Rasterio

Rasterio is an open-source Python library that provides clean, Pythonic access to geospatial raster dataRaster DataRaster data represents geographic information as a grid of cells or pixels, where each cell holds a value representin.... Built as a wrapper around GDALGDALGDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library) is an open-source translator library for raster and vector geospatial data...'s powerful raster capabilities, Rasterio exposes raster reading, writing, and transformation through an intuitive API that integrates naturally with Python's scientific computing ecosystem, particularly NumPy and the broader SciPy stack. Rasterio supports all raster formats available through GDAL, including GeoTIFFGeoTIFFGeoTIFF is a public domain metadata standard that embeds georeferencing information within TIFF image files, enabling..., NetCDF, HDF, JPEG2000, and Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG). Key features include window-based reading for processing large files in chunks, dataset masking for handling nodata values, coordinate reference system management, reprojection, and raster algebra through NumPy array operations. Rasterio also provides command-line tools (rio) for common tasks like format conversion, reprojection, merging, and metadata inspection. Rasterio has become the standard Python library for raster geospatial work, preferred over GDAL's native Python bindings for its cleaner error handling, context manager support, and more Pythonic interface design. It is a foundational dependency for higher-level libraries like xarray (with rioxarray), rasterstats, and numerous remote sensingRemote SensingRemote sensing is the science of collecting data about Earth's surface without direct physical contact, primarily usi... packages. Data scientists, GISGISGeographic Information Systems (GIS) enable users to analyze and visualize spatial data to uncover patterns, relation... analysts, and Earth observation researchers rely on Rasterio for building reproducible raster processing pipelines in Python.