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GDAL-VECTOR-GRID(1) GDAL GDAL-VECTOR-GRID(1)

NAME
gdal-vector-grid - Create a regular grid from scattered points

Added in version 3.11.

SYNOPSIS
Usage: gdal vector grid <SUBCOMMAND> [OPTIONS]
where <SUBCOMMAND> is one of:
- average: Create a regular grid from scattered points using moving average interpolation.
- average-distance: Create a regular grid from scattered points using the average distance between the grid node (center of the search ellipse) and all of the data points in the search ellipse.
- average-distance-points: Create a regular grid from scattered points using the average distance between the data points in the search ellipse.
- count: Create a regular grid from scattered points using the number of points in the search ellipse.
- invdist: Create a regular grid from scattered points using weighted inverse distance interpolation.
- invdistnn: Create a regular grid from scattered points using weighted inverse distance interpolation nearest neighbour.
- linear: Create a regular grid from scattered points using linear/barycentric interpolation.
- maximum: Create a regular grid from scattered points using the maximum value in the search ellipse.
- minimum: Create a regular grid from scattered points using the minimum value in the search ellipse.
- nearest: Create a regular grid from scattered points using nearest neighbor interpolation.
- range: Create a regular grid from scattered points using the difference between the minimum and maximum values in the search ellipse.

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]

DESCRIPTION
This program creates a regular grid (raster) from the scattered data
read from a vector dataset. Input data will be interpolated to fill
grid nodes with values, you can choose from various interpolation meth-
ods.

It is possible to set the GDAL_NUM_THREADS configuration option to par-
allelize the processing. The value to specify is the number of worker
threads, or ALL_CPUS to use all the cores/CPUs of the computer.

OPTIONS COMMON TO ALL ALGORITHMS
Standard options
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
Which output vector format to use. Allowed values may be given
by gdal --formats | grep vector | grep rw | sort

--co <NAME>=<VALUE>
Many formats have one or more optional dataset creation options
that can be used to control particulars about the file created.
For instance, the GeoPackage driver supports creation options to
control the version.

May be repeated.

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

Note that dataset creation options are different from layer cre-
ation options.

--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.
Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or
dataset already exists.

-l, --layer, --layer-name <LAYER-NAME>
Indicates the layer(s) from the datasource that will be used for
input features. May be specified multiple times

--sql <SQL>|@<filename>
An SQL statement to be evaluated against the datasource to pro-
duce a virtual layer of features to be burned in. The @filename
syntax can be used to indicate that the content is in the
pointed filename.

--extent <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax>
Set georeferenced extents. The values must be expressed in geo-
referenced units. If not specified, the extent of the output
file will be the extent of the vector layers.

--resolution <xres>,<yres>
Set target resolution. The values must be expressed in georefer-
enced units. Both must be positive values. Note that --resolu-
tion cannot be used with --size.

--size <xsize>,<ysize>
Set output file size in pixels and lines. Note that --size can-
not be used with --resolution.

--ot, --datatype, --output-data-type <OUTPUT-DATA-TYPE>
Force the output bands to be of the indicated data type. De-
faults to Float64.

--crs <CRS>
Override the projection for the output file. If not specified,
the projection of the input vector file will be used if avail-
able. When using this option, no reprojection of features from
the CRS of the input vector to the specified CRS of the output
raster, so use only this option to correct an invalid source
CRS. The <CRS> may be any of the usual GDAL/OGR forms, complete
WKT, PROJ.4, EPSG:n or a file containing the WKT.

--bbox <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax>
Select only points contained within the specified bounding box.

--zfield <field_name>
Identifies an attribute field on the features to be used to get
a Z value from. This value overrides the Z value read from the
feature geometry record (naturally, if you have a Z value in the
geometry, otherwise you have no choice and should specify a
field name containing a Z value).

--zincrease <increase_value>
Addition to the attribute field on the features to be used to
get a Z value from. The addition should be the same unit as the
Z value. The result value will be Z value + Z increase value.
The default value is 0.

--zmultiply <multiply_value>
This is multiplication ratio for the Z field. This can be used
for a shift from e.g. feet to meters or from elevation to depth.
The result value will be (Z value + Z increase value) * Z multi-
ply value. The default value is 1.

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

May be repeated.

--if <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 ap-
propriate driver. This option can be repeated several times to
specify several 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.

INVDIST ALGORITHM
Interpolation using an inverse distance to a power.

When --min-points-per-quadrant or --max-points-per-quadrant is speci-
fied, the actual algorithm used is "invdistnn".

Options
--power <val>
Weighting power (default 2.0).

--smoothing <val>
Smoothing parameter (default 0.0).

--radius <val>
Set first and second radius (mutually exclusive with --radius1
and --radius2. By default, uses the whole point array.

--radius1 <val>
The first radius (X axis if rotation angle is 0) of the search
ellipse. By default, uses the whole point array.

--radius2 <val>
The second radius (Y axis if rotation angle is 0) of the search
ellipse. By default, uses the whole point array.

--angle <val>
Angle of search ellipse rotation in degrees (counter clockwise,
default is 0).

--max-points <val>
Maximum number of data points to use. Do not search for more
points than this number. This may only used if the search el-
lipse is set (both radii are non-zero). By default, no limita-
tion.

--min-points <val>
Minimum number of data points to use. If less points in the
search ellipse than the specified value are found, the grid node
considered empty and will be filled with the nodata value. This
may only used if the search ellipse is set (both radii are
non-zero). By default, no limitation.

--max-points-per-quadrant <val>
Maximum number of data points to use per quadrant. By default,
no limitation. When specified, the algorithm will only take
into account up to max_points_per_quadrant points for each of
the right-top, left-top, right-bottom and right-top quadrant
relative to the point being interpolated.

--min-points-per-quadrant <val>
Minimum number of data points to use per quadrant. By default,
no limitation. When specified, the algorithm will collect at
least min_points_per_quadrant points for each of the right-top,
left-top, right-bottom and right-top quadrant relative to the
point being interpolated.

--nodata <val>
Nodata value to fill empty points (default is 0).

INVDISTNN ALGORITHM
Interpolation using an inverse distance to a power with nearest neigh-
bor searching, ideal when --max-points is used.

When --min-points-per-quadrant or --max-points-per-quadrant is speci-
fied, the search will start with the closest point to the point being
interpolated from the first quadrant, then the closest point to the
point being interpolated from the second quadrant, etc. up to the 4th
quadrant, and will continue with the next closest point in the first
quadrant, etc. until --max-points and/or --max-points-per-quadrant
thresholds are reached.

Required option
--radius <val>
Set search radius (mutually exclusive with --radius1 and
--radius2. Required.

Options
--power <val>
Weighting power (default 2.0).

--smoothing <val>
Smoothing parameter (default 0.0).

--nodata <val>
Nodata value to fill empty points (default is 0).

AVERAGE ALGORITHM
Interpolation using a moving average algorithm.

Options
--radius <val>
Set first and second radius (mutually exclusive with --radius1
and --radius2. By default, uses the whole point array.

--radius1 <val>
The first radius (X axis if rotation angle is 0) of the search
ellipse. By default, uses the whole point array.

--radius2 <val>
The second radius (Y axis if rotation angle is 0) of the search
ellipse. By default, uses the whole point array.

--angle <val>
Angle of search ellipse rotation in degrees (counter clockwise,
default is 0).

--nodata <val>
Nodata value to fill empty points (default is 0).

NEAREST ALGORITHM
Interpolation using nearest neighbor algorithm.

Options
--radius <val>
Set first and second radius (mutually exclusive with --radius1
and --radius2. By default, uses the whole point array.

--radius1 <val>
The first radius (X axis if rotation angle is 0) of the search
ellipse. By default, uses the whole point array.

--radius2 <val>
The second radius (Y axis if rotation angle is 0) of the search
ellipse. By default, uses the whole point array.

--angle <val>
Angle of search ellipse rotation in degrees (counter clockwise,
default is 0).

--nodata <val>
Nodata value to fill empty points (default is 0).

LINEAR ALGORITHM
Linear interpolation by computing a Delaunay triangulation of the point
cloud, finding in which triangle of the triangulation the point is, and
by doing linear interpolation from its barycentric coordinates within
the triangle. If the point is not in any triangle, depending on the
radius, the algorithm will use the value of the nearest point or the
nodata value.

Options
--radius <val>
In case the point to be interpolated does not fit into a trian-
gle of the Delaunay triangulation, use that maximum distance to
search a nearest neighbour, or use nodata otherwise. If unset,
the search distance is infinite. If set to 0, nodata value will
be always used.

--nodata <val>
Nodata value to fill empty points (default is 0).

DATA METRICS ALGORITHMS
Besides the interpolation functionality gdal vector grid can be used to
compute some data metrics using the specified window and output grid
geometry. These metrics are:

• minimum: Minimum value found in grid node search ellipse.

• maximum: Maximum value found in grid node search ellipse.

• range: A difference between the minimum and maximum values found in
grid node search ellipse.

• count: A number of data points found in grid node search ellipse.

• average-distance: An average distance between the grid node (center
of the search ellipse) and all of the data points found in grid node
search ellipse.

• average-distance-points: An average distance between the data points
found in grid node search ellipse. The distance between each pair of
points within ellipse is calculated and average of all distances is
set as a grid node value.

All the metrics have the same set of options:

--radius <val>
Set first and second radius (mutually exclusive with --radius1
and --radius2. By default, uses the whole point array.

--radius1 <val>
The first radius (X axis if rotation angle is 0) of the search
ellipse. By default, uses the whole point array.

--radius2 <val>
The second radius (Y axis if rotation angle is 0) of the search
ellipse. By default, uses the whole point array.

--angle <val>
Angle of search ellipse rotation in degrees (counter clockwise,
default is 0).

--min-points-per-quadrant <val>
Minimum number of data points to use per quadrant. By default,
no limitation. If that number is not reached, the point being
interpolated will be set with the nodata value. When specified,
the algorithm will collect at least min_points_per_quadrant
points for each of the right-top, left-top, right-bottom and
right-top quadrant relative to the point being interpolated.

--nodata <val>
Nodata value to fill empty points (default is 0).

READING COMMA SEPARATED VALUES
Often you have a text file with a list of comma separated XYZ values to
work with (so called CSV file). You can easily use that kind of data
source in gdal vector grid. All you need is to create a virtual dataset
header (VRT) for your CSV file and use it as an input datasource for
gdal vector grid. You can find details on the VRT format on the VRT --
Virtual Format description page.

Here is a small example. Let's say we have a CSV file called dem.csv
containing

Easting,Northing,Elevation
86943.4,891957,139.13
87124.3,892075,135.01
86962.4,892321,182.04
87077.6,891995,135.01
...

For the above data we will create a dem.vrt header with the following
content:

<OGRVRTDataSource>
<OGRVRTLayer name="dem">
<SrcDataSource>dem.csv</SrcDataSource>
<GeometryType>wkbPoint</GeometryType>
<GeometryField encoding="PointFromColumns" x="Easting" y="Northing" z="Elevation"/>
</OGRVRTLayer>
</OGRVRTDataSource>

This description specifies so called 2.5D geometry with three coordi-
nates X, Y and Z. The Z value will be used for interpolation. Now you
can use dem.vrt with all OGR programs (start with ogrinfo to test
that everything works fine). The datasource will contain a single layer
called "dem" filled with point features constructed from values in
the CSV file. Using this technique you can handle CSV files with
more than three columns, switch columns, etc. OK, now the final step:

gdal vector grid invdist dem.vrt demv.tif

Or, if we do not wish to use a VRT file:

gdal vector grid invdist -l dem -oo X_POSSIBLE_NAMES=Easting \
-oo Y_POSSIBLE_NAMES=Northing --zfield=Elevation dem.csv dem.tif

If your CSV file does not contain column headers then it can be handled
in the VRT file in the following way:

The Comma Separated Value (.csv) description page contains details on
CSV format supported by GDAL.

EXAMPLES
Example 1: Create a raster from a VRT datasource using inverse distance to
a power
gdal vector grid invdist --power=2.0 --smoothing=1.0 --extent=85000,894000,89000,890000 \
--size=400,400 -l dem dem.vrt dem.tif

This example creates a raster TIFF file from the VRT datasource de-
scribed in Reading comma separated values section using the inverse
distance to a power method. Values to interpolate will be read from Z
value of geometry record.

Example 2: Read values to interpolate from an attribute field
gdal vector grid invdist --zfield=Elevation --config GDAL_NUM_THREADS ALL_CPUS \
--power=2.0 --smoothing=1.0 --extent=85000,894000,89000,890000 \
--size=400,400 -l dem dem.vrt dem.tif

This command does the same thing as the previous one, but reads values
to interpolate from the attribute field specified with --zfield option
instead of geometry record. So in this case X and Y coordinates are be-
ing taken from geometry and Z is being taken from the "Elevation"
field. The GDAL_NUM_THREADS is also set to parallelize the computa-
tion.

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

Jul 12, 2025 GDAL-VECTOR-GRID(1)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=gdal-vector-grid&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.0>

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