GDAL-RASTER-FOOTPRINT(1) GDAL GDAL-RASTER-FOOTPRINT(1) NAME gdal-raster-footprint - Compute the footprint of a raster dataset Added in version 3.11. SYNOPSIS Usage: gdal raster footprint [OPTIONS] ... Compute the footprint of a raster dataset. Positional arguments: -i, --input Input raster datasets [may be repeated] [required] [not available in pipelines] -o, --output Output vector 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 = 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 [not available in pipelines] --co, --creation-option = Creation option [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines] --lco, --layer-creation-option = Layer creation option [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines] --append Whether appending to existing layer is allowed [not available in pipelines] --overwrite Whether overwriting existing output dataset is allowed [not available in pipelines] --output-layer Output layer name (default: footprint) -b, --band Input band(s) (1-based index) [may be repeated] --combine-bands Defines how the mask bands of the selected bands are combined to generate a single mask band, before being vectorized.. COMBINE-BANDS=union|intersection (default: union) --overview Which overview level of source file must be used Mutually exclusive with --input-nodata --input-nodata Set nodata values for input bands. [1.. values] Mutually exclusive with --overview --coordinate-system Target coordinate system. COORDINATE-SYSTEM=georeferenced|pixel --output-crs Output CRS --split-multipolygons Whether to split multipolygons as several features each with one single polygon --convex-hull Whether to compute the convex hull of the footprint --densify-distance Maximum distance between 2 consecutive points of the output geometry. --simplify-tolerance Tolerance used to merge consecutive points of the output geometry. --min-ring-area Minimum value for the area of a ring --max-points Maximum number of points of each output geometry (default: 100) --location-field Name of the field where the path of the input dataset will be stored. (default: location) Mutually exclusive with --no-location-field --no-location-field Disable creating a field with the path of the input dataset Mutually exclusive with --location-field --absolute-path Whether the path to the input dataset should be stored as an absolute path Advanced Options: --oo, --open-option = Open options [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines] --if, --input-format Input formats [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines] DESCRIPTION gdal raster footprint computes the footprint of a raster file, taking into account nodata values (or more generally the mask band attached to the raster bands), and generating polygons/multipolygons corresponding to areas where pixels are valid, and write to an output vector file. Since GDAL 3.12, this algorithm can be part of a gdal pipeline. The gdal raster clean-collar utility may be run as a pre-processing step to generate proper mask bands. [image] Example footprint calculated with default options of gdal raster footprint. Post-vectorization geometric operations are applied in the following order: o optional splitting (--split-multipolygons) o optional densification (--densify-distance) o optional reprojection (--output-crs) o optional filtering by minimum ring area (--min-ring-area) o optional application of convex hull (--convex-hull) o optional simplification (--simplify-tolerance) o limitation of number of points (--max-points) Added in version 3.12. 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 vector dataset using the GDALG: GDAL Streamed Algorithm driver, and apply the specified pipeline in a on-the-fly / streamed way. NOTE: However this algorithm is not natively streaming compatible. Consequently a in-memory temporary dataset will be generated, which may cause significant processing time at opening. PROGRAM-SPECIFIC OPTIONS --absolute-path Enables writing the absolute path of the input dataset. By default, the filename is written in the location field exactly as specified on the command line. -b, --band Select an input to be processed. Bands are numbered from 1. Multiple -b switches may be used to select a set of input bands. If not specified, all bands are taken into account. The way multiple bands are combined is controlled by --combine-bands --combine-bands union|intersection Defines how the mask bands of the selected bands are combined to generate a single mask band, before being vectorized. The default value is union: that is a pixel is valid if it is valid at least for one of the selected bands. intersection means that a pixel is valid only if it is valid for all selected bands. --coordinate-system pixel|georeferenced Target coordinate system. By default if the input dataset is georeferenced, georeferenced is implied, that is the footprint geometry will be expressed as coordinates in the CRS of the raster (or the one specified with --output-crs). If specifying pixel, the coordinates of the footprint geometry are column and line indices. --convex-hull When specified, the convex hull of (multi)polygons is computed. --densify-distance The specified value of this option is the maximum distance between 2 consecutive points of the output geometry. The unit of the distance is in pixels if --coordinate-system equals pixel, or otherwise in georeferenced units of the source raster. This option is applied before the reprojection implied by --output-crs. --input-nodata Set nodata values for input bands (different values can be supplied for each band). If a single value is specified, it applies to all selected bands. If more than one value is supplied, there should be as many values as the number of selected bands, and all values should be quoted to keep them together as a single operating system argument. If the option is not specified, the intrinsic mask band of each selected bands will be used. --location-field Specifies the name of the field in the resulting vector dataset where the path of the input dataset will be stored. The default field name is "location". To prevent writing the path of the input dataset, use --no-location-field --max-points |unlimited Maximum number of points of each output geometry (not counting the closing point of each ring, which is always identical to the first point). The default value is 100. unlimited can be used to remove that limitation. --min-ring-area Minimum value for the area of a ring The unit of the area is in square pixels if --coordinate-system equals pixel, or otherwise in georeferenced units of the target vector dataset. This option is applied after the reprojection implied by --output-crs --no-location-field Turns off the writing of the path of the input dataset as a field in the output vector dataset. --output-crs Target CRS of the output file. The may be any of the usual GDAL/OGR forms, complete WKT, PROJ.4, EPSG:n or a file containing the WKT. Specifying this option implies --coordinate-system=georeferenced. The footprint is reprojected from the CRS of the source raster to the specified CRS. --output-layer Output layer name. Defaults to footprint. --overview To specify which overview level of source file must be used, when overviews are available on the source raster. By default the full resolution level is used. The index is 0-based, that is 0 means the first overview level. This option is mutually exclusive with --input-nodata. --simplify-tolerance The specified value of this option is the tolerance used to merge consecutive points of the output geometry using the OGRGeometry::Simplify() method. The unit of the distance is in pixels if --coordinate-system equals pixel, or otherwise in georeferenced units of the target vector dataset. This option is applied after the reprojection implied by --output-crs. --split-multipolygons When specified, multipolygons are split as several features each with one single polygon. STANDARD OPTIONS --append Whether appending features to existing layer(s) is allowed. This also creates the output dataset if it does not exist yet. --co, --creation-option = 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 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 format is the definitive source of information on driver creation options. See Raster drivers format specific documentation for legal creation options for each format. --if, --input-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 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. --lco, --layer-creation-option = Many formats have one or more optional layer creation options that can be used to control particulars about the layer created. For instance, the GeoPackage driver supports layer creation options to control the feature identifier or geometry column name, setting the identifier or description, etc. May be repeated. The layer creation options available vary by format driver, and some simple formats have no layer 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 format 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 layer creation options are different from dataset creation options. --oo, --open-option = Dataset open option (format specific). May be repeated. -f, --of, --format, --output-format Which output vector format to use. Allowed values may be given by gdal --formats | grep vector | grep rw | sort --overwrite Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset. Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or dataset already 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 successful execution). EXAMPLES Example 1: Write the footprint of a GeoTIFF file into a GeoJSON file. gdal raster footprint my_raster.tif footprint.geojson AUTHOR Even Rouault COPYRIGHT 1998-2026 August 18, 2026 GDAL-RASTER-FOOTPRINT(1)