ee.Number.toByte

  • Number.toByte() casts a given Earth Engine Number to an unsigned 8-bit integer, representing values within the range of 0 to 255.

  • When casting floating-point numbers, the decimal precision is lost, resulting in the nearest integer value within the byte range.

  • Input values exceeding the maximum byte value (255) are converted to 255, while values below the minimum (0) are converted to 0.

  • This function is useful for ensuring data is stored in a compact 8-bit format, which can be beneficial for memory management and data transfer efficiency.

 Casts the input value to an unsigned 8-bit integer.

UsageReturns
Number.toByte()Number
ArgumentTypeDetails
this: inputNumberThe input value.

Examples

Code Editor (JavaScript)

// Cast a number to unsigned 8-bit integer: [0, 255].
var number = ee.Number(100);
print('Number:', number);

var byteNumber = number.toByte();
print('Number cast to byte:', byteNumber);


/**
 * Casting numbers to byte that are outside of its range and precision can
 * modify the resulting value, note the behavior of the following scenarios.
 */

// A floating point number cast to byte loses decimal precision.
var float = ee.Number(1.7);
print('Floating point value:', float);

var floatToByte = float.toByte();
print('Floating point value cast to byte:', floatToByte);

// A number greater than byte range max cast to byte becomes byte range max.
var BYTE_MAX = 255;
var outOfRangeHi = ee.Number(BYTE_MAX + 12345);
print('Greater than byte max:', outOfRangeHi);

var outOfRangeHiToByte = outOfRangeHi.toByte();
print('Greater than byte max cast to byte becomes byte max:', outOfRangeHiToByte);

// A number greater than byte range min cast to byte becomes byte range min.
var BYTE_MIN = 0;
var outOfRangeLo = ee.Number(BYTE_MIN - 12345);
print('Less than byte min:', outOfRangeLo);

var outOfRangeLoToByte = outOfRangeLo.toByte();
print('Less than byte min cast to byte becomes byte min:', outOfRangeLoToByte);

Python setup

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

import ee
import geemap.core as geemap

Colab (Python)

# Cast a number to unsigned 8-bit integer: [0, 255].
number = ee.Number(100)
print('Number:', number.getInfo())

byte_number = number.toByte()
print('Number cast to byte:', byte_number.getInfo())


"""Casting numbers to byte that are outside of its range and precision can
modify the resulting value, note the behavior of the following scenarios.
"""

# A floating point number cast to byte loses decimal precision.
float_number = ee.Number(1.7)
print('Floating point value:', float_number.getInfo())

float_to_byte = float_number.toByte()
print('Floating point value cast to byte:', float_to_byte.getInfo())

# A number greater than byte range max cast to byte becomes byte range max.
BYTE_MAX = 255
out_of_range_hi = ee.Number(BYTE_MAX + 12345)
print('Greater than byte max:', out_of_range_hi.getInfo())

out_of_range_hi_to_byte = out_of_range_hi.toByte()
print('Greater than byte max cast to byte becomes byte max:',
      out_of_range_hi_to_byte.getInfo())

# A number greater than byte range min cast to byte becomes byte range min.
BYTE_MIN = 0
out_of_range_lo = ee.Number(BYTE_MIN - 12345)
print('Less than byte min:', out_of_range_lo.getInfo())

out_of_range_lo_to_byte = out_of_range_lo.toByte()
print('Less than byte min cast to byte becomes byte min:',
      out_of_range_lo_to_byte.getInfo())