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GDAL-RASTER-MOSAIC(1)		      GDAL		   GDAL-RASTER-MOSAIC(1)

NAME
     gdal-raster-mosaic - Build a mosaic

     Added in version 3.11.

SYNOPSIS
	Usage: gdal raster mosaic [OPTIONS] <INPUTS>... <OUTPUT>

	Build a mosaic, either virtual (VRT) or materialized.

	Positional arguments:
	  -i, --input <INPUTS>						  Input raster datasets (or specify a @<filename> to point to a file containing filenames) [1.. values] [required] [not available in pipelines]
	  -o, --output <OUTPUT> 					  Output raster dataset [required] [not available in pipelines]

	Common Options:
	  -h, --help							  Display help message and exit
	  --json-usage							  Display usage as JSON document and exit
	  --config <KEY>=<VALUE>					  Configuration option [may be repeated]
	  -q, --quiet							  Quiet mode (no progress bar or warning message) [not available in pipelines]

	Options:
	  -f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>		  Output format ("GDALG" allowed) [not available in pipelines]
	  --co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> 			  Creation option [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines]
	  --overwrite							  Whether overwriting existing output dataset is allowed [not available in pipelines]
									  Mutually exclusive with --append
	  --append							  Append as a subdataset to existing output [not available in pipelines]
									  Mutually exclusive with --overwrite
	  -b, --band <BAND>						  Input band(s) (1-based index) [may be repeated]
	  --absolute-path						  Whether the path to the input datasets should be stored as an absolute path
	  --resolution <xres>,<yres>|same|average|common|highest|lowest>  Target resolution (in destination CRS units) (default: same)
	  --bbox <BBOX> 						  Target bounding box as xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax (in destination CRS units)
	  --target-aligned-pixels					  Round target extent to target resolution
	  --input-nodata <INPUT-NODATA> 				  Set nodata values for input bands. [1.. values]
	  --output-nodata <OUTPUT-NODATA>				  Set nodata values at the destination band level. [1.. values]
	  --hide-nodata 						  Makes the destination band not report the NoData.
	  --add-alpha							  Adds an alpha mask band to the destination when the source raster have none.
	  --pixel-function <PIXEL-FUNCTION>				  Specify a pixel function to calculate output value from overlapping inputs. PIXEL-FUNCTION=area|argmax|argmin|cmul|complex|conj|dB|dB2amp|dB2pow|diff|div|exp|expression|geometric_mean|harmonic_mean|imag|intensity|interpolate_exp|interpolate_linear|inv|log10|max|mean|median|min|mod|mode|mul|norm_diff|phase|polar|pow|quantile|real|reclassify|replace_nodata|round|scale|sqrt|sum
	  --pixel-function-arg <NAME>=<VALUE>				  Specify argument(s) to pass to the pixel function [may be repeated]

	Advanced Options:
	  --if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT>				  Input formats [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines]
	  --oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE>				  Open options [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines]

DESCRIPTION
     This  program builds a mosaic of a list of input GDAL datasets, that can be
     either a virtual mosaic in the VRT (Virtual Dataset) format, or in  a  more
     conventional raster format such as GeoTIFF.

     Wildcards	'*',  '?'  or  '[']  of  VSIGlob() can be used for input dataset
     names, even on files located on  network  file  systems  such  as	/vsis3/,
     /vsigs/,  /vsiaz/,  etc.  Alternatively if a input dataset name is prefixed
     by the @ character, it will be  assumed  to  contain  the	list  of  actual
     dataset names (one per line) to use as input datasets.

     gdal  raster  mosaic does some checks to ensure that all files that will be
     put in the resulting file have similar characteristics:  number  of  bands,
     projection,  color interpretation, etc. If not, files that do not match the
     common characteristics will be skipped.

     Starting with GDAL 3.12, a function (e.g., min, mean, median) can be speci-
     fied (--pixel-function) to calculate pixel values from overlapping  inputs.
     If no function is specified, or in earlier versions, the order of the input
     list  is  used to determine priority.  Files that are listed at the end are
     the ones from which the content will be fetched. Note that nodata	will  be
     taken  into account to potentially fetch data from lower-priority datasets,
     but currently, alpha channel is not taken into account  to  do  alpha  com-
     positing  (so a source with alpha=0 appearing on top of another source will
     override its content). This might be changed in later versions.

     Stating with GDAL 3.12, this command can also be used as the first step  of
     gdal raster pipeline.

GDALG OUTPUT (ON-THE-FLY / STREAMED DATASET)
     This program supports serializing the command line as a JSON file using the
     GDALG  output  format.   The  resulting file can then be opened as a raster
     dataset using the GDALG: GDAL Streamed  Algorithm	driver,  and  apply  the
     specified pipeline in a on-the-fly / streamed way.

PROGRAM-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
     --absolute-path
	    Added in version 3.12.0.

	    When  writing  a  VRT file, enables writing the absolute path of the
	    input datasets. By default, input filenames are written in	a  rela-
	    tive way with respect to the VRT filename (when possible).

     --add-alpha
	    Adds  an  alpha  mask band to the output when the source raster have
	    none. Mainly useful for RGB sources (or  grey-level  sources).   The
	    alpha  band  is  filled on-the-fly with the value 0 in areas without
	    any source raster, and with value 255 in areas with  source  raster.
	    The  effect  is  that  a  RGBA  viewer will render the areas without
	    source rasters as transparent  and	areas  with  source  rasters  as
	    opaque.

     -b, --band <band>
	    Select  an	input <band> to be processed. Bands are numbered from 1.
	    If input bands not set all bands will be added to the output.   Mul-
	    tiple -b switches may be used to select a set of input bands.

     --bbox <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax>
	    Set  georeferenced	extents  of  output file. The values must be ex-
	    pressed in georeferenced units.  If not specified, the extent of the
	    output is the minimum bounding box of the  set  of	source	rasters.
	    Pixels  within  the extent of the output but not covered by a source
	    raster will be read as valid pixels with a value of  zero  unless  a
	    NODATA  value  is  specified  using --output-nodata or an alpha mask
	    band is added with --add-alpha.

     --hide-nodata
	    Even if any band contains nodata value, giving this option makes the
	    output band not report the NoData. Useful when you want  to  control
	    the  background  color  of	the  dataset.  By  using  along with the
	    --add-alpha option, you can prepare a dataset which  doesn't  report
	    nodata value but is transparent in areas with no data.

     --input-nodata <value>[,<value>]...
	    Set  nodata values for input bands (different values can be supplied
	    for each band).  If the option is not specified, the  intrinsic  no-
	    data  settings  on the source datasets will be used (if they exist).
	    The value set by this option is written in	the  NODATA  element  of
	    each ComplexSource element.

     --output-nodata <value>[,<value>]...
	    Set  nodata values at the output band level (different values can be
	    supplied for each band).  If more than one value  is  supplied,  all
	    values  should be quoted to keep them together as a single operating
	    system argument (Example 1). If the option is not specified, intrin-
	    sic nodata settings on the first dataset will be used (if  they  ex-
	    ist). The value set by this option is written in the NoDataValue el-
	    ement  of  each VRTRasterBand element. Use a value of None to ignore
	    intrinsic nodata settings on the source datasets.

     --pixel-function
	    Specify a function name to calculate a value  from	overlapping  in-
	    puts.   For  a list of available pixel functions, see Built-in Pixel
	    Functions.	If no function is specified, values will be  taken  from
	    the last overlapping input.

	    Added in version 3.12.

     --pixel-function-arg
	    Specify  an argument to be provided to a pixel function, in the for-
	    mat <NAME>=<VALUE>. Multiple arguments may be specified by repeating
	    this option.

	    Added in version 3.12.

     --resolution {<xres,yres>|same|highest|lowest|average}
	    In case the resolution of all input  files	is  not  the  same,  the
	    --resolution  flag	enables  the  user to control the way the output
	    resolution is computed.

	    same, the default, checks that all source rasters have the same res-
	    olution and errors out when this is not the case.

	    highest will pick the smallest values of pixel dimensions within the
	    set of source rasters.

	    lowest will pick the largest values of pixel dimensions  within  the
	    set of source rasters.

	    average  will  compute an average of pixel dimensions within the set
	    of source rasters.

	    common determines the greatest common divisor of  the  source  pixel
	    dimensions, e.g. 0.2 for source pixel dimensions of 0.4 and 0.6.

	    <xres>,<yres>.  The values must be expressed in georeferenced units.
	    Both must be positive values.

     --target-aligned-pixels
	    (target aligned pixels) align the coordinates of the extent  of  the
	    output file to the values of the --resolution, such that the aligned
	    extent  includes  the  minimum  extent.  Alignment means that xmin /
	    resx, ymin / resy, xmax / resx and ymax / resy are integer values.

STANDARD OPTIONS
     --append
	    Append input raster as a new subdataset to an existing output  file.
	    Only  works  with  drivers	that  support adding subdatasets such as
	    GTiff -- GeoTIFF File Format and GPKG -- GeoPackage raster This also
	    creates the output dataset if it does not exist yet.

     --co, --creation-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
	    Many formats have one or more optional creation options that can  be
	    used  to  control  particulars about the file created. For instance,
	    the GeoTIFF driver supports creation options to control compression,
	    and whether the file should be tiled.

	    May be repeated.

	    The creation options available vary by format driver, and some  sim-
	    ple  formats have no creation options at all. A list of options sup-
	    ported for a format can be listed with the	--formats  command  line
	    option but the documentation for the format is the definitive source
	    of	information on driver creation options.  See Raster drivers for-
	    mat specific documentation for legal creation options for each  for-
	    mat.

     --if, --input-format <format>
	    Format/driver  name to be attempted to open the input file(s). It is
	    generally not necessary to specify it, but it can be  used	to  skip
	    automatic  driver detection, when it fails to select the appropriate
	    driver.  This option can be repeated several times to  specify  sev-
	    eral  candidate  drivers.  Note that it does not force those drivers
	    to open the dataset. In particular, some drivers  have  requirements
	    on file extensions.

	    May be repeated.

     --oo, --open-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
	    Dataset open option (format specific).

	    May be repeated.

     -f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
	    Which  output  raster  format to use. Allowed values may be given by
	    gdal --formats | grep raster | grep rw | sort

     --overwrite
	    Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.   Other-
	    wise,  by default, gdal errors out if the target file or dataset al-
	    ready exists.

RETURN STATUS CODE
     The program returns status code 0 in case of success, and non-zero in  case
     of  error (non-blocking errors emitted as warnings are considered as a suc-
     cessful execution).

EXAMPLES
   Example 1: Make a virtual mosaic with blue background colour (RGB: 0 0 255)
	gdal raster mosaic --hide-nodata --output-nodata=0,0,255 doq/*.tif doq_index.vrt

   Example 2: Create a Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) mosaic from all GeoTIFFs in
     a folder
     Because the size of the resulting GeoTIFF will  be  more  than  4	GB,  the
     BIGTIFF=YES creation option is used.

	gdal raster mosaic --output-format COG --creation-option BIGTIFF=YES *.tif mosaic.tif

AUTHOR
     Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>

COPYRIGHT
     1998-2026

				  Jun 05, 2026		   GDAL-RASTER-MOSAIC(1)

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