GeoTIFF

GeoTIFF is a widely adopted geospatial raster format that extends the standard TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) with embedded metadata describing the image's geographic extent, coordinate reference system, and spatial resolutionSpatial ResolutionSpatial resolution defines the size of the smallest feature or ground area that can be distinguished in a spatial dat.... By storing georeferencingGeoreferencingGeoreferencing is the process of linking spatial data to specific geographic coordinates, enabling integration with o... information directly within the file's metadata tags, GeoTIFF eliminates the need for separate world files or sidecar metadata, making it a self-contained, portable format for distributing and analyzing georeferenced imagery and gridded data.

GeoTIFF files use TIFF tags to store geospatial metadataGeospatial MetadataGeospatial metadata is structured descriptive information about spatial datasets, documenting their content, quality,... including the coordinate reference system (defined by EPSG codesEPSG CodesEPSG codes are standardized numeric identifiers assigned to coordinate reference systems, datums, and map projections... or WKT strings), the geographic coordinates of the image's tie points, the pixel scale (ground distance per pixel), and the transformation matrix mapping pixel coordinates to geographic coordinates. The format supports multiple data types including 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit integers as well as floating-point values, accommodating everything from natural color imagery to scientific measurements like elevation or temperature. GeoTIFF files can contain multiple bands, internal tiling for efficient partial reading, overview pyramids for multi-resolution display, and lossless or lossy compression.

GeoTIFF is the standard format for satellite imagerySatellite ImagerySatellite imagery consists of photographs and data captured by Earth observation satellites orbiting the planet. Thes... distribution from providers like USGS, ESA, and commercial operators. Digital elevation models (DEMs) from sources like SRTM and ASTER are distributed as GeoTIFF files. Land cover classifications, vegetation indices (NDVINDVIThe Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a widely used spectral index that quantifies vegetation health a...), and climate model outputs are commonly stored in GeoTIFF format. Aerial photography and orthoimagery from national mapping programs use GeoTIFF as the standard delivery format. Scientific datasets including soil maps, geological surveys, and bathymetric grids leverage GeoTIFF for its precision and interoperability.

GeoTIFF's self-contained georeferencingGeoreferencingGeoreferencing is the process of linking spatial data to specific geographic coordinates, enabling integration with o... eliminates dependency on external metadata files. The format is supported by virtually every GISGISGeographic Information Systems (GIS) enable users to analyze and visualize spatial data to uncover patterns, relation... application, remote sensingRemote SensingRemote sensing is the science of collecting data about Earth's surface without direct physical contact, primarily usi... platform, and geospatial programming library. It handles a wide range of data types and bit depths suitable for both imagery and scientific data. Internal tiling and compression options optimize storage efficiency and access performance. The public domain specification ensures vendor-neutral interoperability.

GeoTIFF files can be extremely large for high-resolution imagery covering extensive areas, creating storage and transfer challenges. The traditional GeoTIFF format is not optimized for cloud-based access patterns that require reading small portions of large files over HTTP. Multi-band scientific datasets with many variables may be better served by formats like NetCDF or HDF5. Compression choices involve trade-offs between file size and read performance.

Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) reorganizes the internal structure of GeoTIFF files to support efficient HTTP range request access, enabling cloud-native analysis without downloading entire files. SpatioTemporal Asset Catalogs (STAC) provide standardized metadata for discovering and accessing collections of GeoTIFF files. Integration with cloud computingCloud ComputingCloud computing offers scalable resources, including storage, computing power, and analytics, over the internet. It e... platforms enables scalable processing of massive GeoTIFF archives. Multi-dimensional GeoTIFF extensions are being explored for time-series and multi-variable datasets.