Logging in to Google Earth Engine

Turn-in for grading: This guide includes material that must be turned in for grading. Complete the required deliverables and submit them as instructed by the course.

What is Google Earth Engine?

Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a cloud-based platform that lets you access and analyze massive amounts of satellite imagery and geospatial data without needing a powerful computer. Think of it like a library in the cloud where you can browse and analyze global imagery from the past few decades in real-time.

Important concepts:

Cloud-based means the computing happens on Google's servers, not your laptop
Satellite imagery is pictures of Earth taken from space
Geospatial analysis is analyzing data about locations on Earth

Why Do We Need a Google Cloud Project?

Google Earth Engine operates through something called a "Google Cloud Project" — this is essentially your account workspace within Google's cloud system. It's like opening a lab notebook where your GEE work gets organized and tracked. You need this project to:

Access satellite data
Run your analyses
Keep track of your work
Get compute resources (processing power) from Google

Learning Objectives

By the end of this guide, you will be able to:

Log into Google Earth Engine
Create your first Google Cloud Project
Register your project for non-commercial educational use
Enable the Earth Engine API (the tool that lets you use GEE)
Select your project so you can start analyzing data
Share your work with instructors and classmates

Required Turn-In for Week 00

For Week 00, you are not being asked to write a full Earth Engine analysis from scratch. Instead, the goal is to confirm that you can open, run, annotate, and share a script in the Earth Engine Code Editor.

You must submit:

A working Google Earth Engine "Get Link" URL

That link must point to a script that:

Was opened from a sample script in the Google Earth Engine Data Catalog
Includes a comment with your name
Includes at least one comment explaining what you did
Includes inline comments describing any changes you made, if you chose to modify the sample script

If you are feeling adventurous, you are welcome to change visualization settings, dates, map location, or other parts of the sample script. If you do, add inline comments so your instructor can easily see what you changed.

Step-by-Step: Setting Up Your Google Earth Engine Account

Step 1: Access Google Earth Engine

Go to https://code.earthengine.google.com/
Log in using your Stanford SUNetID credentials
Accept the terms of service

You should now see the Code Editor interface. This is where you'll write scripts and analyze satellite data. The interface has several key areas:

Code Editor (center/top) - where you write your code
Map (center/bottom) - where results are displayed
Inspector,Console,Tasks (right/top) - where messages and results appear
Scripts,Docs,Assets (left/top) - where you can store data

Step 2: Create a New Google Cloud Project

Now you need to create a Google Cloud Project. This is like creating a new workspace where your GEE account lives.

Click on your Profile Icon in the top right corner of the Code Editor

Select Register a new Cloud Project
Enter a Project name (be descriptive, like SUNetID_Earthsys144 or SUNetID_GIS-Analysis-Spring2026, and use your SUNetID, so that it is easy to search for in the GCP Folder!)

Click on the Parent resource > Browse link
Select "GEE Student Projects" from the list

Click the Create button to mint your new project

The system will now create your project. This may take a moment.

Step 3: Access the Configuration Dashboard

Once your project is created, you should automatically go to the Configuration Dashboard. If not:

Click on your Profile Icon again
Select Select Project
Choose the project you just created
Click Select

Note: The Configuration Dashboard is where you configure permissions and settings for your project. Make sure you're viewing the correct project name before proceeding.

Step 4: Register Your Project for Non-Commercial (Educational) Use

For this course, you'll register your project as a non-commercial educational project, which gives you access to GEE's data and computing power without needing a credit card.

In the Configuration Dashboard, click on See if you are eligible for non-commercial use > Get Started

Fill out the registration form with information about your use case:
- Select "Research & Education" as your primary use case
- Confirm that your use is non-commercial

Click Check Eligibility
When asked to choose a compute tier, select "Community"
- Community tier is designed for students and small research projects
- It provides free access with reasonable computing limits

Complete the remaining registration steps by filling out any additional forms

Click the Register button to complete the process

Step 5: Enable the Earth Engine API

After registration completes, a pop-up window should appear asking you to enable the Earth Engine API. The API is what actually lets your project use Google Earth Engine.

Click the Enable link in the pop-up window

You may be taken to a Google Cloud Console page — this is normal
If prompted, confirm the API enablement

Step 6: Select Your Project in Earth Engine

Now you need to tell the Code Editor which project to use.

Return to the Code Editor window
Click on your Profile Icon (top right)
Select Select > Choose a Cloud Project

Find and select the project you just created

Click the Select button

Congratulations! Your project is now active in the Code Editor.

Step 7: Test Your Setup

To verify everything is working:

You should see your project name in the top-right corner of the Code Editor
Open the Google Earth Engine Data Catalog: https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets
Choose any dataset page that includes example code
- Good beginner options include Landsat, Sentinel-2, MODIS, or NAIP datasets
Open the sample script in the Code Editor, using the Open In Code Editor button

Add a short comment near the top of the script with your name, for example:

// Your Name
// Week 00 Earth Engine check-in script
// I opened this from the Earth Engine Data Catalog and ran it successfully.

If you make any changes to the sample script, add inline comments directly above the lines you changed so the changes are easy to identify, for example:
```
// I changed the map center to look at California instead of the default location.
Map.setCenter(-120.0, 37.0, 6);
```
Click Run to execute the script
- You should see results appear on the map within a few seconds
Save the script if prompted
This annotated sample script is what you will share for credit
If things stop working and you can't figure out why, just reload teh script from the Data Catalog and try again!

When submitting assignments, you'll need to share your GEE scripts with your instructor. Here's how:

In the Code Editor, click the Get Link button (top menu)
Copy the link that appears
By default, this creates a "frozen" copy of your script that lets others see and troubleshoot your code.
Test the link by opening it in an incognito window to make sure it's accessible
Use this link for your homework submission

For this Week 00 submission, make sure the shared script includes:

Your name in a comment
A brief note that you opened and ran a sample from the Earth Engine Data Catalog
Inline comments marking any changes you made to the original sample

Always test your shared links before submitting
Include a brief description in your script comments explaining what it does
Keep your comments simple and direct so a grader can quickly see your name and any edits

10 - TURN IN - Logging in to Google Earth Engine

Logging in to Google Earth Engine

What is Google Earth Engine?

Why Do We Need a Google Cloud Project?

Learning Objectives

Required Turn-In for Week 00