Earth Engine

Earth Engine is an online tool from Google that gathers satellite and aerial photos from all over the world in one place and lets you analyze them on the spot. Normally, analyzing satellite imagery means downloading the image files one by one and processing them on your own computer, but imagery covering the entire globe is far too large for a personal computer to handle.

Think of it as a massive library holding decades of maps and photos of the whole world, with a calculator and a workbench built right in. Instead of downloading photos separately, users can run tasks directly inside the library, like "calculate how much forest in this area has shrunk over the past 10 years."

Because of these features, researchers, government agencies, and environmental organizations have used the tool to track changes on the Earth's surface, such as deforestation, shifts in water resources, and urban expansion.

1. Sign up for an account on the Earth Engine website.
2. Access the provided code editor and try running a short script that pulls up satellite imagery for a region and time period you're interested in.
3. Look at the resulting map to see how vegetation or water area in that region has changed over time.