GDAL-RASTER-PIXEL-INFO(1) GDAL GDAL-RASTER-PIXEL-INFO(1)

gdal-raster-pixel-info - Return information on a pixel of a raster dataset

Added in version 3.11.

Usage: gdal raster pixel-info [OPTIONS] <INPUT> [<column,line> or <X,Y>]
Return information on a pixel of a raster dataset.
Positional arguments:
  -i, --dataset, --input <INPUT>                       Input raster dataset [required]
  -p, --pos, --position <column,line> or <X,Y>         Pixel position [may be repeated]
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]
Options:
  -f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>  Output format. OUTPUT-FORMAT=geojson|csv (default: geojson)
  -b, --band <BAND>                                    Input band(s) (1-based index) [may be repeated]
  --overview <OVERVIEW>                                Which overview level of source file must be used
  --position-crs <POSITION-CRS>                        CRS of position (default: pixel)
  -r, --resampling <RESAMPLING>                        Resampling algorithm for interpolation. RESAMPLING=nearest|bilinear|cubic|cubicspline (default: nearest)
Advanced Options:
  --oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE>                    Open options [may be repeated]
  --if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT>                  Input formats [may be repeated]

gdal raster pixel-info provide a mechanism to query information about a pixel given its location in one of a variety of coordinate systems.

It supports outputting either as GeoJSON or CSV.

The following items will be reported (when known):

  • Input coordinates
  • Input coordinates converted to column, line
  • Pixel value per selected band(s), with unscaled value
  • For VRT files, which file(s) contribute to the pixel value.

The following options are available:

Which output format to use. Default is GeoJSON.
Dataset open option (format specific).

May be repeated.

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.

Selects a band to query. Multiple bands can be listed. By default all bands are queried.
Required. This can be specified either as an option, a positional value after the dataset name, or when called from gdal, as (space separated) values provided on the standard input.

By default, when --position-crs is not specified, or set to pixel, this is a column, line tuple (possibly with fractional part). If --position-crs is set to dataset, this is a georeferenced coordinate expressed in the CRS of the dataset. If --position-crs is specified to a CRS definition, this is a georeferenced coordinate expressed in this CRS.

X means always longitude or easting, Y means always latitude or northing.

Several x,y tuples may be specified.

CRS of position, or one of two following special values:
  • pixel means that the position is set as column, line (default)
  • dataset means that the position is a georeferenced coordinate expressed in the CRS of the dataset.
Select a sampling algorithm. The default is nearest.

The available methods are:

  • nearest applies a nearest neighbour.
  • bilinear applies a bilinear convolution kernel.
  • cubic applies a cubic convolution kernel.
  • cubicspline applies a B-Spline convolution kernel.
Query the (overview_level)th overview (overview_level=0 is the 1st overview), instead of the base band. Note that the x,y location (if the coordinate system is pixel/line) must still be given with respect to the base band.

$ gdal raster pixel-info byte.tif 5 10
{
  "type":"FeatureCollection",
  "crs":{
    "type":"name",
    "properties":{
      "name":"urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::26711"
    }
  },
  "features":[
    {
      "type":"Feature",
      "properties":{
        "input_coordinate":[
          5.0,
          10.0
        ],
        "column":5.0,
        "line":10.0,
        "bands":[
          {
            "band_number":1,
            "raw_value":132,
            "unscaled_value":132.0
          }
        ]
      },
      "geometry":{
        "type":"Point",
        "coordinates":[
          441020.0,
          3750720.0
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

$ gdal raster pixel-info --position-crs=dataset byte.tif 441320 3750720
{
  "type":"FeatureCollection",
  "crs":{
    "type":"name",
    "properties":{
      "name":"urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::26711"
    }
  },
  "features":[
    {
      "type":"Feature",
      "properties":{
        "input_coordinate":[
          441320.0,
          3750720.0
        ],
        "column":10.0,
        "line":10.0,
        "bands":[
          {
            "band_number":1,
            "raw_value":115,
            "unscaled_value":115.0
          }
        ]
      },
      "geometry":{
        "type":"Point",
        "coordinates":[
          441320.0,
          3750720.0
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

$ gdal raster pixel-info --of=csv --position-crs=WGS84 byte.tif -117.6355 33.8970
input_x,input_y,extra_input,column,line,band_1_raw_value,band_1_unscaled_value
-117.63549999999999,33.896999999999998,"",10.020546288988044,9.9833047347492538,115,115

$ echo -117.6355 33.8970 | gdal raster pixel-info --of=csv --position-crs=WGS84 byte.tif
-117.6355 33.8970 | gdal raster pixel-info --of=csv --position-crs=WGS84 byte.tif

Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>

1998-2025

May 6, 2025