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.
[[["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complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2023-10-06 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eReturns a Geometry representing the parts of two geometries that do not intersect.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAccepts a Geometry as the right operand and optional \u003ccode\u003emaxError\u003c/code\u003e and \u003ccode\u003eproj\u003c/code\u003e parameters for reprojection.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003e\u003ccode\u003emaxError\u003c/code\u003e sets the tolerance for reprojection errors, while \u003ccode\u003eproj\u003c/code\u003e defines the projection for the operation.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIf \u003ccode\u003eproj\u003c/code\u003e is not specified, calculations are performed in a spherical coordinate system using meters as the unit for linear distances.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# ee.Geometry.Polygon.symmetricDifference\n\nReturns the symmetric difference between two geometries.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n| Usage | Returns |\n|---------------------------------------------------------------|----------|\n| Polygon.symmetricDifference`(right, `*maxError* `, `*proj*`)` | Geometry |\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\nExamples\n--------\n\n### Code Editor (JavaScript)\n\n```javascript\n// Define a Polygon object.\nvar polygon = ee.Geometry.Polygon(\n [[[-122.092, 37.424],\n [-122.086, 37.418],\n [-122.079, 37.425],\n [-122.085, 37.423]]]);\n\n// Define other inputs.\nvar inputGeom = ee.Geometry.BBox(-122.085, 37.415, -122.075, 37.425);\n\n// Apply the symmetricDifference method to the Polygon object.\nvar polygonSymmetricDifference = polygon.symmetricDifference({'right': inputGeom, 'maxError': 1});\n\n// Print the result to the console.\nprint('polygon.symmetricDifference(...) =', polygonSymmetricDifference);\n\n// Display relevant geometries on the map.\nMap.setCenter(-122.085, 37.422, 15);\nMap.addLayer(polygon,\n {'color': 'black'},\n 'Geometry [black]: polygon');\nMap.addLayer(inputGeom,\n {'color': 'blue'},\n 'Parameter [blue]: inputGeom');\nMap.addLayer(polygonSymmetricDifference,\n {'color': 'red'},\n 'Result [red]: polygon.symmetricDifference');\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 Polygon object.\npolygon = ee.Geometry.Polygon([[\n [-122.092, 37.424],\n [-122.086, 37.418],\n [-122.079, 37.425],\n [-122.085, 37.423],\n]])\n\n# Define other inputs.\ninput_geom = ee.Geometry.BBox(-122.085, 37.415, -122.075, 37.425)\n\n# Apply the symmetricDifference method to the Polygon object.\npolygon_symmetric_difference = polygon.symmetricDifference(\n right=input_geom, maxError=1\n)\n\n# Print the result.\ndisplay('polygon.symmetricDifference(...) =', polygon_symmetric_difference)\n\n# Display relevant geometries on the map.\nm = geemap.Map()\nm.set_center(-122.085, 37.422, 15)\nm.add_layer(polygon, {'color': 'black'}, 'Geometry [black]: polygon')\nm.add_layer(input_geom, {'color': 'blue'}, 'Parameter [blue]: input_geom')\nm.add_layer(\n polygon_symmetric_difference,\n {'color': 'red'},\n 'Result [red]: polygon.symmetricDifference',\n)\nm\n```"]]