Raster file formats

The geodatabase is the native data model in ArcGIS for storing geographic information, including raster datasets, mosaic datasets, and raster catalogs. However, there are many file formats you can work with that are maintained outside a geodatabase. The following table gives a description of the supported raster formats (raster datasets) and their extensions and identifies if they are read-only or if they can also be written by ArcGIS.

Technical specifications for raster formats

Format	Description	Extensions	Read / Write	Supported data types	Supports multiband	Supports compression	Supports color map
Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) Polarimetric	AIRSAR is an instrument designed and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). ArcGIS supports the polarimetric AIRSAR data (POLSAR).	Multiple files with an L, C, or P in the file name followed by .dat, for example: mission_l.dat (L-Band) and mission_c.dat (C-Band).	Read-only	64-bit complex	Yes (Six bands)	No	No
ARC Digitized Raster Graphics (ADRG)	Distributed on CD-ROM by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). ADRG is geographically referenced using the equal arc-second raster chart/map (ARC) system in which the globe is divided into 18 latitudinal bands, or zones. The data consists of raster images and other graphics generated by scanning source documents.	Multiple files Data file—extension *.img or *.ovr Legend file—extension *.lgg	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes (Always three bands)	No	No
ADRG Legend
ADRG Overview
ASCII Grid	The ArcGIS Desktop Advanced ASCII Grid format is an ArcGIS Desktop Advanced Grid exchange file.	Single file—extension *.asc	Read-only (Write—requires ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension)	16-bit signed integer	No	No	No
				32-bit floating point	No	No	No
Band interleaved by line (BIL), band interleaved by pixel (BIP), band sequential (BSQ)	This format provides a method for reading and displaying decompressed, BIL, BIP, and BSQ image data. By creating an ASCII description file that describes the layout of the image data, black-and-white, grayscale, pseudo color, and multiband image data can be displayed without translation into a proprietary format.	Multiple files Data file—extension *.bil, *.bip, or *.bsq Header file—extension *.hdr Color map file—extension *.clr Statistics file—extension *.stx	Read and write	1-,and 4-bit unsigned integer	Yes	No	Yes
				8-, and 16-bit signed and unsigned integer	Yes	No	Yes
				32-bit signed and unsigned integer	Yes	No	No
Bathymetric Attributed Grid (BAG)	The Bathymetric Attributed Grid is a nonproprietary file format for storing bathymetric data.	Single file—extension *.bag	Read-only	32-bit floating point	Yes (Always two bands)	Yes	No
Binary Terrain (BT)	The Binary Terrain format was created by the Virtual Terrain Project (VTP) to store elevation data in a more flexible file format. The BT format is flexible in terms of file size and spatial reference system.	Single file—extension *.bt Projection file—extension *.prj	Read-only (Write—developer only)	16-, and 32-bit signed integer	No	No	No
				32-bit floating point	No	Unknown	No
Bitmap (BMP), device-independent bitmap (DIB) format, or Microsoft Windows bitmap	BMP files are Windows bitmap images. They are usually used to store pictures or clip art that can be moved between different applications on Windows platforms.	Single file—extension *.bmp World file—extension *.bpw	Read and write	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes (Limited to one or three bands)	No	Yes
BSB	This is a compressed raster format used in the distribution of raster nautical charts by MapTech and NOAA.	Multiple files—extensions *.bsb, *.cap, and *.kap	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cloud raster format (CRF)	Optimized for writing and reading large files in a distributed processing and storage environment. In a CRF file, large rasters are broken down into smaller bundles of tiles which allows multiple processes to write simultaneously to a single raster.	Directory—extension *.crf Bundle files—extension *.bundle	Read and write	8-, 16-, and 32-bit unsigned/signed integer, 32-bit floating point, 64-bit complex	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF (COG)	A COG is a regular GeoTIFF that has been optimized for being hosted and worked with on a HTTP file server. Optimization depends on the ability of a COG to store and organize raw pixel data in addition to using HTTP GET requests such that only selected portions of imagery is obtained at a time.	Single file—possible file extensions *.tif, *.tiff, and *.tff	Read and write	8-, 16-, and 32-bit unsigned/signed integer, 32-bit floating point, 64-bit complex	Yes	Yes	Yes
Committee on Earth Observing Sensors (CEOS) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)	This format reads CEOS SAR image files—specifically those radar images provided from Radarsat and ERS data products.	.raw	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	No	No
Compressed ARC Digitized Raster Graphics (CADRG)	Distributed by the NGA. CADRG/ECRG is geographically referenced using the ARC system in which the globe is divided into 18 latitudinal bands, or zones. The data consists of raster images and other graphics generated by scanning source documents. CADRG achieves a nominal compression ratio of 55:1. ECRG uses JPEG 2000 compression using a compression ratio of 20:1	File extension is based on specific product.	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	No	Vector quantization	Yes
Controlled Image Base (CIB)	Panchromatic (grayscale) images that have been georeferenced and corrected for distortion due to topographic relief distributed by NGA. Thus, they are similar to digital orthophoto quads and have similar applications, such as serving as a base or backdrop for other data or as a simple map.	File extension is based on specific product.	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	No	Vector quantization	Yes
Digital Geographic Information Exchange Standard (DIGEST) Arc Standard Raster Product (ASRP), UTM/UPS Standard Raster Product (USRP)	DIGEST datasets are digital replicas of graphic products designed for seamless worldwide coverage. ASRP data is transformed into the ARC system and divides the earth's surface into latitudinal zones. USRP data is referenced to UTM or UPS coordinate systems. Both are based on the WGS84 datum.	Multiple files Main raster image—extension *.img General information file—extension *.gen Georeference file—extension*.ger Source file—extension*.sou Quality file—extension *.qal Transmission header file—extension *.thf	Read-only	1-, 4-, and 8-bit unsigned integer	No	Run length encoding	Yes
Digital Image Map	The DIMAP format is an open format in the public domain; however, its primary purpose was for the distribution of data from the SPOT satellite. The format is composed of a GeoTIFF file and a metadata file.	Directory	Read-only	8-, and 16-bit unsigned integer	Yes	TIFF	TIFF
				16-bit signed integer	Yes	TIFF	TIFF
Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) Level 0, 1, and 2	A simple, regularly spaced grid of elevation points based on 1 degree latitude and longitude extents. Created by NGA.	Single file—various file extensions *.dt0, *.dt1, *.dt2 All possible file extensions are available by default (*.dt0, *.dt1, *.dt2).	Read Write using the Raster to DTED tool	16-bit signed integer	No	No	No
Earth Resources Laboratory Applications Software (ELAS)	This format is from the ELAS remote sensing system used within NASA.	Single file—extension *.elas	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes (Always three bands)	No	No
Enhanced Compressed ARC Raster Graphics (ECRG)	Distributed by the NGA. CADRG/ECRG is geographically referenced using the ARC system in which the globe is divided into 18 latitudinal bands, or zones. The data consists of raster images and other graphics generated by scanning source documents. CADRG achieves a nominal compression ratio of 55:1. ECRG uses JPEG 2000 compression using a compression ratio of 20:1.	File extension is based on specific product.	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes (Always three bands)	JPEG 2000	No
Enhanced Compressed Wavelet (ECW)	ECW is a proprietary format. It is a wavelet-based, lossy compression, similar to JPEG 2000.	Single file—extension *.ecw	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Wavelet	No
Envisat	Envisat (Environmental Satellite) is an Earth-observing satellite operation by the European Space agency (ESA). This format supports Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) Level 1 and above products, and some Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) and Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) products.	Multiple data files	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	No	No
ENVI Header	When ENVI works with a raster dataset it creates a header file containing the information the software requires. This header file can be created for multiple raster file formats.	Header file—extension *.hdr Multiple data files—extension *.raw, *.img, *.dat, *.bsq, etc.	Read and write (.dat—via UI) (.bsq, .img, and .raw—developer only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Yes	Yes
				16-, and 32-bit unsigned/signed integer, and 32-, and 64-bit floating point	Yes	Yes	No
EOSAT FAST	The Earth Observation Satellite (EOSAT) FAST format support consists of the following: FAST-L7A (Landsat TM) and FAST Rev. C. (IRS).	Single file—extension *.fst	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	No	No
ER Mapper ERS	A proprietary raster format from ER Mapper. Produced using the ER Mapper image processing software.	Multiple files Header file—extension *.ers Data file—usually same as header file without the *.ers extension but could be any and is defined in the header file.	Read-only	8-, 16-, and 32-bit unsigned/signed integer, and 32-bit floating point	Yes	No	No
ERDAS 7.5 GIS	Single-band thematic images produced by ERDAS 7.5 image processing software.	Multiple files Header file—extension *.GIS Color map file—extension *.trl	Read-only	1-, 2-, 4-, 8-, and 16-bit unsigned integer	No	No	Yes
ERDAS 7.5 LAN	Single- or multiband continuous images produced by the ERDAS 7.5 image processing software.	Single file—extension *.lan	Read-only	8- and 16-bit unsigned integer	Yes	No	No
ERDAS 7.5 RAW	Provides a method for reading and displaying files that are not otherwise supported by another format but are formatted in such a way that the arrangement of the data can be described by a relatively small number of parameters. By creating an ASCII file that describes the layout of the raster data, it can be displayed without translation in a proprietary format. The format is defined in the ERDAS IMAGINE software.	Single file—extension *.raw	Read-only	1-, 2-, 4-, 8-, and 16-bit unsigned integer	No	No	Yes
ERDAS IMAGINE	Produced using IMAGINE image processing software created by ERDAS. IMAGINE files can store both continuous and discrete single-band and multiband data.	Single file—extension *.img If image is bigger than 2 GB—extension *.ige World file—extension *.igw	Read and write	1-, 2-, and 4-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed, or None	Yes
				8-, 16-bit unsigned/signed integer	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed, or None	Yes
				32-bit unsigned/signed integer	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed, or None	No
				32-bit floating point	Yes	No	No
				64-bit double precision	Yes	No	No
Esri Grid	A proprietary Esri format that supports 32-bit integer and 32-bit floating-point raster grids. Grids are useful for representing geographic phenomena that vary continuously over space and for performing spatial modeling and analysis of flows, trends, and surfaces such as hydrology.	Directory Color map file—extension *.clr	Read and write	32-bit signed integer	No	Adaptive run length compressed	No
				32-bit floating point	No	No	No
Esri Grid stack	Used to reference multiple Esri Grids as a multiband raster dataset. A stack is stored in a directory structure similar to a grid or coverage.	Directory	Read and write	32-bit signed integer	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed	No
				32-bit floating point	Yes	No	No
Esri Grid stack file	Used to reference multiple Esri Grids as a multiband raster dataset. A stack file is a simple text file that stores the path and name of each Esri Grid contained within it on a separate line.	Single file—possible file extension *.stk	Read and write	32-bit signed integer	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed	No
				32-bit floating point	Yes	No	No
Extensible N-Dimensional Data Format(NDF)	Format used for storing data representing n-dimensional arrays of numbers, such as images. Uses container files (directories containing files and directories) to manage the data objects.	Directory—extension *.sdf	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Unknown	No
Floating point file	A floating-point file is a binary file of floating-point values that represent raster data.	Single file—extension *.flt	Read-only (Write—Only via Raster To Float tool, or developer code)	32-bit floating point	No	No	No
GDAL Virtual Format (VRT)	This is a file format created by the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL). It allows a virtual dataset to be derived from other datasets that GDAL can read.	Single file—extension *.vrt	Read-only (Write—developer only)	8-, 16-, and 32-bit unsigned integer and 64-bit complex integer	Yes	Unknown
Geodatabase Raster	The geodatabase is the native data structure for ArcGIS and is the primary data format for representing and managing geographic information, including raster datasets and mosaic datasets. The geodatabase is a collection of various types of GIS datasets held in a file system folder.	Raster datasets stored within *.gdb folder	Read and write	1-, and 4-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed, or None	Yes
				8-bit unsigned/signed integer	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed, JPEG, JP2, or None	Yes
				16-bit unsigned/signed integer	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed, JP2, or None	Yes
				32-bit unsigned/signed integer, or floating point	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed, or None	No
				32-bit floating point	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed, or None	No
				64-bit double precision	Yes	Adaptive run length compressed, or None	No
Golden Software Grid (.grd)	There are three types of Golden Software Grids that are supported: Golden Software ASCII GRID (GSAG), Golden Software Binary Grid (GSBG), and Golden Software Surfer 7 Binary Grid (GS7BG).	Single file—extension *.grd	Read-only (Write—developer only for GSAG and GSBG)	32-bit floating point and 64-bit double precision	No	Unknown	No
Graphic Interchange Format (GIF)	A bitmap image format generally used for small images.	Single file—extension *.gif World file—extension *.gfw	Read and write	8-bit unsigned integer	No	LZW	Yes
GRIB	The gridded binary format is used for the storage, transmission, and manipulation of meteorological archived data and forecast data. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is responsible for the design and maintenance of this format standard.	Single file—extension *.grb	Read-only	64-bit double precision	Yes	Unknown	Unknown
GRIB 2	The next generation standard for GRIB. Subdataset support is not available.	Single file—extension *.grb2	Read-only	64-bit double precision	No	Unknown	Unknown
Grid eXchange File	This is an ASCII format, primarily used in Geosoft. The GXF Revision 3 (GXF-3) is supported.	Single file—extension *.gxf	Read-only	32- and 64-bit floating point	No	No	No
Heightfield	This is a compressed heightfield format used to support terrain data as a raster.	Single file—extension *.hf2 Gzip file—extension *.hfz	Read-only	32-bit floating point	No	No	No
HGT	Raw SRTM height files containing elevation measured in meters above sea level, in a geographic projection (latitude and longitude array), with voids indicated using -32768.	Single file—extension *.hgt	Read-only	16-bit signed integer	No	Unknown	No
Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) 4	A self-defining file format used for storing arrays of multidimensional data. Subdataset support is not available.	Single file—extension *.h4 or *.hdf	Read-only (Write—developer only)	8-, and 16-bit signed integer	Yes	Yes	No
				8-, and 16-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Yes	Yes
				32-bit unsigned/signed integer, or floating point	Yes	Yes	No
Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) 5	The next generation standard for HDF. Subdataset support is not available.	Single file—extension *.h5 or *.hdf5	Read-only	8-, and 16-bit signed integer	Yes	Yes	No
				8-, and 16-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Yes	Yes
				32-bit unsigned/signed integer, or floating point	Yes	Yes	No
High Resolution Elevation (HRE)	HRE data is intended for a wide variety of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) partners and members, and customers external to the NSG, to access and exploit standardized data products. HRE data replaces the current nonstandard High Resolution Terrain Elevation/Information (HRTE/HRTI) products and also replaces nonstandard products referred to as DTED level 3 thru 6. This data format is similar to NITF.	Multiple files Raw image—extension *.hr Metadata—extension *.xml	Read-only	16-bit signed integer and 32-bit floating point	No	No	No
IDRISI Raster Format (RST)	File format native to IDRISI.	Multiple files Raw image—extension *.rst Descriptor—extension *.rdc Color map—extension *.smp Georeference file—extension *.ref	Read-only (Write—developer only)	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Yes	Yes
				16-bit signed integer	Yes	Yes	Yes
				32-bit floating point	Yes	Yes	Yes
ILWIS	ILWIS format for raster maps and map lists.	Raster Map—*.mpr Maplist—*.mpl	Read-only	Byte, 16-, and 32-bit unsigned integer, and 64-bit floating point	Yes	No	No
Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS)	ISIS Cube format as created by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for the mapping of planetary imagery. Versions 2 and 3 are supported.	Single file—extension *.cub	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer and 32-bit floating point	No	Unknown	No
Japanese Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA) PALSAR	This format was created by the Japanese Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA) to store data from processed PALSAR data. Level 1.1 and Level 1.5 are supported.	Single file—extension *1.5GUD or 1.1__A	Read-only	16-bit signed integer	Yes	Unknown	No
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) File Interchange Format (JFIF)	A standard compression technique for storing full-color and grayscale images. Support for JPEG compression is provided through the JFIF file format.	Single file—extension *.jpg, *.jpeg, *.jpc, or *.jpe World file—extension *.jgw	Read and write	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes (Limited to one or three bands)	JPEG (lossy)	No
JPEG 2000	A compression technique especially for maintaining the quality of large imagery. Allows for a high-compression ratio and fast access to large amounts of data at any scale.	Single file—extension *.jp2, *.j2c, *.j2k, or *.jpx	Read and write	8-, and 12-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Wavelet (lossy)	No
Magellan Mapsend BLX/XLB format	Magellan's BLX/XLB file format is primarily used for storing topographic data. The tile size for these files must be a multiple of 128 by 128 pixels. The projection for these files is WGS84. When the file is ordered using littleendian, the file extension is BLX. If bigendian is used, the file extension is XLB format.	Single file—extension *.blx or *.xlb	Read-only (Write—developer only)	16-bit signed integer	No	Yes (proprietary)	No
MAP	PCRaster's raster format.	Single file—extension *.map	Read-only (Write—developer only)	8-bit unsigned integer	Single band	No	No
				32-bit signed integer	Single band	No	No
				32-bit floating point	Single band	No	No
Map service cache	A map cache created by ArcGIS Server can be viewed as a single raster dataset. You cannot build pyramids or calculate statistics. It should not be used for any analysis or processing.	Directory	Read-only (in Desktop); write using ArcGIS Server	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Yes	Yes
Meta Raster Format (MRF)	MRF is a technology developed by NASA that combines raster storage with cloud computing for tiling, indexing, and multiple resolutions support. It is a raster storage format but also a tile cache format for web services and a dynamic tile cache for another raster. Note: The copy, rename, or delete operations are not supported because an MRF file can be a pointer to data that resides elsewhere, and determining the read or write status of the files is not always possible.	Multiple files Raw image—extension *.mrf Metadata—extension *.xml Index—extension *.idx	Read and write	8-, 16-, and 32-bit unsigned/signed integer, 32-bit floating point, 64-bit complex	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multiresolution Seamless Image Database (MrSID)	A proprietary compression technique especially for maintaining the quality of large images. Allows for a high compression ratio and fast access to large amounts of data at any scale. The MrSID Encoder is developed and supported by LizardTech, Inc. Supports generations 2, 3, and 4.	Single file—extension *.sid World file—extension *.sdw	Read-only	8-, and 16-bit unsigned integer	Yes Generation 2 and generation 3—limited to 1 or 3 bands Generation 4—unlimited	Wavelet (lossy)	No
MrSID Lidar	MrSID generation 4 (MG4) format, used to support point cloud (lidar) data. Will be rendered as a raster. See the Extensis documentation for more information about MrSID Lidar files.	Single file—extension *.sid Optional View file—extension *.view	Read-only	64-bit double precision	No	No	No
National Imagery Transmission Format (NITF) 2.0, NITF 2.1/NSIF 1.0	A collection of standards and specifications that allow interoperability in the dissemination of imagery and its metadata among various computer systems. Developed by the NGA. Subdataset support is not available.	Single file—extension *.ntf, .ntf, .nsif, .nsf, .r0	Read Image Shapefiles Table Write Single image	1-, 2-, 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-bit signed/unsigned integer	Yes	Read JPEG 8-bit JPEG2000 VQ Write None	Yes
National Land Archive Production System (NLAPS)	The NLAPS data format (NDF) is used by the USGS to distribute their Landsat MSS and TM data.	Multiple files Main file (Header)—extension *.H1, *.H2, or *,HD Image data—extension *.I1, *.I2, etc.	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	No	No
NOAA Polar Orbiter Level 1b	Support for NOAA's Polar Orbiter Data (POD); specifically for the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Level 1b digital data.	Multiple files—extension *.1b, *.sv, or *.gc	Read-only	16-bit unsigned integer	Yes	No	No
PCI .aux	This is a simple ASCII file used and created by PCI to read raw binary raster data.	Single file—extension *.aux	Read-only	8-bit, 16-bit unsigned integer, 16-bit signed integer, and 32-bit	Yes	No	No
PCIDSK	PCI Geomatics raster dataset format.	Single file—extension *.pix	Read-only (Write—developer only)	8-, and 16-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Not supported	Not supported
				16-bit signed integer	Yes	Not supported	No
				32-bit floating point	Yes	Not supported	No
Planetary Data System (PDS)	The Planetary Data System (PDS) is managed by NASA to archive and distribute data from its planetary missions. PDS version 3 is supported.	Single file—possible extensions *.img and *.lbl	Read-only	16-bit signed integer	No	Unknown	No
Portable Network Graphics (PNG)	Provides a well-compressed, lossless compression for raster files. It supports a large range of bit depths from monochrome to 64-bit color. Its features include indexed color images of up to 256 colors and effective 100 percent lossless images of up to 16 bits per pixel.	Single file—extension *.png	Read and write Note: ArcGIS can read an alpha band from an existing PNG; however, it will only write one- or three-band PNG files.	1-, 2-, and 4-bit unsigned integer	No	Deflate/Inflate	Yes
				8-bit unsigned integer	*Yes (limited to one or three bands only, no alpha channel)	Deflate/Inflate	Yes
				16-bit unsigned integer	*Yes (limited to one or three bands only, no alpha channel)	Deflate/Inflate	No
RADARSAT-2	RADARSAT-2 satellite produces imagery using the C-band SAR frequency.	Directory	Read-only	16-bit unsigned integer and 32-bit complex integer	Yes	Unknown	No
Raster Product Format (RPF)	The underlying format of CADRG and CIB.	Single file—no standard file extension	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	No	No	Yes
RPF (CIB)				8-bit unsigned integer	No	Vector quantization	No
RPF (CADRG)				8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Vector quantization	Yes
RPF (ADRG)				8-bit unsigned integer	Yes (Always three bands)	No	No
				8-bit unsigned integer	No	No	Yes
SAGA GIS Binary Grid	SAGA binary grid datasets are composed of an ASCII header (.sgrd) and a binary data (.sdat) file with a common basename. Select the .sdat file to access the dataset.	Multiple files—extension *.sdat and *.sgrd	Read-only	8-, 16-, and 32-bit unsigned, integer, 16-, and 32-bit signed integer, 32-, and 64-bit floating point	Yes	No	No
Sandia Synthetic Aperture Radar (GFF)	Sandia National Laboratories created a complex image format to accommodate the data from its synthetic aperture radar.	Single file—extension *.gff	Read-only	16-, and 32-bit complex integer	Unknown	Unknown	No
Standard Archive Format for Europe (SAFE)	Sentinel-1 and RCM data products are distributed using the Standard Archive Format for Europe (SAFE) format specification.	Raw image—extension *.safe Metadata—extension *.xml	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer, 16-bit signed integer, 16-bit unsigned integer, and 32-bit floating point	Yes	Unknown	No
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)	The HGT format is used to store elevation data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). SRTM-3 and SRTM-1 v2 files can be displayed.	Single file—extension *.hgt	Read-only (Write—developer only)	32-bit signed integer	No	No	No
Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) digital elevation model (DEM)	The Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) was created by the USGS. The purpose of this format was to transfer digital geospatial data between various computer systems in a compatible format that would not lose any information.	Multiple files—extension *.ddf	Read-only	16-bit signed integer or 32-bit floating point	No	No	No
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) (GeoTIFF tags are supported)	Widespread use in the desktop publishing world. It serves as an interface to several scanners and graphic arts packages. TIFF supports black-and-white, grayscale, pseudo color, and true color images, all of which can be stored in a compressed or decompressed format. BigTIFF is supported.	Single file—possible file extensions *.tif, *.tiff, and *.tff World file—extension *.tfw	Read and write	1-bit unsigned integer	No	CCITT (1D), CCITT Group 3, CCITT Group 4, Packbits, LZW, or None	Yes
				4-bit signed integer	No	Packbits, LZW, or None	Yes
				8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Packbits, LZW, JPEG (lossy), or None	Yes
				8-bit signed integer	No	LZW	No
				16-bit unsigned integer	Yes	LZW	Yes
				16-bit signed integer	No	LZW	No
				32-bit unsigned/signed integer, or floating point	No	LZW	No
Terragen terrain	The Terragen Terrain file was created by Planetside Software. It stores elevation data.	Single file—possible file extensions *.ter, *.terrain	Read-only (Write—developer only)	16-bit signed integer	No	Unknown	No
TerraSAR-X	The TerraSAR-X radar satellite produces earth observation data using the X-band SAR.	Directory	Read-only	16-bit unsigned integer and 32-bit complex integer	No	No	No
Transformation Grids	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) files used for shifting a vertical datum.	Single file—extension *.gtx	Read-only	32-bit floating point	No	No	No
United States Geological Survey (USGS) digital elevation model (DEM)	This format consists of a raster grid of regularly spaced elevation values derived from the USGS topographic map series. In their native format, they are written as ANSI-standard ASCII characters in fixed-block format.	Single file—extension *.dem (need to change .dat extension to .dem)	Read-only	16-bit signed integer	No	No	No
USGS Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles (DOQ)	This is the new, labeled DOQ (DOQ2) format from the USGS.	Single file—possible file extensions *.doq, *.nes, *.nws, *.ses, *.sws	Read-only	8-bit unsigned integer	Yes	Yes	No
XPixMap (XPM)	Stores color images in a format consisting of an ASCII image and a C library.	Single file—extension *.xpm	Read-only (Write—developer only)	8-bit unsigned integer	No	No	Yes
Zarr	A file format for a n-dimensional array.	Single file—extension *.zarr; *.zarray; *.zgroup; .zarr.json Directory with extension .zarr	Read and write	8-bit unsigned/signed integer 16-bit unsigned/signed integer 32-bit unsigned/signed integer, or floating point 64-bit unsigned/signed integer, or floating point 32-bit and 64-bit complex floating point.	Yes	No	Yes

Tip:

TIFF is recommended for most applications.

Dive-in:

Most raster formats are supported using the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL). For more details on specific formats, see www.gdal.org.

Note:

An A.TOC file cannot be copied and pasted since it requires a specific folder hierarchy and references to other files.

For ERDAS IMAGINE formats, the maximum number of elements (fields x rows) allowed in a raster attribute table is 20,00,000, which can be increased by setting the GDAL configuration option GDAL_RAT_MAX_ELEMENTS.

The bit depth capacity for supported export formats table follows.

= is supported

NA = not applicable

Bit depth capacity for supported raster export formats

	IMG	TIFF	GRID	JPEG	JP2	BMP	GIF	PNG	BIL/BIP/BSQ	DAT	Note
1-bit									NA	NA	Converts to 8-bit for JPEG, JP2, BMP, GIF, PNG, BIL, BIP, BSQ, and DAT.
2-bit	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA		NA	NA
4-bit									NA	NA	Converts to 8-bit for JPEG, JP2, BMP, GIF, PNG, BIL, BIP, BSQ, and DAT.
4-bit color map				NA	NA				NA	NA	Converts to 8-bit for BMP, GIF, PNG, BIL, BIP, and BSQ.
8-bit unsigned
8-bit signed				NA	NA	NA	NA	NA		NA
8-bit color map				NA	NA					NA
8-bit 3 band							NA	NA
8-bit > 3 band				NA		NA	NA	NA
16-bit unsigned				NA		NA	NA
16-bit signed				NA		NA	NA	NA
32-bit unsigned				NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
32-bit signed				NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
32-bit floating point				NA		NA	NA	NA