GDAL-RASTER-UPDATE(1) GDAL GDAL-RASTER-UPDATE(1)
NAME
gdal-raster-update - Update the destination raster with the content of
the input one.
Added in version 3.12.
SYNOPSIS
Usage: gdal raster update [OPTIONS]
Update the destination raster with the content of the input one.
Positional arguments:
-i, --input Input raster datasets [required] [not available in pipelines]
-o, --output Output raster dataset [required]
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:
--geometry Clipping geometry (WKT or GeoJSON)
--geometry-crs CRS of clipping geometry
-r, --resampling Resampling method. RESAMPLING=nearest|bilinear|cubic|cubicspline|lanczos|average|rms|mode|min|max|med|q1|q3|sum (default: nearest)
--no-update-overviews Do not update existing overviews
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format Input formats [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines]
--oo, --open-option = Open options [may be repeated] [not available in pipelines]
--wo, --warp-option = Warping option(s) [may be repeated]
--to, --transform-option = Transform option(s) [may be repeated]
--et, --error-threshold Error threshold
DESCRIPTION
gdal raster update can be used to update an existing output raster
dataset with the pixel values of the input raster, doing reprojection
if the input and output datasets do not have the same coordinate
reference systems. The extent, size, resolution or coordinate
reference system of the output dataset are not modified by this
operation.
Overviews are updated by this command (using gdal raster overview
refresh), unless --no-update-overviews is specified.
Starting with GDAL 3.13, gdal raster update can be used as a step of a
pipeline, with the input dataset being the output of the previous step.
PROGRAM-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
--et, --error-threshold
Error threshold for transformation approximation, expressed as a
number of input pixels. Defaults to 0.125 pixels unless the
RPC_DEM transformer option is specified, in which case an exact
transformer, i.e. --error-threshold=0, will be used.
--geometry
Geometry as a WKT or GeoJSON string of a polygon (or
multipolygon) to which to restrict the update. If the input
geometry is GeoJSON, its CRS is assumed to be WGS84, unless
there is a CRS defined in the GeoJSON geometry or --geometry-crs
is specified. If the input geometry is WKT, its CRS is assumed
to be the one of the input dataset, unless --geometry-crs is
specified. The X and Y axis are the "GIS friendly ones", that
is X is longitude or easting, and Y is latitude or northing.
--geometry-crs
CRS in which the coordinate values of --geometry are expressed.
If not specified, it is assumed to be the CRS of the input
dataset. The geometry will be reprojected from the geometry-crs
to the CRS of the dataset being updated.
--no-update-overviews
Do not update existing overviews.
--to, --transform-option =
Set a transformer option suitable to pass to
GDALCreateGenImgProjTransformer2(). See
GDALCreateRPCTransformerV2() for RPC specific options.
-r, --resampling
Resampling method to use. Available methods are:
nearest: nearest neighbour resampling (default, fastest
algorithm, worst interpolation quality).
bilinear: bilinear resampling.
cubic: cubic resampling.
cubicspline: cubic spline resampling.
lanczos: Lanczos windowed sinc resampling.
average: average resampling, computes the weighted average of
all non-NODATA contributing pixels.
rms root mean square / quadratic mean of all non-NODATA
contributing pixels
mode: mode resampling, selects the value which appears most
often of all the sampled points. In the case of ties, the first
value identified as the mode will be selected.
max: maximum resampling, selects the maximum value from all
non-NODATA contributing pixels.
min: minimum resampling, selects the minimum value from all
non-NODATA contributing pixels.
med: median resampling, selects the median value of all
non-NODATA contributing pixels.
q1: first quartile resampling, selects the first quartile value
of all non-NODATA contributing pixels.
q3: third quartile resampling, selects the third quartile value
of all non-NODATA contributing pixels.
sum: compute the weighted sum of all non-NODATA contributing
pixels
--wo, --warp-option =
Set a warp option. The GDALWarpOptions::papszWarpOptions docs
show all options. Multiple options may be listed.
PROGRAM-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
--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.
--oo, --open-option =
Dataset open option (format specific).
May be repeated.
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: Update existing out.tif with content of in.tif using cubic
interpolation
$ gdal raster update -r cubic in.tif out.tif
AUTHOR
Even Rouault
COPYRIGHT
1998-2026
August 18, 2026 GDAL-RASTER-UPDATE(1)