Compositing and Mosaicking

In general, compositing refers to the process of combining spatially overlapping images into a single image based on an aggregation function. Mosaicking refers to the process of spatially assembling image datasets to produce a spatially continuous image. In Earth Engine, these terms are used interchangeably, though both compositing and mosaicking are supported. For example, consider the task of compositing multiple images in the same location. For example, using one National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quadrangle (DOQQ) at different times, the following example demonstrates making a maximum value composite:

Code Editor (JavaScript)

// Load three NAIP quarter quads in the same location, different times.
var naip2004_2012 = ee.ImageCollection('USDA/NAIP/DOQQ')
  .filterBounds(ee.Geometry.Point(-71.08841, 42.39823))
  .filterDate('2004-07-01', '2012-12-31')
  .select(['R', 'G', 'B']);

// Temporally composite the images with a maximum value function.
var composite = naip2004_2012.max();
Map.setCenter(-71.12532, 42.3712, 12);
Map.addLayer(composite, {}, 'max value composite');

Consider the need to mosaic four different DOQQs at the same time, but different locations. The following example demonstrates that using imageCollection.mosaic():

Code Editor (JavaScript)

// Load four 2012 NAIP quarter quads, different locations.
var naip2012 = ee.ImageCollection('USDA/NAIP/DOQQ')
  .filterBounds(ee.Geometry.Rectangle(-71.17965, 42.35125, -71.08824, 42.40584))
  .filterDate('2012-01-01', '2012-12-31');

// Spatially mosaic the images in the collection and display.
var mosaic = naip2012.mosaic();
Map.setCenter(-71.12532, 42.3712, 12);
Map.addLayer(mosaic, {}, 'spatial mosaic');

Note that there is some overlap in the DOQQs in the previous example. The mosaic() method composites overlapping images according to their order in the collection (last on top). To control the source of pixels in a mosaic (or a composite), use image masks. For example, the following uses thresholds on spectral indices to mask the image data in a mosaic:

Code Editor (JavaScript)

// Load a NAIP quarter quad, display.
var naip = ee.Image('USDA/NAIP/DOQQ/m_4207148_nw_19_1_20120710');
Map.setCenter(-71.0915, 42.3443, 14);
Map.addLayer(naip, {}, 'NAIP DOQQ');

// Create the NDVI and NDWI spectral indices.
var ndvi = naip.normalizedDifference(['N', 'R']);
var ndwi = naip.normalizedDifference(['G', 'N']);

// Create some binary images from thresholds on the indices.
// This threshold is designed to detect bare land.
var bare1 = ndvi.lt(0.2).and(ndwi.lt(0.3));
// This detects bare land with lower sensitivity. It also detects shadows.
var bare2 = ndvi.lt(0.2).and(ndwi.lt(0.8));

// Define visualization parameters for the spectral indices.
var ndviViz = {min: -1, max: 1, palette: ['FF0000', '00FF00']};
var ndwiViz = {min: 0.5, max: 1, palette: ['00FFFF', '0000FF']};

// Mask and mosaic visualization images.  The last layer is on top.
var mosaic = ee.ImageCollection([
  // NDWI > 0.5 is water.  Visualize it with a blue palette.
  ndwi.updateMask(ndwi.gte(0.5)).visualize(ndwiViz),
  // NDVI > 0.2 is vegetation.  Visualize it with a green palette.
  ndvi.updateMask(ndvi.gte(0.2)).visualize(ndviViz),
  // Visualize bare areas with shadow (bare2 but not bare1) as gray.
  bare2.updateMask(bare2.and(bare1.not())).visualize({palette: ['AAAAAA']}),
  // Visualize the other bare areas as white.
  bare1.updateMask(bare1).visualize({palette: ['FFFFFF']}),
]).mosaic();
Map.addLayer(mosaic, {}, 'Visualization mosaic');

To make a composite which maximizes an arbitrary band in the input, use imageCollection.qualityMosaic(). The qualityMosaic() method sets each pixel in the composite based on which image in the collection has a maximum value for the specified band. For example, the following code demonstrates making a greenest pixel composite and a recent value composite:

Code Editor (JavaScript)

// Define a function that scales and masks Landsat 8 surface reflectance images.
function prepSrL8(image) {
  // Develop masks for unwanted pixels (fill, cloud, cloud shadow).
  var qaMask = image.select('QA_PIXEL').bitwiseAnd(parseInt('11111', 2)).eq(0);
  var saturationMask = image.select('QA_RADSAT').eq(0);

  // Apply the scaling factors to the appropriate bands.
  var getFactorImg = function(factorNames) {
    var factorList = image.toDictionary().select(factorNames).values();
    return ee.Image.constant(factorList);
  };
  var scaleImg = getFactorImg([
    'REFLECTANCE_MULT_BAND_.|TEMPERATURE_MULT_BAND_ST_B10']);
  var offsetImg = getFactorImg([
    'REFLECTANCE_ADD_BAND_.|TEMPERATURE_ADD_BAND_ST_B10']);
  var scaled = image.select('SR_B.|ST_B10').multiply(scaleImg).add(offsetImg);

  // Replace original bands with scaled bands and apply masks.
  return image.addBands(scaled, null, true)
    .updateMask(qaMask).updateMask(saturationMask);
}

// This function masks clouds and adds quality bands to Landsat 8 images.
var addQualityBands = function(image) {
  // Normalized difference vegetation index.
  var ndvi = image.normalizedDifference(['SR_B5', 'SR_B4']);
  // Image timestamp as milliseconds since Unix epoch.
  var millis = ee.Image(image.getNumber('system:time_start'))
                   .rename('millis').toFloat();
  return prepSrL8(image).addBands([ndvi, millis]);
};

// Load a 2014 Landsat 8 ImageCollection.
// Map the cloud masking and quality band function over the collection.
var collection = ee.ImageCollection('LANDSAT/LC08/C02/T1_L2')
  .filterDate('2014-06-01', '2014-12-31')
  .map(addQualityBands);

// Create a cloud-free, most recent value composite.
var recentValueComposite = collection.qualityMosaic('millis');

// Create a greenest pixel composite.
var greenestPixelComposite = collection.qualityMosaic('nd');

// Display the results.
Map.setCenter(-122.374, 37.8239, 12); // San Francisco Bay
var vizParams = {bands: ['SR_B5', 'SR_B4', 'SR_B3'], min: 0, max: 0.4};
Map.addLayer(recentValueComposite, vizParams, 'Recent value composite');
Map.addLayer(greenestPixelComposite, vizParams, 'Greenest pixel composite');

// Compare to a cloudy image in the collection.
var cloudy = ee.Image('LANDSAT/LC08/C02/T1_TOA/LC08_044034_20140825');
Map.addLayer(cloudy, {bands: ['B5', 'B4', 'B3'], min: 0, max: 0.4}, 'Cloudy');

Use the Code Editor Inspector tab to check pixel values at different locations in the composites. Observe that the millis band (timestamp) varies by location, indicating that different pixels come from different times.