n\n// Apply the distance method to the Geometry object.\nvar geometryDistance = geometry.distance({'right': inputGeom, 'maxError': 1});\n\n// Print the result to the console.\nprint('geometry.distance(...) =', geometryDistance);\n\n// Display relevant geometries on the map.\nMap.setCenter(-122.085, 37.422, 15);\nMap.addLayer(geometry,\n {'color': 'black'},\n 'Geometry [black]: geometry');\nMap.addLayer(inputGeom,\n {'color': 'blue'},\n 'Parameter [blue]: inputGeom');\n```\nPython setup\n\nSee the [Python Environment](/earth-engine/guides/python_install) page for information on the Python API and using\n`geemap` for interactive development. \n\n```python\nimport ee\nimport geemap.core as geemap\n```\n\n### Colab (Python)\n\n```python\n# Define a Geometry object.\ngeometry = ee.Geometry({\n 'type': 'Polygon',\n 'coordinates': [[\n [-122.081, 37.417],\n [-122.086, 37.421],\n [-122.084, 37.418],\n [-122.089, 37.416],\n ]],\n})\n\n# Define other inputs.\ninput_geom = ee.Geometry.Point(-122.090, 37.423)\n\n# Apply the distance method to the Geometry object.\ngeometry_distance = geometry.distance(right=input_geom, maxError=1)\n\n# Print the result.\ndisplay('geometry.distance(...) =', geometry_distance)\n\n# Display relevant geometries on the map.\nm = geemap.Map()\nm.set_center(-122.085, 37.422, 15)\nm.add_layer(geometry, {'color': 'black'}, 'Geometry [black]: geometry')\nm.add_layer(input_geom, {'color': 'blue'}, 'Parameter [blue]: input_geom')\nm\n```"]]