ee.ImageCollection.linkCollection

  • The ImageCollection.linkCollection method links images in one collection to matching images in another collection.

  • Bands or metadata from matching images are added to the source images, overwriting existing ones if present.

  • Matches are determined by equivalent metadata properties, defaulting to 'system:index'.

  • This function is a convenience for adding bands based on a shared metadata property and differs from 'joining'.

  • It returns the linked image collection.

Links images in this collection to matching images from imageCollection.

For each source image in this collection, any specified bands or metadata will be added to the source image from the matching image found in

imageCollection. If bands or metadata are already present, they will be overwritten. If matching images are not found, any new or updated bands will be fully masked and any new or updated metadata will be null. The output footprint will be the same as the source image footprint.

Matches are determined if a source image and an image in imageCollection have a specific equivalent metadata property. If more than one collection image would match, the collection image selected is arbitrary. By default, images are matched on their 'system:index' metadata property.

This linking function is a convenience method for adding bands to target images based on a specified shared metadata property and is intended to support linking collections that apply different processing/product generation to the same source imagery. For more expressive linking known as

'joining', see https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/guides/joins_intro.

Returns the linked image collection.

UsageReturns
ImageCollection.linkCollection(imageCollection, linkedBands, linkedProperties, matchPropertyName)ImageCollection
ArgumentTypeDetails
this: imagecollectionImageCollectionThe ImageCollection instance.
imageCollectionImageCollectionThe image collection searched to find matches from this collection.
linkedBandsList<String>, optionalOptional list of band names to add or update from matching images.
linkedPropertiesList<String>, optionalOptional list of metadata properties to add or update from matching images.
matchPropertyNameString, optionalThe metadata property name to use as a match criteria. Defaults to "system:index".