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ee.FeatureCollection.randomColumn

  • This function adds a column of deterministic pseudorandom numbers to a FeatureCollection.

  • The random numbers can follow either a 'uniform' distribution (range [0, 1)) or a 'normal' distribution (mean 0, standard deviation 1).

  • Arguments control the column name, the seed for reproducibility, the distribution type, and the properties used to uniquely identify elements for number generation.

  • The function returns the modified FeatureCollection with the added random column.

 Adds a column of deterministic pseudorandom numbers to a collection. The outputs are double-precision floating point numbers. When using the 'uniform' distribution (default), outputs are in the range of [0, 1). Using the 'normal' distribution, outputs have μ=0, σ=1, but have no explicit limits.

UsageReturns
FeatureCollection.randomColumn(columnName,seed,distribution,rowKeys)FeatureCollection
ArgumentTypeDetails
this:collectionFeatureCollectionThe input collection to which to add a random column.
columnNameString, default: "random"The name of the column to add.
seedLong, default: 0A seed used when generating the random numbers.
distributionString, default: "uniform"The distribution type of random numbers to produce; one of 'uniform' or 'normal'.
rowKeysList, optionalA list of properties that should uniquely and repeatably identify an element of the collection, used to generate the random number. Defaults to [system:index].

Examples

Code Editor (JavaScript)

// FeatureCollection of power plants in Belgium.varfc=ee.FeatureCollection('WRI/GPPD/power_plants').filter('country_lg == "Belgium"');print('N features in collection',fc.size());// Add a uniform distribution random value column to the FeatureCollection.fc=fc.randomColumn();// Randomly split the collection into two sets, 30% and 70% of the total.varrandomSample30=fc.filter('random < 0.3');print('N features in 30% sample',randomSample30.size());varrandomSample70=fc.filter('random >= 0.3');print('N features in 70% sample',randomSample70.size());

Python setup

See the Python Environment page for information on the Python API and usinggeemap for interactive development.

importeeimportgeemap.coreasgeemap

Colab (Python)

# FeatureCollection of power plants in Belgium.fc=ee.FeatureCollection('WRI/GPPD/power_plants').filter('country_lg == "Belgium"')display('N features in collection:',fc.size())# Add a uniform distribution random value column to the FeatureCollection.fc=fc.randomColumn()# Randomly split the collection into two sets, 30% and 70% of the total.random_sample_30=fc.filter('random < 0.3')display('N features in 30% sample:',random_sample_30.size())random_sample_70=fc.filter('random >= 0.3')display('N features in 70% sample:',random_sample_70.size())

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Last updated 2025-04-01 UTC.