---
id: xee
version: "0.1.2"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# xee — A Google Earth Engine extension for Xarray.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 90.9K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Xee bridges Google Earth Engine and the scientific Python ecosystem by implementing an Xarray backend engine. It lets you treat Earth Engine Image and ImageCollection objects as lazy Xarray Datasets, deferring computation until you explicitly request data. This means you can use familiar Xarray, NumPy, and Dask workflows on Earth observation data without downloading entire collections locally.

The package handles the complexity of grid definition, coordinate reference systems, and parallel pixel retrieval through Earth Engine's API. It supports flexible output grids (fixed resolution or fixed shape), maintains CF-compliant dimension ordering (time, y, x), and integrates with Dask for distributed computation. You authenticate once to Earth Engine, then open datasets by specifying grid parameters—Xee handles lazy loading and chunked retrieval in the background.

Use it for:

- Load monthly climate data as an Xarray Dataset and perform time-series analysis without downloading gigabytes locally.
- Define a fixed-resolution grid over a region of interest and retrieve satellite imagery in parallel chunks.
- Combine multiple Earth Engine collections into a single Xarray Dataset for multi-source geospatial analysis.
- Prototype Earth observation workflows interactively using Xarray's labeled arrays and familiar operations.
- Build production pipelines that lazily stream Earth Engine data into scientific Python tools.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Xee is an Xarray backend that lets you open Google Earth Engine Image and ImageCollection objects as lazy Xarray Datasets, enabling analysis of Earth observation data using the scientific Python stack.

Yes, if you work with Google Earth Engine data and want to use the scientific Python stack. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and low install friction. The v0.1.0 breaking changes are a consideration—check the migration guide if upgrading—but the permissive license and modern Python support (3.11+) make it a solid choice for geospatial analysis workflows.

## Install

pip install xee
uv add xee
poetry add xee

## Installing xee

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel. Actively maintained with a recent release (31 days old) and active repository status. Requires Python 3.11 or later and five runtime dependencies: xarray, earthengine-api, pyproj, affine, and shapely.

License in practice: Apache 2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; you must include a copy of the license and state significant changes, but there are no copyleft obligations.

Quickstart:

pip install xee

import xarray as xr
from xee import helpers

# After earthengine authenticate and project setup
ic = ee.ImageCollection('ECMWF/ERA5_LAND/MONTHLY_AGGR')
grid = helpers.extract_grid_params(ic)
ds = xr.open_dataset(ic, engine='ee', **grid)

Requires Google Earth Engine authentication via earthengine authenticate and a registered Google Cloud project ID.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the breaking changes in v0.1.0 affect common workflows or only edge cases
- Performance characteristics and memory overhead for typical petabyte-scale queries
- Dask integration specifics and recommended chunking strategies

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 90.9K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

earth engine xarray backend, google earth engine python, lazy satellite data loading, geospatial xarray integration, earth observation data access, petabyte scale earth data, xarray earth engine, earth-observation, geospatial, lazy-loading

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