Exporting Data | Remote Sensing Course

Earth Engine processes data in the cloud, but eventually you need to get results out—whether to share with collaborators, use in other software, or archive for publications.

Learning objectives

Export images to Google Drive, Cloud Storage, and Assets.
Export tables (FeatureCollections) in multiple formats.
Understand the Tasks panel workflow.
Troubleshoot common export issues.

Why it matters

Your analysis must reach its audience. Exports let you bring Earth Engine results into reports, presentations, GIS software, and long-term archives—completing the research workflow.

Why Export?

Earth Engine is powerful for analysis, but sometimes you need to:

Download results for use in other software (ArcGIS, QGIS)
Save processed images for offline viewing
Archive analysis outputs
Share data with colleagues who don't use Earth Engine

Export Destinations

Earth Engine can export to three destinations:

Google Drive: Most common, easy to download
Google Cloud Storage: For large files and automation
Earth Engine Asset: Keep data in Earth Engine for future use

Exporting Images

// Export an image to Google Drive
Export.image.toDrive({
  image: myImage,
  description: 'my_classification_2024',
  folder: 'EarthEngine',        // Folder in your Drive
  region: roi,                   // Geometry defining export area
  scale: 30,                     // Resolution in meters
  maxPixels: 1e13,              // Maximum allowed pixels
  fileFormat: 'GeoTIFF'         // or 'TFRecord'
});

Required Parameters

Parameter	Description
`image`	The image to export
`description`	Name for the task and output file
`region`	Geometry defining the export area
`scale`	Output resolution in meters

Exporting Tables (FeatureCollections)

// Export a FeatureCollection to Drive as a Shapefile
Export.table.toDrive({
  collection: myFeatureCollection,
  description: 'training_points',
  folder: 'EarthEngine',
  fileFormat: 'SHP'  // or 'CSV', 'GeoJSON', 'KML'
});

Supported table formats:

SHP: Shapefile (for ArcGIS, QGIS)
CSV: Comma-separated values (no geometry)
GeoJSON: Web-friendly format
KML: For Google Earth

Exporting to Assets

Keep processed data in Earth Engine for future scripts:

// Export to your Earth Engine Assets
Export.image.toAsset({
  image: processedImage,
  description: 'processed_composite_2024',
  assetId: 'users/yourusername/processed_composite_2024',
  region: roi,
  scale: 30,
  maxPixels: 1e13
});

The Tasks Panel

⚠️ Important: Running an export script does NOT start the export! You must click "Run" in the Tasks panel to actually start the export.

Run your script with the Export command
Look at the Tasks tab (right panel)
Click Run next to your task
Review parameters and confirm
Wait for the task to complete (check progress in Tasks)

Exporting Visualized Images

To export an image as it appears on the map (RGB, stretched), use .visualize():

// Visualize before exporting
var visualized = myImage.visualize({
  bands: ['B4', 'B3', 'B2'],
  min: 0,
  max: 3000
});

Export.image.toDrive({
  image: visualized,
  description: 'rgb_visualization',
  region: roi,
  scale: 30
});

Common Issues

Problem	Solution
Export too large	Increase scale, reduce region, use Cloud Storage
Task fails	Check error in Tasks panel, often memory issues
Multiple TIF files	Normal for large areas - use GIS software to mosaic

Try it: Export an NDVI image

Create a cloud-free NDVI composite and export it:

var roi = ee.Geometry.Rectangle([-82.5, 29.5, -82.0, 30.0]);

var ndvi = ee.ImageCollection('LANDSAT/LC08/C02/T1_L2')
  .filterDate('2023-06-01', '2023-08-31')
  .filterBounds(roi)
  .map(function(img) {
    return img.normalizedDifference(['SR_B5', 'SR_B4']).rename('NDVI');
  })
  .median();

Export.image.toDrive({
  image: ndvi,
  description: 'NDVI_Summer_2023',
  folder: 'EarthEngine',
  region: roi,
  scale: 30,
  maxPixels: 1e9
});

Exporting Data from Earth Engine