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Where can I find details on how image.cumulativeCost() function computes a costmap in Google Earth Engine? Is there a way to view the source code of this function?

Lui
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1 Answers1

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Unfortunately, Google Earth Engine is not open source (except for the client libraries, of course, which do not contain any of the algorithms except a little bit of geometry preprocessing).

If the documentation is unclear about what an algorithm does (as opposed to how that is implemented) then you can file a request for the documentation to be improved. It will help if you specify exactly what you'd like to be added (short of the source code); it can be harder for people who already know all about how something works to consider what needs to be documented for someone who doesn't.

Kevin Reid
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  • I am wondering what the documentation exactly means by "nearest source location"? 1) "nearest" in terms of "the closest starting pixel, linearly computed" or 2) "nearest" in terms of "the closest in terms of cumulative cost". For my analysis I would like to know if the algorithm already reduces the number of potential routes in advance (by choosing only 1 starting point in advance) OR if it first tries the routes from one pixel to all possible starting points, and then takes the value to the starting pixel with the lowest total cost. – Lui Feb 09 '21 at 15:43
  • @Lui Please post that as a separate question — that way, other people with the same question or who know the answer can find it easily. Comments are best for _discussing improving the answer_ and in this case you have a different question. – Kevin Reid Feb 09 '21 at 17:56