geotiffwrite

Write GeoTIFF file

Syntax

geotiffwrite(filename,A,R)

geotiffwrite(filename,X,cmap,R)

geotiffwrite(___,Name,Value)

Description

geotiffwrite(filename,A,R) writes a georeferenced image or data grid, A, spatially referenced by R, into an output file, filename.

geotiffwrite(filename,X,cmap,R) writes the indexed image in X and its associated colormap, cmap, to filename. X is spatially referenced by R.

geotiffwrite(___,Name,Value) writes an image or data grid with one or more Name,Value pair arguments that control various characteristics of the output file.

Examples

Write Image from JPEG File to GeoTIFF File

Read a JPEG image from a file.

basename = "boston_ovr";
imagefile = basename + ".jpg";
RGB = imread(imagefile);

Derive the world file name from image file name, read the world file, and create a reference object.

worldfile = getworldfilename(imagefile);
R = worldfileread(worldfile,"geographic",size(RGB));

Write the image data and reference object to a GeoTIFF file.

filename = basename + ".tif";
geotiffwrite(filename, RGB, R)

Create a map and display the data from the file.

figure
usamap(RGB,R)
geoshow(filename)

Convert Classic TIFF to Tiled BigTIFF

Convert a georeferenced classic TIFF file to a tiled BigTIFF file by extracting information from the classic TIFF file. First, import a classic TIFF image of Boston and a map cells reference object. Get metadata from the file using geotiffinfo.

infilename = "boston.tif";
[A,R] = readgeoraster(infilename);
info = geotiffinfo(infilename);

Specify tags to include in the tiled BigTIFF file. To do this, extract the GeoKey directory tag from the metadata. Then, create tags specifying the length and width of the tiles.

geoTags = info.GeoTIFFTags.GeoKeyDirectoryTag;
tiffTags = struct(TileLength=1024,TileWidth=1024);

Write the data to a new GeoTIFF file. Specify the file format as BigTIFF using the TiffType argument. Include tags by specifying the GeoKeyDirectoryTag and TiffTags arguments.

outfilename = "boston_bigtiff.tif";
geotiffwrite(outfilename,A,R,TiffType="bigtiff", ...
    GeoKeyDirectoryTag=geoTags,TiffTags=tiffTags)

Verify you have written the BigTIFF file by reading the file and querying the tags.

biginfo = geotiffinfo(outfilename);
biginfo.GeoTIFFTags.GeoKeyDirectoryTag

ans = struct with fields:
        GTModelTypeGeoKey: 1
       GTRasterTypeGeoKey: 1
    ProjectedCSTypeGeoKey: 26986
        PCSCitationGeoKey: 'State Plane Zone 2001 NAD = 83'
    ProjLinearUnitsGeoKey: 9003

t = Tiff(outfilename);
getTag(t,"TileLength")

ans = 1024

getTag(t,"TileWidth")

ans = 1024

close(t)

Write WMS Image to GeoTIFF File

Read data from WMS server.

nasaLayers = wmsfind('nasa','SearchField','serverurl');
layerName = 'bluemarbleng';
layer = refine(nasaLayers, layerName,'SearchField','layername', ...
  'MatchType','exact');
[A, R] = wmsread(layer(1));

Write data to GeoTIFF file.

filename = [layerName '.tif'];
geotiffwrite(filename,A,R)

View data in file.

figure
worldmap world
geoshow(filename)

Write Concord Orthophotos to Single GeoTIFF File

Read two adjacent orthophotos. Create reference objects for the orthophotos by reading their world files.

X_west = imread("concord_ortho_w.tif");
X_east = imread("concord_ortho_e.tif");

R_west = worldfileread("concord_ortho_w.tfw","planar",size(X_west));
R_east = worldfileread("concord_ortho_e.tfw","planar",size(X_east));

Merge the orthophotos.

[X,R] = mergetiles(X_west,R_west,X_east,R_east);

Write the merged image to a GeoTIFF file. Use the code number 26986, which indicates the PCS_NAD83_Massachusetts Projected Coordinate System.

coordRefSysCode = 26986;
filename = "concord_ortho.tif";
geotiffwrite(filename,X,R,CoordRefSysCode=coordRefSysCode);

Display the contents of the GeoTIFF file on a map.

figure
mapshow(filename)

Write Subset of GeoTIFF File to New GeoTIFF File

Import a GeoTIFF image and map cells reference object for an area around Boston using readgeoraster.

[A,RA] = readgeoraster("boston.tif");

Crop the data to the limits specified by xlimits and ylimits using mapcrop.

xlimits = [764318 767678];
ylimits = [2951122 2954482];
[B,RB] = mapcrop(A,RA,xlimits,ylimits);

Get information about the GeoTIFF image using geotiffinfo. Extract the GeoKey directory tag from the information.

info = geotiffinfo("boston.tif");
key = info.GeoTIFFTags.GeoKeyDirectoryTag;

Write the cropped data and GeoKey directory tag to a file. Verify the cropped data has been written to a file by displaying it.

filename = "boston_subimage.tif";
geotiffwrite(filename,B,RB,GeoKeyDirectoryTag=key)
figure
mapshow(filename)

Write Elevation Data to GeoTIFF File

Write elevation data for an area around South Boulder Peak in Colorado to a GeoTIFF file. First, import the elevation data and a geographic postings reference object.

[Z,R] = readgeoraster('n39_w106_3arc_v2.dt1','OutputType','double');

Specify GeoKey directory tag information for the GeoTIFF file as a structure. Indicate the data is in a geographic coordinate system by specifying the GTModelTypeGeoKey field as 2. Indicate that the reference object uses postings (rather than cells) by specifying the GTRasterTypeGeoKey field as 2. Indicate the data is referenced to a geographic coordinate reference system by specifying the GeographicTypeGeoKey field as 4326.

key.GTModelTypeGeoKey  = 2;
key.GTRasterTypeGeoKey = 2;
key.GeographicTypeGeoKey = 4326;

Write the data and GeoKey directory tag to a file.

filename = 'southboulder.tif';
geotiffwrite(filename,Z,R,'GeoKeyDirectoryTag',key)

Verify the data has been written to a file by displaying it on a map.

usamap([39 40],[-106 -105])
g = geoshow(filename,'DisplayType','mesh');
demcmap(g.CData)

The elevation data used in this example is courtesy of the US Geological Survey.

Write TIFF File Containing RPC Metadata

Create a sample TIFF file with RPC metadata. To do this, create an array of zeros and an associated reference object.

A = zeros(180,360);
latlim = [-90 90];
lonlim = [-180 180];
RA = georefcells(latlim,lonlim,size(A));

Then, create an RPCCoefficientTag metadata object and set some fields with typical values. The RPCCoefficientTag object represents RPC metadata in a readable form.

rpctag = map.geotiff.RPCCoefficientTag;
rpctag.LineOffset = 1;
rpctag.SampleOffset = 1;
rpctag.LineScale = 2;
rpctag.SampleScale = 2;
rpctag.GeodeticHeightScale = 500;

Write the image, the associated referencing object, and the RPCCoefficientTag object to a file.

geotiffwrite('myfile',A,RA,'RPCCoefficientTag',rpctag)

Write Raw RPC Coefficient Metadata to GeoTIFF File

This example shows how to write RPC coefficient metadata to a TIFF file. In a real workflow, you would create the RPC coefficient metadata according to the TIFF extension specification. This example does not show the specifics of how to create valid RPC metadata. To simulate raw RPC metadata, the example creates a sample TIFF file with RPC metadata and then uses imfinfo to read this RPC metadata in raw, unprocessed form from the file. The example then writes this raw RPC metadata to a file using the geotiffwrite function.

Create Raw RPC Coefficient Metadata

To simulate raw RPC metadata, create a simple test file and write some RPC metadata to the file. For this test file, create a toy image and a referencing object associated with the image.

myimage = zeros(180,360);
latlim = [-90 90];
lonlim = [-180 180];
R = georefcells(latlim,lonlim,size(myimage));

Create an RPCCoefficientTag metadata object and set some of the fields. The toolbox uses the RPCCoefficientTag object to represent RPC metadata in human readable form.

rpctag = map.geotiff.RPCCoefficientTag;
rpctag.LineOffset = 1;
rpctag.SampleOffset = 1;
rpctag.LineScale = 2;
rpctag.SampleScale = 2;
rpctag.GeodeticHeightScale = 500;

Write the image, the associated referencing object, and the RPCCoefficientTag object to a file.

geotiffwrite('myfile',myimage,R,'RPCCoefficientTag',rpctag)

Read Raw RPC Coefficient Metadata

Read the RPC coefficient metadata from the test file using the imfinfo function. When it encounters unfamiliar metadata, imfinfo returns the data, unprocessed, in the UnknownTags field. Note that the UnknownTags field contains an array of 92 doubles. This is the raw RPC coefficient metadata, read from the file in unprocessed form.

info = imfinfo('myfile.tif');
info.UnknownTags

ans = struct with fields:
        ID: 50844
    Offset: 10680
     Value: [-1 -1 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]

Write Raw RPC Metadata to a File

Write the raw RPC metadata to a file. First, extract the RPC coefficient metadata from the info structure.

value = info.UnknownTags.Value;

Then, construct an RPCCoefficientTag object, passing the raw RPC metadata (array of 92 doubles) as an argument.

rpcdata = map.geotiff.RPCCoefficientTag(value) 

rpcdata = 
  RPCCoefficientTag with properties:

                BiasErrorInMeters: -1
              RandomErrorInMeters: -1
                       LineOffset: 1
                     SampleOffset: 1
           GeodeticLatitudeOffset: 0
          GeodeticLongitudeOffset: 0
             GeodeticHeightOffset: 0
                        LineScale: 2
                      SampleScale: 2
            GeodeticLatitudeScale: 1
           GeodeticLongitudeScale: 1
              GeodeticHeightScale: 500
        LineNumeratorCoefficients: [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
      LineDenominatorCoefficients: [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
      SampleNumeratorCoefficients: [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
    SampleDenominatorCoefficients: [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]

Pass the RPCCoefficientTag object to the geotiffwrite function and write the RPC metadata to a file.

geotiffwrite('myfile2',myimage,R,'RPCCoefficientTag',rpcdata)

To verify that the data was written to the file, read the RPC metadata from the TIFF file using geotiffinfo. Compare the returned RPC metadata with the metadata written to the test file.

ginfo = geotiffinfo('myfile2');
ginfo.GeoTIFFTags.RPCCoefficientTag

ans = 
  RPCCoefficientTag with properties:

                BiasErrorInMeters: -1
              RandomErrorInMeters: -1
                       LineOffset: 1
                     SampleOffset: 1
           GeodeticLatitudeOffset: 0
          GeodeticLongitudeOffset: 0
             GeodeticHeightOffset: 0
                        LineScale: 2
                      SampleScale: 2
            GeodeticLatitudeScale: 1
           GeodeticLongitudeScale: 1
              GeodeticHeightScale: 500
        LineNumeratorCoefficients: [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
      LineDenominatorCoefficients: [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
      SampleNumeratorCoefficients: [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
    SampleDenominatorCoefficients: [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]

Input Arguments

filename — Name and location of output file

character vector | string scalar

Name and location of output file, specified as a string scalar or character vector. If your filename includes an extension, it must be '.tif' or '.TIF'. If the input, A, is at least 160-by-160 in size, the output file is a tiled GeoTIFF file. Otherwise, geotiffwrite organizes the output file as rows-per-strip.

Data Types: char | string

A — Georeferenced image or data grid

M-by-N numeric matrix | M-by-N-by-P numeric array

Georeferenced image or data grid, specified as one of the following:

• An M-by-N numeric matrix representing a grayscale image or data grid

• An M-by-N-by-P numeric array representing a color image, multispectral image, hyperspectral image, or data grid

The coordinates of A are geographic and in the 'WGS 84' coordinate system, unless you specify 'GeoKeyDirectoryTag' or 'CoordRefSysCode' and indicate a different coordinate system.

Data Types: double | single | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | int8 | int16 | int32 | logical

R — Spatial referencing information

geographic raster reference object | map raster reference object

Spatial referencing information, specified as a geographic raster reference object of type GeographicCellsReference or GeographicPostingsReference or a map raster reference object of type MapCellsReference or MapPostingsReference.

If you are working with image coordinates in a projected coordinate system and R is a map raster reference object, specify 'GeoKeyDirectoryTag' or 'CoordRefSysCode' accordingly.

The geotiffwrite function does not use information contained in the GeographicCRS property of geographic raster reference objects or the ProjectedCRS property of map raster reference objects.

X — Indexed image

M-by-N numeric matrix

Indexed image data, specified as an M-by-N numeric matrix.

Data Types: uint8 | uint16

cmap — Color map

c-by-3 numeric matrix

Color map associated with indexed image X, specified as an c-by-3 numeric matrix. There are c colors in the color map, each represented by a red, green, and blue pixel value.

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: 'CoordRefSysCode',26986

CoordRefSysCode — Coordinate reference system code

4326 (default) | positive integer | string scalar | character vector

Coordinate reference system code for the coordinates of the data, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'CoordRefSysCode' and a positive integer, string scalar, or character vector. You can specify coordinates in either a geographic or a projected coordinate system. If you specify the coordinate system with a string scalar or character vector, include the 'EPSG:' prefix. To find code numbers, see the EPSG registry or the GeoTIFF specification in the Tips section.

If you specify both the GeoKeyDirectoryTag and the CoordRefSysCode, the coordinate system code in CoordRefSysCode takes precedence over the coordinate system key found in the GeoKeyDirectoryTag. If one value specifies a geographic coordinate system and the other value specifies a projected coordinate system, you receive an error.

If you do not specify a value for this argument, the default value is 4326, indicating that the coordinates are geographic and in the 'WGS 84' geographic coordinate system.

Example: 26986

Example: 'EPSG:26986'

GeoKeyDirectoryTag — GeoKey directory tag

structure

GeoKey directory tag, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'GeoKeyDirectoryTag' and a structure that specifies the GeoTIFF coordinate reference system and meta-information. The structure contains field names that match the GeoKey names in the GeoTIFF specification. The field names are case insensitive. The structure can be obtained from the GeoTIFF information structure, returned by geotiffinfo, in the field, GeoTIFFTags.GeoKeyDirectoryTag.

if you specify the GTRasterTypeGeoKey field, geotiffwrite ignores it. The value for this GeoKey is derived from R. If you set certain fields of the GeoKeyDirectoryTag to inconsistent settings, you receive an error message. For instance, if R is a geographic raster reference object and you specify a ProjectedCSTypeGeoKey field or set the GTModelTypeGeoKey field to 1 (projected coordinate system), you receive an error. Likewise, if R is a map raster reference object and you do not specify a ProjectedCSTypeGeoKey field or a CoordRefSysCode, or the GTModelTypeGeoKey field is set to 2 (geographic coordinate system), you receive an error message.

RPCCoefficientTag — Rational Polynomial Coefficients (RPC) tag

RPCCoefficientTag object

Values for the optional RPC TIFF tag, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'RPCCoefficientTag' and an RPCCoefficientTag object.

TiffTags — TIFF tags

structure

Values for the TIFF tags in the output file, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'TiffTags' and a structure. The field names of the structure match the TIFF tag names supported by the Tiff class. The field names are case insensitive.

You cannot set most TIFF tags using the structure input.

TiffTags Exceptions

BitsPerSample	SubFileType	GeoAsciiParamsTag
SampleFormat	SubIFD	GeoDoubleParamsTag
SamplesPerPixel	TileByteCounts	GeoKeyDirectoryTag
StripByteCounts	TileOffsets	ModelPixelScaleTag
StripOffsets	ImageLength	ModelTiepointTag
ColorMap	ImageWidth	ModelTransformationTag

The function sets several TIFF tags. The field names corresponding to the TIFF tag, their corresponding field values set by the function, their permissible values (if different from the Tiff class), and their data type are noted in the following table.

Automatic TIFF Tags

Field Name	Description
Compression	Type of image compression. The default is 'PackBits'. Other permissible values are 'LZW', 'Deflate', and 'none'. Numeric values, Tiff.Compression.LZW, Tiff.Compression.PackBits, Tiff.Compression.Deflate, or Tiff.Compression.None can also be used.
PhotometricInterpretation	Type of photometric interpretation. The field name can be shortened to Photometric. The value is set based on the input image characteristic, using the following algorithm: If A is [M-by-N-by-3] and is class type uint8 or uint16, then the value is 'RGB'. For all other sizes and data types, the value is 'MinIsBlack'. If the X, CMAP syntax is supplied, the value is 'Palette'. If the value is set to 'RGB' and A is not [M-by-N-by-3], an error is issued. Permissible values are 'MinIsBlack', 'RGB', 'Palette', 'Separated'. The numeric values, Tiff.Photometric.MinIsBlack, Tiff.Photometric.RGB, Tiff.Photometric.Palette, Tiff.Photometric.Separated can also be used.
Software	Software maker of the file. The value is set to the value 'MATLAB, Mapping Toolbox, The MathWorks, Inc.'. To remove the value, set the tag to the empty string or character vector ('').
RowsPerStrip	A scalar positive integer-valued number specifying the desired rows per strip in the output file. If the size of A is less than [160-by-160], geotiffwrite sets RowsPerStrip to 1. If you specify RowsPerStrip and TileWidth, with or without TileLength, geotiffwrite issues an error.
TileWidth	A scalar positive integer-valued number and a multiple of 16 specifying the width of the tiles. TileWidth is set if the size of A is greater than [160-by-160]. If so, the value is such that a maximum of [10-by-10] tiles are created. If you specify both RowsPerStrip and TileWidth, geotiffwrite issues an error.
TileLength	A scalar positive integer-valued number and a multiple of 16 specifying the length of the tiles. TileLength is set if the size of A is greater than [160-by-160]. If so, the value is such that a maximum of [10-by-10] tiles are created. If you specify both RowsPerStrip and TileLength, geotiffwrite issues an error.

TiffType — Type of TIFF file

'classictiff' (default) | 'bigtiff'

Type of TIFF file, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'TiffType' and either 'classictiff' or 'bigtiff'. The 'classictiff' value creates a Classic TIFF file. The 'bigtiff' value creates a BigTIFF file. In BigTIFF format, files can be larger than 4 GB.

While using the 'bigtiff' format enables you to create files larger than 4 GB, the data you want to write must fit in memory.

Tips

• If you are working with image coordinates in a projected coordinate system and R is a map raster reference object, set the GeoKeyDirectoryTag or CoordRefSysCode argument, accordingly.

• Check the GeoTIFF specification for values of the following parameters:

  • 'CoordRefSysCode' value for geographic coordinate systems

  • 'CoordRefSysCode' value for projected coordinate systems

  • GeoKey field names for the 'GeoKeyDirectoryTag'

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

R2024b: geotiffwrite does not accept referencing vectors or referencing matrices as input

The geotiffwrite function does not accept referencing vectors or referencing matrices as input. Use a geographic raster reference object (specified as a GeographicCellsReference or GeographicPostingsReference object) or a map raster reference object (specified as a MapCellsReference or MapPostingsReference object) as input instead. Reference objects have several advantages over referencing vectors and referencing matrices.

• Unlike referencing vectors and referencing matrices, reference objects have properties that document the size of the associated raster, its limits, and the direction of its rows and columns.

• You can manipulate the limits of rasters associated with reference objects using the geocrop or mapcrop function.

• You can manipulate the size and resolution of rasters associated with reference objects using the georesize or mapresize function.

Depending on whether the referencing vector or referencing matrix is in geographic or planar coordinates, there are different ways to update your code.

Geographic Coordinates

If the referencing vector or referencing matrix is in geographic coordinates, create a geographic reference object.

• Create a geographic reference object for a raster of cells by using the georefcells function.

• Create a geographic reference object for a raster of regularly posted samples by using the georefpostings function.

• Convert from a referencing vector to a geographic reference object by using the refvecToGeoRasterReference function.

• Convert from a referencing matrix to a geographic reference object by using the refmatToGeoRasterReference function.

Once you have created a reference object, replace uses of the referencing vector or referencing matrix in your code with the reference object.

Planar Map Coordinates

If the referencing vector or referencing matrix is in planar map coordinates, create a map reference object.

• Create a map reference object for a raster of cells by using the maprefcells function.

• Create a map reference object or for a raster of regularly posted samples by using the maprefpostings function.

• Convert from a referencing matrix to a map reference object by using the refmatToMapRasterReference function.

Once you have created a reference object, replace uses of the referencing vector or referencing matrix in your code with the reference object.

R2023b: geotiffwrite will not accept referencing vectors or referencing matrices as input

When you specify a referencing vector or referencing matrix as input, the geotiffwrite function issues a warning that it will not accept referencing vectors or referencing matrices as input in a future release.

R2018a: Export data containing more than 4 GB in BigTIFF format​

Specify the format of the GeoTIFF file to write as either classic TIFF or BigTIFF by using the TiffType name-value argument. The BigTIFF format enables you to create files that exceed 4 GB in size.