In 2009-10, Rebecca Moore, Matt Hancher, Noel Gorelick, Mike Dixon, Simon Ilyushchenko, and David Thau began work on Google Earth Engine, with the initial goal of addressing global deforestation by building a platform for planetary-scale imagery analysis. The team built a series of increasingly-functional prototypes in close collaboration with remote sensing science experts who identified the desired capabilities for the platform. Google Earth Engine was first formally introduced to the world at the COP16 International Climate Conference in 2010. Since then, the Earth Engine team has grown, many new features and datasets have been added, and today Earth Engine has more than 30,000 users in 165 countries.
Google Earth Engine has primarily been used by scientists and researchers developing algorithms for imagery and geospatial analysis through the use of the Earth Engine Code Editor. More than 100 scientific journal articles have been published applying Earth Engine across a wide variety of disciplines, from mapping and measuring global forest change and global surface water change to estimating evapotranspiration, agricultural crop yields, urban extent, sea-level rise impacts, biodiversity habitat suitability, earthquake and malaria risk. ......continued ...