Open Geospatial Consortium
Submission Date: 2020-12-07
Approval Date: 2021-02-15
Publication Date: 2021-02-25
External identifier of this OGC® document: http://www.opengis.net/doc/BP/DGIWG-GeoTIFF/2.3
Internal reference number of this OGC® document: 20-095
Version: 2.3.1
Category: OGC® Best Practice
Editor: DGIWG

Defence Geospatial Information Working Group (DGIWG)
GeoTIFF/TIFF Profile for Imagery & Gridded Data 2.3.1
Copyright notice
Copyright © 2021 Open Geospatial Consortium
To obtain additional rights of use, visit http://www.opengeospatial.org/legal/.

Warning
This document defines an OGC Best Practice on a particular technology or approach
related to an OGC standard. This document is not an OGC Standard and may not bereferred to as an OGC Standard. It is subject to change without notice. However, thisdocument is an official position of the OGC membership on this particular technology
topic.
Recipients of this document are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of
any relevant patent rights of which they are aware and to provide supporting
documentation.
Document type:
Document subtype:
Document stage:
Document language:

OGC® Best PracticeApproved
English1
Copyright © 2021 Open Geospatial Consortium

License Agreement
Permission is hereby granted by the Open Geospatial Consortium, ("Licensor"), free of charge and subject to the terms set forth below,
to any person obtaining a copy of this Intellectual Property and any associated documentation, to deal in the Intellectual Property
without restriction (except as set forth below), including without limitation the rights to implement, use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, and/or sublicense copies of the Intellectual Property, and to permit persons to whom the Intellectual Property is furnished to
do so, provided that all copyright notices on the intellectual property are retained intact and that each person to whom the Intellectual
Property is furnished agrees to the terms of this Agreement.
If you modify the Intellectual Property, all copies of the modified Intellectual Property must include, in addition to the above
copyright notice, a notice that the Intellectual Property includes modifications that have not been approved or adopted by LICENSOR.
THIS LICENSE IS A COPYRIGHT LICENSE ONLY, AND DOES NOT CONVEY ANY RIGHTS UNDER ANY PATENTSTHAT MAY BE IN FORCE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULARPURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS. THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR HOLDERS INCLUDEDIN THIS NOTICE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WILLMEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WILL BE
UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE. ANY USE OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SHALL BE MADE ENTIRELY AT
THE USER’S OWN RISK. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR ANY CONTRIBUTOR OFINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS TO THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, OR ANY
DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTINGFROM ANY ALLEGED INFRINGEMENT OR ANY LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF
CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR UNDER ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH
THE IMPLEMENTATION, USE, COMMERCIALIZATION OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
This license is effective until terminated. You may terminate it at any time by destroying the Intellectual Property together with all
copies in any form. The license will also terminate if you fail to comply with any term or condition of this Agreement. Except asprovided in the following sentence, no such termination of this license shall require the termination of any third party end-user
sublicense to the Intellectual Property which is in force as of the date of notice of such termination. In addition, should the Intellectual
Property, or the operation of the Intellectual Property, infringe, or in LICENSOR’s sole opinion be likely to infringe, any patent,
copyright, trademark or other right of a third party, you agree that LICENSOR, in its sole discretion, may terminate this license
without any compensation or liability to you, your licensees or any other party. You agree upon termination of any kind to destroy orcause to be destroyed the Intellectual Property together with all copies in any form, whether held by you or by any third party.
Except as contained in this notice, the name of LICENSOR or of any other holder of a copyright in all or part of the Intellectual
Property shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other dealings in this Intellectual Property without
prior written authorization of LICENSOR or such copyright holder. LICENSOR is and shall at all times be the sole entity that may
authorize you or any third party to use certification marks, trademarks or other special designations to indicate compliance with any
LICENSOR standards or specifications. This Agreement is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The
application to this Agreement of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is hereby expressly
excluded. In the event any provision of this Agreement shall be deemed unenforceable, void or invalid, such provision shall be
modified so as to make it valid and enforceable, and as so modified the entire Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. No
decision, action or inaction by LICENSOR shall be construed to be a waiver of any rights or remedies available to it.

2
Copyright © 2021 Open Geospatial ConsortiumPreface
This OGC Best Practice was developed by the Defence Geospatial Information Working
Group to address defense and intelligence user community requirements. As such, theBest Practice utilizes standardized military Coordinate Reference System (CRS)
definitions, which may not be applicable to other user communities.
This Best Practice also defines a GEO_METADATA tag, which may be of more generalinterest.

3
Copyright © 2021 Open Geospatial ConsortiumDGIWG 108
GeoTIFF profile for Georeferenced Imagery

Document type:
Document date:
Edition number:Supersedes:
Responsible Party:
Audience:
Abstract:

Copyright:

Standard
7 July 2020
2.3.1
This document supersedes DGIWG 108 Ed. 2.3, GeoTIFF profile
for Georeferenced Imagery, 23 January 2020.
Defence Geospatial Information Working Group
This document is approved for public release and is available on
the DGIWG website, http://www.dgiwg.org/dgiwg/
This profile specifies the requirements and encoding rules thatshall be used for the exchange of georeferenced imagery when
opting to use the Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) and
Geographic Tagged Image File Format (GeoTIFF) file format
structures. The aim of this profile is to promote interoperability ofrectified quadrilateral grid coverages within the military community.
The 2nd edition extends the profile for TIFF compressions andadditional multi-band capabilities (5 to 8 bands). Version 2.2.1
provides an additional optional TIFF_RSID tag as a unique file
identifier for the TIFF file. Version 2.3 adds support / extension for
the OGC GeoTIFF 1.1 and still handles GeoTIFF 1.0.
© Copyright DGIWG. Licensed under the terms in CC BY 4.0.

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

i. Document points of contact
All questions regarding this document shall be(secretariat@dgiwg.org) or the contributor organisations.

directedtotheeditor

ii. Contributing nations and organizations
NationOrganization

FranceInstitut Géographique National

Spain

Cartographic Coordination Unit

SwedenSwedish Armed Forces Geo SE

United States

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

iii.

Revision history
Date

ReleasePrimary clauses modified

02/09/2008

0.1

All

Initial version submitted to A11

22/10/2008

0.2

Part 2 + Annex B

Addition of conformance and test suite parts

27/10/2008

0.3

All

First version submitted to review before Brussels
DGIWG TP

18/11/2008

0.4

All

Correction after editing meeting in Brussels TP(refer to comments file
Comments_and_Actions_for_GeoTIFF_Profile_draft_0.3.doc)

26/01/2009

0.5

All

Correction after editing teleconference on
17/12/2008 (refer to comments file
Comments_and_Actions_for_GeoTIFF_Profile_draft_0.4.doc)

05/02/2009

1.0

All

Finalization of profile after editing teleconference on
30/01/2009 (refer to comments file
Comments_and_Actions_for_GeoTIFF_Profile_draft_0.5.doc)

22/04/2009

1.1

Finalization of profile after editing meeting inÅlesund on 22/04/2009 (refer to comments file
Comments_and_Actions_GeoTIFF_Profile_1.0.doc)

14/12/2011

1.2

Addition of Future work
(cover page)
4.25 transparency mask
12.4 Vertical reference
Table 3
(VerticalCSTypeGeoKey &VerticalCitationGeoKey)
All, with addition of include
XML metadata specification

15/10/2012

1.3

Final draft for review prior to publication of version
2.0

08/01/2013

2.0

All, with removal of annex
specifying additional
metadata
Additional 13.4 Intellectual
property rights information
Additional number of bands(5 to 8) in 13.10 Number of
Bands
Additional baseline, LZW
and JPEG compressions in
13.12 Compression
Updated Annex B.3
ii

Description

Revision to address new requirements includingalignment with ISO metadata standards

Additional warning about the impact on thegeolocation of objects identified in a downgradedimage with lossy JPEG compression

STD-DP-08-089r6
Date

Release30/01/2014+
17/03/2014

2.0.1

20/10/2016

2.1

14/11/2017

2.2

8/12/2017

2.2.1

23/01/2020

2.3

7/07/2020

2.3.1

7 July 2020
Primary clauses modified
13.12 Compression

Description

13.12: Clarification of text, between Baseline ofprofile (based on baseline TIFF), and compression
extension / conformance class (based on LZW and
JPEG extensions)A.1. Table 1 Value for JPEG Table 1 Compression tag: Value of 7 instead of 6
compression(which is old style/obsolete ).
B.2.6
Change of value 6 to 7 for JPEG.
9 Reference Systems + 13.5 Application of 2 change requests DGIWG TP
13.11 Range Value Data
October 2016:
Types and Precision- Alignment for Vertical Reference systems
Table 3 (Annexe A.2)
throughout the profile (Section 9, 13, and Annex B
B.2.4 Class ED: Elevation for conformance class ED
data conformance class- Additional signed 32 bits for elevation values
B3 Implementation
Conformance Reports
Alignment for tables referenced in Annex B
Adjust Format of reference to Tables and addition intable of contents.
8 Additional XML metadata
Change type of GEO_METADATA tag from ASCII
13.2 Georeference
to Binary (in order to allow for UTF8 characters)
13.15 File Naming and
Addition of TIFF_RSID tag (50908)
Identification+ clarification in Section 2 (Conformance)
Table 1 (Annex A.1)
+ update or normative references URLs in 3.1
Table 5 (Annex B.3)
+ clarification of georeferencce mechanism in 13.2
in PixelIsArea case: location of upper left corner
1, 6.2, 13.10, 13.12, Table 1 Addition of YCbCr color space in case of JPEG
(PhotometricInterpretation)
compression (in order to answer NATO
Addition of Table 3
requirement)
B.2.1 (alignment forconsistency)
B.2.6
B3 (YCbCr)
Foreword, 3.1.3, 4, 13.5, A.2 Support / extension for the OGC GeoTIFF 1.1 (with(Table 5)change of names of GeographicTypeGeoKey toGeodeticCRSGeoKey, VerticalCSTypeGeoKey toVerticalGeokey and Citation Geokeys)
Adjustment of term definitions in order to solve
DGIWG terminology issues + addition of tile
definition.
Table 4 A.2
Corrigendum for GeoKeyDirectoryTag in order toenable OGC version 1.1

iii

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Foreword
Encoding is a key issue for the use of imagery because of the high volume of imagery data (acommon volume unit is now the Gigabyte). Specific techniques such as image compression andtiling are used to minimise the data volume or to speed up access to portions of the data; thesetechniques are closely related to the encoding format.
The only standards published by DGIWG for imagery that have been implemented (but with alimited use) are the DGIWG product specifications for raster maps, ASRP (ARC Standard
Raster Product) and USRP (UTM/UPS Standard Raster Product). These specifications are
based on the historical DIGEST (DIgital Geographic information Exchange STandard).
ISO standards currently available for geospatial imagery are:-JPEG2000 Part 1: ISO/IEC 15444-1 Information technology -- JPEG 2000 image coding
system: Core coding system. JPEG2000 is widely used for medical imagery and is an
emergent standard for geospatial imagery. However its powerful capabilities should
quickly develop its use for geospatial imagery.

-

BIIF: ISO/IEC 12087-5 Information technology -- Computer graphics and image
processing -- Image Processing and Interchange (IPI) -- Functional specification -- Part
5: Basic Image Interchange Format and its U.S. profile, documented in MIL-STD-2500C,
the National Imagery Transmission Format Version 2.1.

The US Geospatial Intelligence Standards Working Group (GWG) has just produced the ECRG
(Enhanced Compressed Raster Graphic or MIL-PRF-32283) product specification based on
both BIIF and the BPJ2K (ISO/IEC BIIF Profile for JPEG 2000) profile for JPEG 2000
compression.
Up to now, DGIWG has not proposed any profile for Defence of these standards. Defence users
often use GeoTIFF as a de facto standard for the exchange of imagery data, because thisstandard is widely implemented in software and systems, and it is widely used within the civilian
sector. However, GeoTIFF has many options which often result in non-interoperability of nonbaseline capabilities.
This implementation profile is developed to help meet objectives for deployment of GeoTIFFrelated capabilities within the DGIWG community that will also be widely supported within thecivilian sector.
GeoTIFF, like other formats popular in the civilian sector, is not robust enough in its definedstructure to fully carry even the minimal set of metadata needed to promote interoperability
within the DGIWG nations. This profile identifies informative requirements to supplement
missing information not captured by the current GeoTIFF data structures.
This implementation profile specifies the requirements and encoding rules that shall be used forthe exchange of georeferenced imagery when opting to use the Tagged Image File Format(TIFF) and Geographic Tagged Image File Format (GeoTIFF) file format structures. The aim of
this profile is to enable the interchange of rectified quadrilateral grid coverages (subclass
CV_RectifiedGrid of CV_ContinuousQuadrilateralGridCoverage from Quadrilateral Gridpackage of the ISO 19123 UML data model). It contains a description of the bounds andconstraints for the use of TIFF and GeoTIFF within the design objectives of promotinginteroperability for the exchange of GeoTIFF files within the DGIWG nations.

iv

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Warning
For maximum interoperability (conformance to TIFF Baseline), the baseline of this profile only
allows TIFF baseline compressions, which are Packbits and Modified Huffman (which may bothbe efficient on bi-level imagery). It also allows for the LZW and JPEG compression as specified
in TIFF extension for other imagery types. However these TIFF extensions may not be
supported by all software and COTS applications.
Producers and users may also use LZW compression and tools (externally by zipping the
GeoTIFF file) on GeoTIFF files if LZW proves to perform efficiently (e.g. it occurs when large
areas have the same pixel values), and the volume of data is a strong constraint. However, it isrecommended by DGIWG to prefer uncompressed mode unless any other specific constraint
exist and to evaluate the modern and efficient standard compression for continuous tone digitalstill images, in other words JPEG2000 and to use JPEG2000 encoding within JPEG2000enabled formats.
Compatibility
Version 2.2 is compatible with the previous version 2.1. It extends the type of values in the
GEO_METADATA tag from ASCII to Binary (in order to allow for UTF8 characters) and provides
an additional optional TIFF_RSID tag in order to provide a unique file identifier for the TIFF file.
It also allows the use of YCbCr colorspace only in the case of imagery compressedwith JPEG.
This version 2.3 adds support / extension for the OGC GeoTIFF 1.1 published in September
2019, thus the use of up-to-date EPSG registry codes and parameters (therefore this version
still handles GeoTIFF 1.0 compatible data).

v

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Contents
1 Scope ......................................................................................................................................................... 1
2 Conformance .............................................................................................................................................. 1
3 References ................................................................................................................................................. 2
3.1
Normative references ..............................................................................................................................2
3.1.1
Industry Specifications
2
3.1.2
3.1.3

InternationalStandards
National Specifications

2
3

3.2
Informative references.............................................................................................................................3
4 Terms and definitions ................................................................................................................................. 45 Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................. 8
6 Overview..................................................................................................................................................... 9
6.1
TIFF and GeoTIFF overview ...................................................................................................................9
6.2
6.3

Specification scope .................................................................................................................................9Applicability and Use ............................................................................................................................ 10

7 Data content and structure ....................................................................................................................... 11
8 Additional XML Metadata ......................................................................................................................... 11
9 Reference systems ................................................................................................................................... 12
10 Data quality............................................................................................................................................... 13
11 Data capture ............................................................................................................................................. 13
12 Data delivery............................................................................................................................................. 13
13 TIFF and GeoTIFF Requirements ............................................................................................................ 14
13.1 General File Structure and Data Value Types ..................................................................................... 14
13.2 Georeference / georectification ............................................................................................................ 15
13.3
13.4

Security Classification .......................................................................................................................... 16Intellectual property rights information ................................................................................................. 16

13.5
13.6

Coordinate Reference Systems and Datums ....................................................................................... 16
Units of Measure .................................................................................................................................. 17

13.7

Date and Time ...................................................................................................................................... 17

13.8
13.9

Collection and Maintenance Constraints.............................................................................................. 17
Tiling ..................................................................................................................................................... 17

13.10 Number of Bands ................................................................................................................................. 18
13.11 Range Value Data Types and Precision .............................................................................................. 19
13.12 Compression ........................................................................................................................................ 19
13.13 Void areas ............................................................................................................................................ 19
13.14 Image file implementation .................................................................................................................... 20
13.14.1 Image encoding (first IFD)
13.14.2 Transparency mask encoding (second IFD - optional)

20
20

13.15 File Naming and Identification .............................................................................................................. 21
Annex A - TIFF / GeoTIFF Format Constraints
22
A-1
A-2

TIFF Format ......................................................................................................................................... 22
GeoTIFF Format................................................................................................................................... 31

Annex B - Conformance test suites

37

B-1
B-2

Purpose, scope, and methodology....................................................................................................... 37
Implementation Conformance Tests (normative) ................................................................................. 38

B-3

Implementation Conformance Reports (for information) ...................................................................... 40vi

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

TablesTable 1: Baseline TIFF Fields specifications of this profile ............................................................................. 23
Table 2: TIFF extension JPEG fields (Compression JPEG) ± New style JPEG in TIFF (compression tag
value = 7) ......................................................................................................................................... 29
Table 3: TIFF extension YCbCR: use of TIFF fields (restricted for JPEG compression JPEG) ..................... 30
Table 4: GeoTIFF tags and parameter keys specifications of this profile ....................................................... 31
Table 5: GeoTIFF Vertical CS parameter keys specifications of this profile ................................................... 36
Table 6: TIFF ICR (Implementation Conformance Report) ............................................................................. 40
Table 7: GeoTIFF ICR (Implementation Conformance Report) ...................................................................... 42vii

STD-DP-08-089r6

1

7 July 2020

ScopeThis GeoTIFF implementation profile is developed to allow for the interchange of Defence
georeferenced imagery or other rectified quadrilateral grid coverages (subclass
CV_RectifiedGrid of CV_ContinuousQuadrilateralGridCoverage from Quadrilateral Gridpackage of the ISO 19123 UML data model) based on GeoTIFF with the corresponding set offormat options necessary to promote GeoTIFF georeferenced imagery interoperability for
Defence community.
The general objective of this profile is a minimum specification that a GeoTIFF reader / driver
must support for achieving interoperability for exchange and access to Defence georeferenced
imagery. It specifies an interoperable encoding for imagery and gridded data, in a way that is
flexible enough to allow for the wide variety of context and use cases.
This profile applies to all kinds of geospatial imagery that can be encoded as TIFF/GeoTIFF, i.e.
bi-level, greyscale, palette color image, RGB (full color), 4 to 8 bands imagery, as well as toelevation data. When JPEG compression is used, YCbCr colorspace is also allowed in addition
to RGB, as specified in the Minimum Requirements for YCbCr Images (specified as a TIFF
extension in Section 21: YCbCr Images).
This document mostly relies on Baseline TIFF / GeoTIFF but also documents required options
outside these baselines.

2

Conformance

According to ISO 19106:2004, this DGIWG profile of the TIFF/GeoTIFF de facto standard is ofclass 2 conformance to the TIFF and GeoTIFF baselines. It uses three extensions specified in
TIFF and GeoTIFF specifications, namely multiple subfile for transparency mask, internal tilingand support for vertical data. It also uses some values for parameters outside the TIFF and
GeoTIFF specifications (refer to Annex B-2 for more details). Therefore, mandatory
requirements of the base TIFF and GeoTIFF standards remain mandatory. Differences to thebase standard (options, extensions) will be made explicit by a note in the appropriate clause.
Six conformance classes are specified for the management of the extensions stated in thisDGIWG profile:-

B: Profile baseline: baselines TIFF / GeoTIFF, with restrictions specified in this profile,-

TM: Transparency Mask conformance class, with support of second subfile fortransprency mask,
IT: Internal tiling, with support of TIFF internal tiling extension-

ED: Elevation data, with support of TIFF extension for elevation values encoding and
GeoTIFF vertical parameters extension.
MB: Multi-band data, with support of 4 to 8 bands (as specified in 13.10)
CO: Compression, with support of LZW and JPEG compression as specified in TIFF
extension.

Conformance classes TM, IT, ED, MB and CO all inherit from conformance class B. A GeoTIFF
file may conform to more than one class: for example, a file conformant to TM, IT, MB and COclasses (full conformance, except Elevation data).
Defense systems are recommended to specify support for conformance classes TM, IT, MB and
CO and with support for TM as 2nd subfile, internal tiling, for imagery data, and support for1

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

conformance class ED for vertical data (signed or float values). Support for all conformanceclasses insures full interoperability.
Conformance testing test that the files really do conform to the relevant conformance classes.
All files must be tested against the requirements for class B.
Annex B provides a set of TIFF/GeoTIFF conformance tests for:-A producer system generating compliant data with this profile
A user system interpreting data in compliance with this profile-

A product or data compliant with this profile

3

References

3.1

Normative references

The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For
dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of thereferenced document (including any amendments) applies
3.1.1

Industry Specifications

The format and contents of the TIFF and GeoTIFF are based upon the following industry
specifications:[GEOTIFF 1.0]
GEOTIFF format specification, Revision 1.0, Specification Version 1.8.2,
Last Modified: 28 December, 2000
[TIFF]

TIFF format specification, Revision 6.0 Specification, Final 03/06/92[EPSG]EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset

NB: GeoTIFF specification is available at: http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/
TIFF specification is available at: https://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/com16/tiff-fx/docs/tiff6.pdf
EPSG Online Registry is available at: http://www.epsg-registry.org/
Note: GeoTIFF specification also lists EPSG codes for use in GeoTIFF keys. When adiscrepency exists between the codes in the online registry and the codes listed in the GeoTIFF
profile, the registry codes take precedence. This is the case for the EGM2008 ellipsoid (code3855).
3.1.2

InternationalStandards

The ARC System, as defined in DIGEST Support Document 3 on
http://www.dgiwg.org/DGIWG_Geodetic_Codes/
ISO 19115 Geographic information ± Metadata
ISO 19115-2 Geographic information ± Metadata extensions for imagery
ISO 19139 Geographic information ± Metadata - XML schema implementation[GeoTIFF 1.1] OGC 19-008r4 ± OGC GeoTIFF Standard version 1.1

2

STD-DP-08-089r6

3.1.3

7 July 2020

National Specifications

NGA.STND.0036 1.0.0 WGS84, Department of Defense World Geodetic System 1984: Its
Definition and Relationships with Local Geodetic Systems, 8 July 2014 http://earthinfo.nga.mil/GandG/publications/NGA_STND_0036_1_0_0_WGS84/NGA.STND.0036_1.0.0_W
GS84.pdf
NGA.STND.0037 2.0.0 GRIDS, Universal Grids and Grid Reference Systems, 28 February
2014 http://earthinfo.nga.mil/GandG/publications/NGA_STND_0037_2_0_0_GRIDS/NGA.STND.0037_2.0.0_GR
IDS.pdf
NGA.SIG.0012_2.0.0_UTMUPS: The Universal Grids: Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM),
Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS) - 25 March 2014 http://earthinfo.nga.mil/GandG/publications/NGA_SIG_0012_2_0_0_UTMUPS/NGA.SIG.0012_2.0.0_UTM
UPS.pdf

3.2

Informative references

The following referenced standards are cited in this document. These standards are available
on International Standards Organization publications website: http://www.iso.org/iso/store.htm :ISO 19101-2 Geographic information - Reference model - Part 2: Imagery
ISO 19103 Geographic information ± Conceptual Schema Language
ISO 19105 Geographic information ± Conformance and testing
ISO 19106 Geographic information ± Profiles
ISO 19107 Geographic information ± Spatial schema
ISO 19111 Geographic information ± Spatial referencing by coordinates
ISO 19113 Geographic information ± Data quality
ISO 19123 Geographic information ± Schema for coverage geometry and functions
ISO 19131 Geographic information ± Data product Specifications
ISO/IEC 10918-1Information technology ± Digital compression and coding of continuous-tone
still images: Requirements and guidelines (JPEG)
ISO/IEC 12087-5 Information technology ± Computer graphics and image processing ± Image
Processing and Interchange (IPI) ± Functional specification ± Part 5: Basic Image Interchange
Format (BIIF)

3

STD-DP-08-089r6

4

7 July 2020

Terms and definitions

Note: Generally the terms and definitions of the base standards ISO 19106 and ISO 19131
apply to this profile as well. For a better understanding of this document, the main terms anddefinitions are cited below.
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in the TIFF and GeoTIFF
specifications apply, in addition to the following:
4.1
channelone logical component of the image
Note 1: A channel may be a direct representation of one component from the codestream, or
may be generated by the application of a palette to a component from the codestream.
Note 2: In the GeoTIFF context, codestream is to be understood as the TIFF raster data
Note 3: In this specification, the term band is often used as a synonym for channel. Channel orband is to be understood as an image component, and not the range of wavelengths of anelectromagnetic radiation.
[ISO/IEC 15444-1:2016, modified]
4.2
coordinate
one of a sequence of numbers designating the position of a point in N-dimensional space
Note: In a coordinate reference system, the numbers must be qualified by units.
[ISO 19111:2007]
4.3
coordinate reference systemcoordinate system that is related to an object (of the real world) by a datum
Note: For geodetic and vertical datums, the object will be the Earth.
[ISO 19111:2007]
4.4
coveragefeature that acts as a function to return values from its range for any direct position within its
spatial, temporal, or spatiotemporal domain
Examples: a digital image, raster map, and digital elevation matrix.
Note: A coverage is a feature that has one or multiple value(s) for each attribute type, where
each direct position within the geometric representation of the feature has a single value foreach attribute type.
[ISO 19123:2005, modified]
4.5
coverage geometry
configuration of the domain of a coverage described in terms of coordinates[ISO 19123:2005, modified]
4.6
data compression
reducing either the amount of storage space required to store a given amount of data, or the lengthof message required to transfer a given amount of information.
Note 1: Adapted from ANSI T1.523-2001.
4

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Note 2: Data compression is probabilistic in nature based on particular instances of imagery,
gridded or coverage data and is related to encoding and is outside the scope of this Technical
Specification.
[ISO/TS 19129:2009]
Note 3: image compression: process that alters the way digital image data are encoded to reduce
the size of an image file [ISO 12233:2017]
4.7
datasetidentifiable collection of data
Note: A dataset may be a smaller grouping of data which, though limited by some constraint
such as spatial extent or feature type, is located physically within a larger dataset. Theoretically,a dataset may be as small as a single feature or feature attribute contained within a larger
dataset. A hardcopy map or chart may be considered a dataset.
[ISO 19115-1:2014]4.8
direct position
position described by a single set of coordinates within a coordinate reference system[ISO 19107:2003]
4.9
domainwell-defined set
Note: Domains are used to define the domain set and range set of attributes, operators andfunctions.
[ISO/TS 19103:2005]
4.10
evaluation <coverage>
determination of the values of a coverage at a direct position within the domain of the coverage[ISO 19123:2005]
4.11 grid
network composed of two or more sets of curves in which the members of each set intersect themembers of the other sets in an algorithmic way[ISO 19123:2005]

gridded data
data whose attribute values are associated with positions on a grid coordinate system
4.12[ISO 19115-2:2009]4.13 imagery
representation of phenomena as images produced electronically and/or optical techniques[ISO 19101-2:2008]
4.14 metadata
information about a resource[ISO 19115-1:2014]5

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

4.15 NULL value
value having no value or existence[DGIWG glossary]
4.16 orthorectified grid
georectified grid created using ground control points and elevation data where constant scale ismaintained throughout the grid
[NGA.IP.001_2.0]
4.17 pixel
smallest element of a digital image to which attributes are assigned.
Note 1: This term originated as a contraction of picture element .
Note 2: Related to the concept of a grid cell.
Note 3: The intensity of each pixel is variable; in color systems, each pixel has typically three orfour dimensions of variability such as red, green and blue, or cyan, magenta, yellow and black.
[ISO 19101-2:2008, modified]
4.18 quality layera coverage consisting of graphics information associated to geospatial data together withassociated metadata.
Note: The associated metadata mostly identify the meaning of color codes used in graphics.
4.19 range <coverage>
set of feature attribute values associated by a function with the elements of the domain of acoverage[ISO 19123:2005]
4.20 rectified grid
grid for which there is an affine transformation between the grid coordinates and the coordinatesof an external coordinate reference system
Note: If the coordinate reference system related to the earth by a datum, the grid is georectified.
[ISO 19123:2005]
4.21
referenceable grid
grid associated with a transformation that can be used to convert grid coordinate values tovalues of coordinates referenced to an external coordinate reference system.
Note: If the coordinate reference system is related to the earth by a datum, the grid is ageoreferenceable grid.
[ISO 19123:2005]
4.22 resolution (of imagery)smallest distance between two uniformly illuminated objects that can be separately resolved in
an image.
[ISO/TS 19130-2:2014]6

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

4.23 tessellation
partitioning of a space into a set of conterminous subspaces having the same dimension as thespace being partitioned.
Note: A tessellation composed of congruent regular polygons or polyhedra is a regulartessellation. One composed of regular, but non-congruent polygons or polyhedra is semi-regulartessellation. Otherwise, the tessellation is irregular.
[ISO 19123:2005]
NOTE 2: tiling is used as a synonym of tessellation. In this document, tiling is the GeoTIFF fileinternal tiling (see 13.9).
4.24 tilea rectangular array of points on the reference grid, registered with and offset from the reference
grid origin and defined by a width and height
Note: The tiles which overlap are used to define tile-components.
[ISO/IEC 15444-1:2016]4.25 tilingSee tessellation, 4.24
4.26 transparency mask
the delineation of visible pixels of another image in the same TIFF file (that may be organised as
an irregularly shaped region of visible pixels)
Note: The 1-bits (bits with a value of 1) define the visible pixels; the 0-bits define transparent
pixels.
[TIFF, modified]

7

STD-DP-08-089r6

5

7 July 2020

Abbreviations

ARC

Equal Arc-Second Raster Chart

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information InterchangeCS

Coordinate System

DGIWG

Defence Geospatial Information Working GroupGCS

Geographic Coordinate System

GCSE

Geographic Coordinate System, Ellipsoid Only

GeoTIFF

Geographic Tagged Image File Format

GIS

Geospatial Information System/Geographic Information System

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

IFD

Image File Directory

IHO

International Hydrographic Organization

ISO

International Organization for Standardization

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group

LZW

Lempel-Ziv-Welch compression algorithm

RGB

Red, Green ,Blue

STANAG
TIFF
UTCStandardization Agreement
Tagged Image File Format
Coordinated Universal Time

UPS
UTM

Universal Polar Stereographic
Universal Transverse Mercator

WGS 84

World Geodetic System 1984

YCbCr

Luminance; Chroma:Blue; Chroma: Red

8

STD-DP-08-089r6

6

Overview

6.1

TIFF and GeoTIFF overview

7 July 2020

Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) [TIFF Format Specification, TIFF Revision 6.0] is a publicdomain format originally developed by Aldus Corporation, as an image file format used forstoring and interchanging raster images. It is a portable and widely used format. It defines tags
to identify several different types of coding and allows "private" tags for extensions. Thisextensibility allows community users and software vendors to define their own options, and insome cases results in poor interoperability.
TIFF specifies Part 1: Baseline restricted to 1 bit (bi-level), 4 or 8 bits greyscale or color-coded,
and 8 bits per component RGB imagery. Packbits and Huffman are the only compression
options allowed by baseline TIFF; however these compression options are not efficient on
geospatial imagery. TIFF also specifies Part 2: Extensions that addresses, for example, tiling,other colorimetric spaces (e.g., YCbCr) and other compression options such as LZW and JPEG.
GeoTIFF [GeoTIFF Format Specification, GeoTIFF Revision 1.0 or OGC GeoTIFF Standard
version 1.1] instantiates TIFF by specifying additional georeferencing metadata as a set of TIFF
tags (extensions to the Baseline TIFF Format) for the management of geospatial imagery(georeferenced or geocoded imagery).
The aim of GeoTIFF is to support a geodetically sound raster data georeferencing capability fortying a raster image to a known model space or map projection, and for describing thoseprojections. The geographic content supported in GeoTIFF tag structure includes its
cartographic projection, datum, ground pixel dimension and other geographic variables.
The GeoTIFF format is popular because of the following reasons:-

It is widely implemented by GIS and imagery software-

Its image data can also be viewed in a non-georeferenced fashion using widely available
TIFF software.

TIFF files are limited to 4 GB, due to the 32 bits size of the offset as specified by TIFF.

6.2

Specification scope

The general scope of this specification applies to datasets whose contents are georeferenced
imagery / gridded coverage data for the specified extent, which may contain any of the following
data:-

Imagery from any sensor-

Raster maps-

Terrain elevation-

Bathymetric data-

Other gridded data such as land occupation

This profile s main characteristics allow:-

All types of imagery conformant to TIFF Baseline: bi-level, grayscale, palette color image(thematic maps), 3-bands RGB (full color) or 4-bands. Other color spaces are not compliant
with this profile, except YCbCr when JPEG compression is used.

9

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020-

Optional use of GDAL_NODATA tag in order to declare NULL or void values, and/or use oftransparency mask for representing void or padding areas; transparency mask is specified in
Section 7 of TIFF Baseline and encoded in a second TIFF subfile and specified by anoptional second IFD1. A single subfile indicates there is no padding associated to the image.

-

Optional TIFF tiling (TIFF extension specified in section 15 of TIFF) for high volume data.
This option can not be used in conjunction with TIFF striping. The use of this option may
cause some interoperability problems, and must be identified as such at a different
conformance level.

-

Optional capability for vertical data encoding and georeferencing.

-

Optional use of Geo_metadata tag for additional XML metadata, either embedded in TIF filewithin this tag, or external in a XML file that may be referenced with this tag.

-

The use of any private TIFF or GeoTIFF tags, other than those included in Annex A, is
prohibited by this profile2.

-

Additional metadata that may be required by the producer should be included only in the
additional XML file.

6.3

Applicability and Use

This TIFF/GeoTIFF profile is applicable to the exchange of georeferenced imagery and gridded
data for Defense communities.
Producers using this profile are encouraged to develop a product specification to capture thedetailed design for the production of TIFF/GeoTIFF encoded data, and to provide theapplication-specific schema for metadata that fulfills the users requirements. Consequently it is
up to this product specification to conform the rules specified in DGIWG Profile of ISO 19131
Data Product Specification .
The metadata contained in TIFF/GeoTIFF tags are only dedicated to the following capabilities:-

Imagery file exchange-

Display and printing-

Creation date/time (optional)-

Pixel georeference / geolocation.

1 TIFF specification does not require TIFF Baseline readers to read any IFD beyond the first one (though multiple IFD

is specified within TIFF Baseline).
2 Reader software should ignore the unknown tags (or send a warning) instead of causing an error and stop.

10

STD-DP-08-089r6

7

7 July 2020

Data content and structure

Imagery data consists of a set of image values (pixels) - or more generally coverage values together with metadata describing these values or helping their exploitation. The spatial schema
for the imagery values is a coverage schema.
For this profile, the spatial schema for georeferenced imagery is more precidely a Quadrilateral
Grid Coverage as defined in ISO 19123, and the data content is the dataset (defined by ISO
TC211 ± ISO 19115) consisting in a single coverage.
As specified by ISO TC211, a dataset is a logical entity that can be identified by associatedmetadata. A dataset can be transferred over a network or stored on a physical medium.

8

Additional XML MetadataThis profile addresses TIFF/GeoTIFF metadata shortfalls to support fundamental imagery
metadata requirements. This profile allows additional metadata to be embedded within the
GeoTIFF file, or to be provided as an external file.
A Private TIFF Geo_Metadata tag has been created to support the option of embedding thisXML file within the TIFF/GeoTIFF encoding. The GEO_METADATA TIFF Tag (Tag 50909 in
Table 1) may be used more than once in a TIFF/GeoTIFF file, with a total of up to 4GB ofadditional information incorporated into the file (based on the maximum file size for
TIFF/GeoTIFF). The type of this tag is Byte, in order to allow for UTF8 characters for metadata.
Producers may alternatively choose the option of providing that additional information in an
external XML file which consequently is not applied to the 4GB limit. Software interpreters are
required to read the XML data whether it is carried within the TIFF tag or provided external to
the file.
Additional metadata may not be required in all cases (for example a WCS service may only
provide a simple GeoTIFF file, the associated metadata being provided by another service).
Additional metadata is required for orthoimagery, elevation products and other GeoTIFF data
used within NATO, in order to provide the required security and releasability statements. Other
implementations of TIFF/GeoTIFF may require the additional XML metadata to be present inorder to describe some aspect of the data that cannot be described using the baseline TIFF
tags. For example, it may be required when data quality must be described, or whendescriptions of the individual bands within multiband data are needed.
The additional metadata accommodates individual and multi-composite (composed of two or
more separately collected (sensed) images) GeoTIFF files.
GeoTIFF data that includes additional XML metadata should define the metadata elements todescribe the content, reference system, quality, or other characteristics of the data that cannot
be described in the baseline TIFF/GeoTIFF tags and keys. The additional metadata elements
shall be in conformance with the ISO TC 211 metadata standards including 19115, 19115-2,
19139 and 19139-2. An ISO 19106-conformant profile of the ISO standards may be usedinstead of the standards themselves.
The additional XML metadata do not substitute to the TIFF/GeoTIFF tags specified in thisprofile.
Some redundancy may occur between information provided by TIFF/GeoTIFF tags and XML
metadata. The producers of imagery data conformant to this profile are supposed to ensure
consistency between the TIFF/GeoTIFF data and tags and the XML metadata. However, in
11

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

case of inconsitency between XML metadata information and TIFF/GeoTIFF tag, the information
provided by the tags shall prevail.

9

Reference systems

In order to simplify the integration of data, DGIWG makes use of only one Coordinate Reference
System (CRS) for data production : the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84) which ismandatory for the military community.
The Horizontal Coordinate system of imagery, raster map and other coverage products must beeither (cf. Table 4):-

Geographic. The ARC System3 (Equal Arc-Second Raster Chart/Map geographic system),
specified by DGIWG (see DIGEST Support Document 3 - The ARC System) is therecommended system for geographic data in Defense products. GeographicTypeGeoKey(name in GeoTIFF 1.0) / GeodeticCRSGeoKey (name in GeoTIFF 1.1) shall be used withrecommended value of EPSG code 4326.

-

Projected. UTM/UPS (Universal Transverse Mercator / Universal Polar System) is therecommended system for projected data in Defense products. ProjectedCSTypeGeoKey /(name in GeoTIFF 1.0) / ProjectedCRSGeoKey (name in GeoTIFF 1.1) shall be used withrecommended value of EPSG codes as indicated in Table 4.

The Vertical Coordinate system for elevation (or sounding) coverage products must be either(cf. Table 5) :-WGS84 3D ellipsoid (EPSG code 4979)
EGM96 geoid (EPSG code 5773)
EGM08 geoid (EPSG code 3855)
EGM84 geoid (EPSG code 5798)
MSL height vertical reference system (EPSG code 5714)
MSL depth vertical reference system (EPSG code 5715)
or other Sounding datums (EPSG code 32767).

This profile is therefore compliant with DGIWG policy for Geodetic Codes and Parameters (refer
to http://www.dgiwg.org/DGIWG_Geodetic_Codes/index.htm ).
However other projections are allowed by this standard; these must be in conformance withDGIWG Geodetic Codes and Parameters Registry, and encoded in conformance with EPSG
Geodetic Parameter [EPSG].

3 The ARC system provides a georefencing mechanism in WGS84 based on following main features:- 16 non-polar zones and the 2 polar zones of the system;- a system of zone distribution rectangles (ZDRs) for raster images;- the relative coordinate system used for pixels in the zone distribution rectangles (being row & column);- the conversion method which relate the row & column coordinates to geographical coordinates (longitude, latitude).

12

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

10 Data quality
There are no fields nor any mechanism for storing data quality information (positional accuracy,
currency, quality information etc.) in the GeoTIFF format or in the additional metadata
requirements specified in this profile. Additional metadata should be used to address data
quality descriptions, and additional quality mask or layer should be used to provide quality
information4 for each pixel of the coverage.

11 Data capture
TIFF provides 2 fields / tags for specifying the scanner / instrument manufacturer and model:
Make and Model. These fields may be populated according to product specification
requirements.
However the production process is usually far more complex than the simple acquisition of animage by a scanner or a camera, and the full process needs to be documented by additional
metadata.
Use of Make and Model tags is consequently optional: in case they are populated, theinformation should be consistent with additional XML metadata, if scanner make and model are
documented there.

12 Data delivery
Data conformant to this profile may be delivered on media such as CDROM or DVDROM, hard
drive, or via networks.
This profile specifies the structure of single TIFF/GeoTIFF files with one single image (IFD) for
image/coverage data that may be augmented with only one image (IFD) for a transparency
mask.
Delivery of image / coverage data encoded in TIFF/GeoTIFF format may consist of one or more
TIFF/GeoTIFF files.

4 For example, some producers define (and identify) suspect areas (for elevation data) as those with elevation values

that fall outside of the dataset s range of logical consistency (i.e. spikes and valleys).

13

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

13 TIFF and GeoTIFF Requirements
13.1 General File Structure and Data Value Types
The TIFF structure includes an 8-byte image file header that points to the first Image File
Directory (IFD).
According to TIFF specification, bytes 0 and 1 of the Image File header have one of thefollowing values:-

either both equal to "I" (ASCII) (49 in hexadecimal) which specifies that byte order used for
TIFF file encoding is Little-Endian ,-or both equal to "M" (ASCII) (4D in hexadecimal) which specifies that byte order used for
TIFF file encoding is Big-Endian .

There must be at least 1 IFD in a TIFF file and each IFD must have at least one entry. The IFD
contains information about the image, as well as pointers to the actual data. This profile
constrains the number of IFDs to two, with the second IFD only used to support a transparencymask.
All of the GeoTIFF information is encoded in six TIFF tags, which are designed to store a wide
range of georeferencing information, catering for geographic as well as projected coordinate
systems. GeoKeys are used within the tags to store the projection parameters and coordinate
system information. All keys are referenced from one tag, the GeoKeyDirectoryTag.
The GeoTIFF specification requires interpret (reader) implementations to support all
documented TIFF 6.0 tag data-types, and in particular requires the Institute of Electrical &Electronic Engineers (IEEE) double-precision floating point DOUBLE type tag.
The
documented data types for use with TIFF tags are:x

BYTE = 8-bit unsigned integer

x

ASCII = 8-bit byte that contains a 7-bit American Standard Code for Information
Interchange (ASCII) code, the last byte must be NUL (binary zero)x

SHORT = 16-bit (2-byte) unsigned integerx

LONG = 32-bit (4-byte) unsigned integerx

FLOAT = Single precision (4-byte) IEEE formatx

DOUBLE = Double precision (8-byte) IEEE formatx

RATIONAL = Two LONGs: the 1st represents the numerator of a fraction; the 2nd, thedenominatorx

SBYTE = 8-bit signed (twos complement) integerx

UNDEFINED = 8-bit byte containing anything, depending on the definition of the field.

x

SSHORT = 16-bit (2-byte) signed (twos complement) integerx

SLONG = 32-bit (4-byte) signed (twos complement) integerx

SRATIONAL = Two SLONGs: the first represents the numerator of a fraction; the second,the denominator.

14

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Note: Annex A identifies which data type applies to each tag selected for use by this
implementation profile.
TIFF implicitly types all range values (data sample values) as unsigned integer values.
The BitsPerSample field in the TIFF Image File Directory defines the number of bits percomponent.
However, the representation of gridded data range values requires the ability to store the range(data) values in additional representations such as signed integer and floating point. Section 19of the TIFF specification (TIFF Extensions) presents a scheme for describing a variety of data
sample formats.

13.2 Georeference / georectification
A georeferenced grid is one that has a relationship between the grid positions and a geographic
or projected coordinate reference system.
A rectified grid is one that is related to the Earth by an affine transform, so that straight lines on
the Earth are represented by straight lines on a georectified image, and parallel lines by parallellines. However, scale and angle variations may be introduced by georectification.
An orthorectified grid is a rectified grid that is created using elevation data so that scale andangles are constant throughout the grid. A rectified grid may become a georectified grid with theadditional use of ground control points.
A referenceable grid is one that can be referenced by some other specified coordinate transform(for example, by a physical sensor geometry model or by a functional fit model of rational
polynomials).
This profile is concerned only with georeferenced / rectified grids and orthorectified grids. It
does not address referenceable grids; for example, those associated with oblique imagery.
Georeference for this GeoTIFF profile is only based on the following mechanism: use ofModelTiePoint on a single reference point in the image (upper left corner) (row and column
image coordinates and associated geographic coordinates) + ModelPixelScale containing
pixel sizes in X (column wise), Y (line wise) and Z (vertically) if applicable (for elevation data),
otherwise equal to 0.
Other mechanisms such as ModelTransformationTag5 are not compliant with this profile.
Other ModelTiePoints must not be taken into account for georeference.
NOTE:- Geographic coordinates in WGS84 include longitude followed by latitude, in decimal degrees.
Values are within 180° and +180° (longitude) and within -90° et +90° (latitude).
- Cartographic coordinates (UTM projection) include Easting followed by Northing, in meters,
plus a zone number. Zone numbers are within 1 and 60.
The choice of origin for raster space depends on the type of data. For imagery, the upper left
corner of the grid cell is the origin (GTRasterTypeGeoKey = RasterPixelIsArea). For elevation
data, the grid intersections are used as the origin of the raster space (GTRasterTypeGeoKey =RasterPixelIsPoint).
5 In some cases (e.g for equidistant-sampled data), the raster data requires rotation to fit into the defined model

space. The GeoTIFF ModelTransformationTag allows this information to be provided. However, ModelPixelScaleand ModelTransformationTag must not be used simultaneously. This profile only allows the mechanism based onModelTiePoint and ModelPixelScale, and subsequently directly displayable data.

15

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

13.3 Security Classification
There are no dedicated fields for storing security classification information in TIFF / GeoTIFF.
Additional metadata should be used to associate security markers and dissemination controls
for content of GeoTIFF files. However, in the case of classified GeoTIFF data, inclusion of the
security constraint information within the baseline GeoTIFF tag structure is also required so thatthe data file will always include security marking information, The security marking must bepresent in both the ImageDescription tag and in the additional XML metadata (if present) when
the data is classified. When the data is not classified, there is no requirement to declare thiscondition in the tag or the additional metadata.

13.4 Intellectual property rights information
In case of any copyright to the data or any restriction of usage, the TIFF tag Copyright gives
the information about copyright notice of the person or organization that claims the Intellectual
property rights. The complete copyright statement should be listed in this field including any
dates and statements of claims.The XML metadata should also include this information (use of
MD_LegalConstraints).

13.5 Coordinate Reference Systems and Datums
The GeoTIFF Configuration GeoKeys establish the general configuration of the file s coordinate
system. This profile s use of these GeoKeys is indicated below with their general description
followed by limitations and constraints established by this profile:-

GTModelTypeGeoKey Tag 1024. The GTModelTypeGeoKey defines the general
type of model coordinate system usedgeographic (e.g ARC) or projected (e.g
UTM) except otherwise specified.

-

GTRasterTypeGeoKey Tag 1025. The GTRasterTypeGeoKey establishes if theraster pixel value is located at a point value or if the value fills the square grid cell.

Horizontal datum
GeoTIFF has many datums to choose from in the Geodetic Datum
numerical codes contained in [EPSG]. This profile recommends the use of World Geodetic
System 1984 (WGS84) as the horizontal datum, but allows other datums.
Vertical datum This profile allows the use of any of the vertical datums (Vertical CRS) forelevation data defined in table A.4 or any other user-defined vertical datum; for specific local
vertical reference systems.
The identification of the Vertical CRS should be based on EPSG code (as in EPSG active
registry6) provided by the VerticalCSTypeGeoKey (name in GeoTIFF 1.0) or VerticalGeoKey(name in GeoTIFF 1.1) tag.The VerticalCitationGeoKey shall provide an ASCII identification of
the Vertical CRS, based on EPSG name (e.g EGM96), or the reference of the sounding datum
6 Warning (Please note that this is solved in GeoTIFF 1.1): There is a discrepancy between the EPSG codes as

specified in GeoTIFF revision 1.0 specification, implemented in the libgeotiff opensource library and EPSG registry.
OSGeo maintenance of libgeotiff is aware of this discrepancy, libgeotiff and EPSG registry (cf. Ticket 24
http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/ticket/24 and GeoTIFF guidance for Vertical Coordinate Systems and Datums
http://trac.osgeo.org/geotiff/wiki/VerticalCS.
In the libgeotiff release version 1.4.0, vertical datum, as defined in the file named epsg_vertcs.inc, allows for geoids
defined by EPSG codes 5001 to 5033 and 5101 to 5106, or WGS 84 ellipsoid, identified by code 5030. These codes
are not consistent with the corresponding codes in EPSG registry.
As libgeotiff is commonly used by systems and COTS, users should be aware that they should - as long as thisdiscrepancy is not solved by OSGeo - adjust the codes in epsg_vertcs.inc and generate the corresponding library or
executables in order to handle this specification (and EPSG registry). Other COTS handle the EPSG codes for
Vertical CRS correctly.

16

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

in
the
DGIWG
Geodetic
Codes
andParameters
registry(http://www.dgiwg.org/DGIWG_Geodetic_Codes) for the other hydrographic datum, or thedescription of user-defined vertical CRS.
Coordinate systems This profile limits expression of coordinate references to longitude andlatitude (geographic coordinate system) or the UTM Grid System Easting and Northing(projected / cartographic coordinate system).

13.6 Units of MeasureThis profile requires the declaration of the unit(s) of measure where applicable according to
GeoTIFF specifications and rules. Units of measure are specified in the following keys by thisprofile:-GeogAngularUnitsGeokey
Tag 2054 (required for user defined geographic CS,
optional otherwise for geographic data): decimal degree is the recommended unit
(9102),-

ProjLinearUnitsGeoKey Tag 3076 (required for user defined projected CS, optional
otherwise for projected data): meter is the recommended unit (9001),-

VerticalUnitsGeoKey
Tag 4099 (when describing elevation data): meter is therecommended unit (9001).

Default units are :-decimal degrees for longitude and latitude (geographic coordinate system)-

meters for UTM Grid System Easting and Northing (projected / cartographic
coordinate system).

13.7 Date and TimeThe DateTime field in TIFF allows for storing the date and time of image creation. The format
for the field in ASCII type is YYYY:MM:DD HH:MM:SS with 24 hour time used for the hours
and one space character between the date and time, and one terminating NUL character. The
length of the string, including the terminating NUL, is 20 bytes. All dates and times shall be
expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Use of this tag is recommended in order to support discovery of the data, wherever possible.
This information should then be consistent with additional XML metadata, if present. Absence of
this tag indicates this information was not available. The Date/Time stamp that will be
represented in the TIFF DateTime field shall be the date/time when the imagery values werecollected. Revision dates (processing dates) may be declared in the additional XML metadata.

13.8 Collection and Maintenance Constraints
There are several TIFF tags that can carry and address a variety of collection information.
These tags should not be populated for the purpose of this profile. The additional XML
metadata should be used to carry this type of information when needed.

13.9 Tiling
TIFF Baseline offers a stripping mechanism for improving Input/Output buffering which is nolonger efficient on large grids / images (greater than 8192 x 8192).
17

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

TIFF extensions offer an internal TIFF tiling mechanism which should be used on large grids /images, based on the most common tiling scheme which is a rectangular grid, by specifying
additional fields for rectangular tiles, for example width and length of tile. Tile dimensions must
be a multiple of 16 (TIFF specifies TileWidth and TileLength be a multiple of 16 (for performancein some graphics environments and compression schemes such as JPEG). This internal TIFF
tiling extension may not always be supported by commercial or public domain software,
especially older TIFF readers.
TIFF internal tiling must NOT be used in conjunction with stripping. When using internal tiles,
the grid data may need to be padded to tile boundaries when the grid size is not an integer
multiple of the selected tile size.
Generally, for small grids, the data should be organized as a single TIFF file with no tiling, inorder to maximize interoperability.
For large grids (greater than 8192 x 8192), TIFF tiling become a helpful option, therecommended tile size are commonly 256 x 256, 512 x 512, 1024 x 1024, 1536 x 1536 or 2048
x 2048.
For large grids, another option is external tiling when each tile is typically stored within separate
files; this option is outside the scope of this profile.

13.10 Number of Bands
The number of bands within a GeoTIFF grid may be either 1 (monochrome or transparencymask), 3 (RGB or YCbCr when JPEG compression is used), or multi-band (4 to 8 bands). Multiband images of more than 8 bands shall not be encoded using GeoTIFF. For the 3 and multiband cases, the band interleave shall be the TIFF chunky format (band interleaved by pixel) or
planar (band sequential). The TIFF specification does not address the multi-band case, andtherefore a combination of TIFF tags must be used in order to identify a multi-band image (seeTable 1).
For multi-band data, the following TIFF fields are documented as follows; SamplesPerPixel = 4,
PhotometricInterpretation = 2 (RGB), PhotometricInterpretation = 6 (YCbCr, only in case JPEG
compression is used), ExtraSamples count = (number of bands 3) (refer to table A.1).
When opacity data is present, the ExtraSamples count = (number of bands
opacity data).

3 + 1 for the

For example, for 5-bands with opacity data, Extrasamples value = 0,0,1 (0s = additional bands,
1 = opacity data). For RGB data with opacity data, Extrasamples value = 1 (no extra bands, only
opacity data).
The order of bands within the pixel data in the TIFF/GeoTIFF file for the multiband case must be
described in the additional XML metadata. The band order can be:-

in order of increasing wavelength, which is the most commonly used, e.g. Blue,
Green, Red, Near InfraRed (NIR).

-

or, in the case of multiband including RGB bands, with the first three bands ordered
as RGB, e.g. Red, Green, Blue, NIR (in order to facilitate visualization based onthese 3 bands on the basis of the PhotometricInterpretation tag.

For elevation data, the number of band is 1 (altitude or sounding) and PhotometricInterpretation
= 1.

18

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

13.11 Range Value Data Types and Precision
For imagery, the range (data) values are constrained to be unsigned integer data, 8 or 16-bitsper-band.
For gridded data (e.g. elevation data, matrices of lat/lon values, etc.), the range (data) values
may be stored in additional representations to include 8-bit and 16-bit signed integer, 32-bit
signed integer and 32-bit floating point.
Note: In case 32-bit signed integers are used for elevation values, it shall be associated with the
Scaling factor mechanism (Z component) of GeoTIFF tags which shall provide the Z scaling
factor that must apply to the elevation values provided in the TIFF raster file.

13.12 Compression
The baseline of this profile allows only the TIFF baseline compressions Packbits and Modified
Huffman, which are applicable only to bi-level imagery. This is the preferred mode of thisprofile. In other words, grid values should not be compressed except in the following cases
explained hereafter.
This profile also allows (in its Compression conformance class) for the LZW and JPEG
compressions as specified in a TIFF extension for imagery types other than bi-level. Thisextension may not be implemented by all software and COTS applications.
LZW compression can also be handled outside the TIFF specification (for example by zipping
the GeoTIFF file). LZW is a lossless compression that may perform efficiently on some image(e.g. when large areas have the same pixel values).
On continuous-tone color spaces, JPEG provides a lossy compression which allows a greater
compression rate. However when this compression rate increases, JPEG artifacts, like
pixellation, quickly appear with a downgrading of the image quality that may impact thegeolocation of objects identified in the image.
This profile recommends the following compression options, depending on the use case:-uncompressed mode (or TIFF baseline compressions on bi-level imagery), supported by
the baseline of this profile;otherwise, on the basis of the Compression extension / conformance class (based on TIFF
LZW and JPEG compression extensions). In case JPEG compression, YCbCr colorspace
may be used.
-

lossless compression (LZW or LZ77 (DEFLATE)).

-

lossy JPEG, with the risk of downgrading the quality of the data (as explained above).

If LZW proves to be efficient, the use of external LZW compression on the file should be
preferred.

13.13 Void areas
A void area is an area within the coverage where the range value does not represent an actual
measurement, or a NULL value is present, e.g. padding or missing measurement values.
There are no baseline TIFF or GeoTIFF tags for storage of information about void areas.
An unofficial private TIFF tag, GDAL_NODATA (#42113) exists and may be used for the puposeof declaring these values (see Table 1).
19

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

For 2D data (raster graphics or images), producers usually use a NULL value (e.g. the black or
0 or (0, 0, 0)) which may be explicitly declared by the producer using the GDAL_NODATA tag.
For elevation data, as 0 is meaningfull, data values to be identified as NULL values (i.e. void
areas) are represented by a designated out-of-range value, typically the most negative value
available for the data type selected (or the non-number value designated for the selected datatype), which must be explicitly declared by using the GDAL_NODATA tag if there are NULL
values.
This DGIWG profile also retains the use of a transparency mask (refer to 13.14.2) for
representation of data values to be for identified as NULL values and treated as transparent.
Interpreters should be ready to encounter either GDAL_NODATA tag (for NULL value
declaration) or transparency mask (for representation of void area as transparent). They may
opt to ignore it (both GDAL_NODATA tag or transparency mask); however it is recommended
that they interpret both these mechanisms, and more particularly for elevation data.

13.14 Image file implementation
The following implementation requirements
contrary notice) :address the following cases (except explicit-

base (single) image (one single IFD),-

image with a transparency mask (two IFDs).

The data section of an imagery product includes a single GeoTIFF file. This file may contain 2
sub-files (subfile of TIFF specification) and consequently 2 IFDs: the first one for the image data
itself, the second one for the optional transparency mask containing padding information.
NB: This section must be used in conjunction with tables specified in Annex A.
13.14.1

Image encoding (first IFD)

The first IFD always addresses the image data, whether it is a single image or an image
associated with a transparency mask.
13.14.2

Transparency mask encoding (second IFD - optional)

The optional transparency mask allows to represent the padding or void areas; this mechanism
specified in TIFF Additional Baseline is common for geospatial raster data.
If present, it is specified by the second IFD. No second IFD indicates "no designation of padding
mask for transparency representation is associated to the image".
A transparency mask is a bi-level image that is perfectly superposable to the image data (pixel
to pixel) specified by first IFD. This profile implements transparency mask with the same size
and resolution as main image data. In this transparency mask, the value 1 indicates asignificant pixel whereas a value 0 indicates a padding pixel that should be rendered astransparent. A transparency mask contains no GeoTIFF tag.

The following specifications apply to the following TIFF tags (in addition to table in Annex A-1)
for a transparency mask:-

BitsPerSample = 1-

No Colormap (Inadequate)20

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020-

ImageDescription= « Transparency Mask »-ImageLength = ImageLength of 1st IFD-

ImageWidth = ImageWidth of 1st IFD-

NewSubfileType= all bits equal 0, except bit 2 = 1 (NewSubfileType = 4, e.g tag content
equal to 0...0100 if little-endian)-

PhotometricInterpretation = 4 (which designates transparency mask)-

SamplesPerPixel = 1

13.15 File Naming and Identification
This profile places no constraints for naming GeoTIFF files. It is recommended that the naming
scheme used be applied to not only the GeoTIFF data file, but also to the associated XML
metadata file, if additional XML metadata is provided using the external XML file option (asopposed to embedding the XML metadata in the GEO_METADATA Tag (Tag 50909 in Table 1).
The GeoTIFF file and its associated XML metadata should share the same base name, since
there is no mechanism within the TIFF tags to reference the metadata file.
For file identification, this profile proposes the use of a dedicated private TIFF tag, TIFF_RSID,
in order to include a unique file identifier, as defined in DMF as RSID element ± Resource
Identifier (tag 50908 in Table 1). If used, this tag must be unique.

21

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Annex A - TIFF / GeoTIFF Format Constraints(normative)
The following tables specify the required content and rules for TIFF and GEOTIFF tags used for georeferenced imagery in this profile. It also specifies
the TIFF and GeoTIFF tags that are not used by this profile, and in some cases that must not be used when conforming this profile.
These tables address the 2 following cases: base (single) image, image with a transparency mask. Following information addresses these 2 cases,
except explicit contrary notice.
Legend for following tables:-

Columns Field, Description, Tag and Type refer to corresponding specification items of tag (resp. geokey) according to TIFF (resp. GeoTIFF)
specifications.

-

Card column specifies cardinality of the item.

-

ROCI column specifies presence of the item:-

R : required-

O : optional-

C : conditional (condition must be specified)-

I : inadequate for profile (not applicable for georeferenced imagery conformant to this profile)-

Restricted values for the profile: indicates (when applicable) required values for tag or geokey for this profile.

-

TM: transparency mask.

A-1

TIFF Format

NB: An asterisk next to the tag number indicates the additional TIFF fields and extensions needed to support the profile. These asterisked tags are in
addition to those listed in the TIFF baseline (Section 8 of [TIFF]).

22

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Table 1: Baseline TIFF Fields specifications of this profile(from Section 8: Baseline Field Reference Guide of TIFF 6.0 specification)
Field

Description

Tag

Type

Card

ROCI

Restricted values for the profile(D: Default value)

ArtistPerson who created the image

315

ASCII

1

O

If used, populate with the name of theorganization responsible for the file.
(This information is redundant withadditional metadata)

BitsPerSample

Number of bits per component

258

Short

1
Samples per pixel(for RGB data)R

1 (for TM or bi-level imagery)
For imagery, constrained to 8 and 16-bitsper-pixel-per-band (e.g 8 8 8 for RGB data)
For other gridded data, constrained to 8, 16
and 32 bits per range (sample) value.

ColorMap

A color map for palette color images

320

Short

3*(2**
BitsPerSample)

C

Only for color-coded data

Compression

Compression scheme used on the image
data.

259

Short

1

R

1 (corresponding to not compressed)
2 Modified Huffman compression
5 LZW compression
7 JPEG compression
32946 LZ77(DEFLATE)
32773 PackBits compression

Copyright

Copyright notice

33432

ASCII

1..*

O
I (for TM)(When restricted)
Restrictions for access or usage, complete
copyright statement (including person ororganization claiming the copyright, dates,
etc.)

DateTime

Date and time of image creation

306

ASCII

20

O

Creation date of image
Use of this tag is recommended in order tosupport discovery of the data. This
information should be consistent withadditional XML metadata, where otherdates can also be provided.
Date and Time in Coordinated Universal
Time (UTC)23

STD-DP-08-089r6
Field

7 July 2020
Description

Tag

Type

Card

ROCI

Restricted values for the profile(D: Default value)

ExtraSamples

Description of extra components
For Profile: Use this tag for images with 4
or more bands. Set the value to 0
(unspecified data) and the number ofvalues (count) is equal to the number of
additional bands beyond the third band.
E.g. for 8-band data, the count is 5 and thevalues is 0 (0,0,0,0,0).

338

Short

1

C

Populate with values of 0 for additional
bands and 1 for opacity data

FillOrder

The logical order of bits within a byte.

266

Short

1

O

1 (Default)(2 shall never be used)

HostComputer

The computer and/or operating system in
use at the time of image creation.

316

ASCII

1..*

O

If used, populate with descriptor of thecomputer system used to process/create
the range values from the raw instrument
data or other source of sample data.

ImageDescription

A string that describes the subject of theimage.

270

ASCII

1..*

O

Identify the product type; must content theidentification of product.
It is recommended to include security
constraint info in this field in order tosupport Security marking of the data,consistently with additional XML metadata.
« Transparency Mask » for transparency
mask

ImageLength

The number of rows of pixels in the image.

257

Short or Long

1

R

ImageWidth

The number of columns in the image, i.e.
the number of pixels per row.

256

Short or Long

1

R

Make

The scanner manufacturer

271

ASCII

1

O

The manufacturer of the instrument used toobtain the range values.

Model

The scanner model name or number.

272

ASCII

1

O

The manufacturer s model name or numberof the instrument used to obtain the range
values.

MinSampleValue7

The minimum component value used.

280

SHORT

1

O

If used for statiscal purposes, applies toInteger case values

MaxSampleValue7

The maximum component value used.

281

SHORT

1

O

If used for statiscal purposes, applies toInteger case values

7 This field is not to be used to affect the visual appearance of an image, nor to affect the interpretation of any other field; it is used only for statistical purposes.

24

STD-DP-08-089r6
Field

7 July 2020
Description

Tag

Type

Card

ROCI

Restricted values for the profile(D: Default value)

NewSubfileType

A general indication of the kind of datacontained in this subfile.

254

Long

1

C
Present whentransparency
mask is used
as 2nd subfile

All bits equal 0 except bit 2 = 1 (value = 4,
e.g 0...0100 if little-endian)(for transparency mask)

Orientation

The orientation of the image with respect tothe rows and columns.

274

Short

1

O

1 (Default value) ± Row major order
Orientation of the image to the external
coordinate reference system is defined by
the GeoTIFF tags.

PhotometricInterpretation

The color space of the image data.

262

Short

1

R

1 greyscale image file or bi-level
qualification layer or elevation file
2 RGB (image file)
3 Color-coded (color-coded (palette color)
image or qualification layer)
4 (for transparency mask)
Note: A value for the multi-band case is notdefined in the TIFF specification. In themulti-band case, use a value of 2 (RGB)
and populate the ExtraSamples tag
according to the number of additional
bands.
6 YCbCr (image file), only for JPEG
compression. Otherwise 6 (YCbCr) shallnot be used.

Thresholding

For black and white TIFF files that
represent shades of gray, the techniqueused to convert from gray to black andwhite pixels.

263

SHORT

1

O

If used, set to 1 (Default)), indicating that no
dithering or halftoning has been applied tothe image data.

PlanarConfiguration

How the components of each pixel are
stored.

284

Short

1

C
More than 1band

1 (Include this tag when more than one
band is described by the range values)(designating BIL i.e pixels organised as
RGBRGB ...) set the value to 1 (chunkyformat)Or
2 (planar format).

ResolutionUnit

The unit of measurement for XResolution
and YResolution.

296

Short

1

R

2 (designating dpi (dot per inch)) Used by
TIFF readers that do not read GeoTIFF
keys.

25

STD-DP-08-089r6
Field
SamplesPerPixel

7 July 2020
Description
The number of components per pixel.

Tag

Type

Card

ROCI

277

Short

1

R

339*

SHORT

1

C
For coverageother than
imagesFor applicable coverage (other than
images) select the value corresponding to
the sample format used for representing therange (data) values.
Optional (and equel to 1) for images.

For Profile:
Allowed values are 1, 3 and 4.
SampleFormat

This field specifies how to interpret eachdata sample in a pixel. Possible values are:1 = unsigned integer data (Default)
2 = two s complement signed integer data
3 = IEEE floating point data [IEEE]

Restricted values for the profile(D: Default value)
1 for monochrome data or bi-level TM
3 for RGB data
4 for 4 or more (multi-band) data

NB: This field does not specify the size ofdata samples; the BitsPerSample field does
this.
SminSampleValue

The minimum sample value. This tag isused in lieu of MinSampleValue when thesample type is other than integer.

340*

Field type thatbest matches
the sample
data

SamplesPerPixelO

If used for statiscal purposes, when values
are other than integer.
Note that a value should be given for eachdata sample. That is, if the image has 3
SamplesPerPixel, 3 values must be
specified.

SmaxSampleValue

The maximum sample value. . This tag isused in lieu of MaxSampleValue when thesample type is other than integer.

341*

Field type thatbest matches
the sample
data

SamplesPerPixelO

If used for statiscal purposes, when values
are other than integer.
Note that a value should be given for eachdata sample. That is, if the image has 3
SamplesPerPixel, 3 values must be
specified.

SoftwareName and version number of the software
package(s) used to create the image.

305

ASCII

1..*

O

If used, populate with descriptor of thesoftware package(s) used to process/create
the range values from the raw instrument
data or other source of imagery andgridded data.

StripOffsets

For each strip, the byte offset of that strip.

273

Short or Long

Number of bands

C
Not used if
Tiling is used.

Populate per TIFF specification when
opting to use strips (for each strip, byte
index to strip within file)

RowsPerStrip

The number of rows per strip8.

278

Short or Long

1

C
Not used if
Tiling is used.

Required if no tiling.

StripByteCounts

For each strip, the number of bytes in the
strip after compression.

279

Short or Long

Number of bands

C
Not used if
Tiling is used.

Populate per TIFF specification when
opting to use strips (number of bytes of the
strip)

8 TIFF specification recommends selecting the value for RowsPerStrip such that each strip is about 8K bytes; it makes buffering simpler for readers.

26

STD-DP-08-089r6
Field

7 July 2020
Description

Tag

Type

Card

ROCI

Restricted values for the profile(D: Default value)

XResolution

The number of pixels per ResolutionUnit in
the ImageWidth direction.

282

Rational

1

R

Populate with resolution for display, e.g.
254/1 for orthoimagery or raster maps with
PixelScaleX/Y9 = 100 microns. Used by
TIFF readers that do not read GeoTIFF
keys

YResolution

The number of pixels per ResolutionUnit in
the ImageLength direction.

283

Rational

1

R

Populate with resolution for display or
prints, e.g. 254/1 (as above)
Used by TIFF readers that do not read
GeoTIFF keys

TileWidth

The tile width in pixels. This is the numberof columns in each tile.

322*

Short or Long

1C
For internal
TIFF tiling

TileLength

The tile length (height) in pixels. This is thenumber of rows in each tile.

323*

Short or Long

1C
For internal
TIFF tiling

TileOffsets

For each tile, the byte offset of that tile, as(compressed and) stored on disk.

324*

Long

TilesPerImage10

C
For internal
TIFF tiling

TileByteCounts

For each tile, the number of (compressed)
bytes in that tile.

325*

Short or Long

TilesPerImageC
For internal
TIFF tiling

GDAL_NODATAAn ASCII value intended to specify what 42113*
pixel value is being used to represent
missing or background data.

ASCII

1

TIFF_RSID

File Universal Unique Identifer, or RSID, 50908
according to DMF definition

ASCII

1..*

GEO_METADATA

This tag may be used for embedding XML- 50909*
encoded instance documents preparedusing 19139-based schema

Byte

R for 3D data
If used, populate with the number thatwith void areas represents void areas in the dataset.
(otherwise
optional)O

This tag may be used to provide a uniquefile identifier for the TIFF file.
The content may be a UUID, URI, URL or
any ad hoc file identification, ensuring
unicity of identifier.

Count: 4-byte
O
This tag may be used and information(max. size = 4GB) For embedded populated with embedded additional XML
XML metadata metadata11.
ASCII or UTF8 characters may be used.

9 Where PixelScaleX/Y are the 1st/2nd component of GeoTIFF tag ModelPixelScaleTag. The formula for the calculation of the numerator is 2.54E-02/PixelScaleX (resp. PixelScaleY).

The denominator is equal to 1 (inch, as this is the unit of measurement for XResolution and YResolution).
10 TilesPerImage = (ImageWidth + TileWidth - 1) / TileWidth * (ImageLength + TileLength - 1) / TileLength
11 Also refer to Chapter 8. A

DGIWG metadata profile is being developed.

27

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

The following tags are never used by this profile:-

CellWidth (tag 264), CellLength (tag 265)-

DocumentName (tag 269) and other extension tags defined in section 12 : Document Storage and Retrieval-

FreeOffsets (tag 288), FreeByteCounts (tag 289)-

GrayResponseUnit (tag 290), GrayResponseCurve (tag 291)-

TransferFunction (tag 301) and Colorimetry Field extensions defined in section 20 : RGB Image Colorimetry.

28

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Table 2: TIFF extension JPEG fields (Compression JPEG)

New style JPEG in TIFF (compression tag value = 7)

References:
http://www.awaresystems.be/imaging/tiff/tifftags/jpegtables.html (specification of JPEGTables tag for use with compression tag = 7)
http://download.osgeo.org/libtiff/doc/TIFFTechNote2.html (TIFF technical note explaining the issues with the method proposed in Section 22: JPEG
compression extension of TIFF 6.0 specification (addressed by compression tag value = 6) and specification of new style JPEG in TIFF, withcompression tag value = 7)
http://www.fileformat.info/format/tiff/egff.htm (additional information on issues for old style JPEG in TIFF( as specified in Section 22) and new style
JPEG solution.
Field

Description

Tag

Type

Card

ROCI

Restricted values for the profile(D: Default value)

JPEGTables

JPEG quantization and/or Huffman tables.
The purpose of JPEGTables is to predefine JPEG quantization and/or
Huffman tables for subsequent use by JPEG image segments.
When this is done, these rather bulky tables need not be duplicated ineach segment, thus saving space and processing time.
JPEGTables may be used even in a single-segment file, although
there is no space savings in that case.

347

UNDEFINEDN= number of bytes intables datastream

O

Used for JPEG compression (newstyle, when Compression tag = 7)
Shallcontain
a
valid
JPEG
"abbreviatedtable
specification"
datastream

Important note: The following tags specified in Section 22: JPEG compression extension of TIFF 6.0 specification
tag value equal to 6 in Table 1 shall not be used, as they are inefficient and are now obsoleted:as addressed by the compression-

JPEGProc, JPEGInterchangeFormat, JPEGInterchangeFormatLength, JPEGRestartInterval, JPEGLosslessPredictors, JPEGPointTransforms,
JPEGQTables, JPEGDCTables, JPEGACTables.

TIFF Advisory Committee has developed a replacement JPEG-in-TIFF scheme, based on the use of a JPEGTables tag (as specified above), andadressed by Compression tag value equal to 7.
The outline of the mechanism is as follows:
1. Each image segment (strip or tile) in a JPEG-compressed TIFF image contains a legal JPEG datastream, complete with all markers. This data
forms an independent image of the proper dimensions for the strip or tile.
2. To avoid duplicate tables in a multi-segment file, segments may use the JPEG "abbreviated image data" datastream structure, in which DQT(for Quantization) and DHT (for Huffman) tables are omitted. The common tables are to be supplied in a JPEG "abbreviated table specification"

29

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

datastream, which is contained in a newly defined "JPEGTables" TIFF field. (Because the tables in question typically amount to 550 bytes or so,
the savings are worthwhile.)
The JPEG "abbreviated table specification" datastream shall begin with SOI (Start Of Image marker) and end with EOI (End Of Image marker). It may
contain zero or more JPEG "tables and miscellaneous" markers, namely:-

DQT(Define Quantization Table)-

DHT(Define Huffman Table)-

DAC(not to appear unless arithmetic coding is used)-

DRI(Define Restart Interval)

-

APPn

(shall be ignored by TIFF readers)-COM(shall be ignored by TIFF readers)Table 3: TIFF extension YCbCR: use of TIFF fields (restricted for JPEG compression JPEG)
Reference: Section 21: YCbCr Images ([TIFF]) - Minimum Requirements for YCbCr Images
Field

Description

Tag

Type

Card

ROCI

Restricted values for the profile(D: Default value)

SamplesPerPixel

The number of components per pixel.

277

Short

1

R

3. Three components representing Y, Cb and Cr

BitsPerSample

Number of bits per component

258

Short

1
Samples
per pixel(for YCbCr
data)

R

8, 8, 8Compression

Compression scheme used on the image data.

259

Short

1

R

7 (JPEG)

PhotometricInterpreta The color space of the image data.
tion

262

Short

1

R

6 (YCbCr)

ReferenceBlackWhite Specifies a pair of headroom and footroom image data values(codes) for each pixel component.

532

Rational

6

R

Default value: 0 255 128 255 128 255 (noheadroom/no footroom)

The first component code within a pair is associated with
ReferenceBlack, and the second is associated with
ReferenceWhite. The ordering of pairs is the same as thosefor pixel components of the PhotometricInterpretation type.

30

STD-DP-08-089r6

A-2

7 July 2020

GeoTIFF Format

Use of keys and parameters is constrained as indicated within this profile. All keys are referenced from one tag, the GeoKeyDirectoryTag.
NB: these tags only apply to image file and other grided data; they do not apply to transparency mask.
Table 4: GeoTIFF tags and parameter keys specifications of this profile
Field

Description

Tag

Type

Card

ROCI

Restricted values for the profile

GeoKeyDirectoryTagStores GeoKey Directory, which defines and 34735
references the GeoKeys specified below. All
Keys in GeoTIFF are referenced from the
GeoKeyDirectoryTag

Short

4..*

R

Values of header field:
KeyDirectoryVersion = 1
KeyRevision = 1
MinorRevision = 0 or 1 if based on OGC
GeoTIFF 1.1
NumberOfKeys = variable (cf. following
GeoKeys)

GeoDoubleParamsTag

Used to store all of the Double valued 34736
GeoKeys,referenced
by
the
GeoKeyDirectoryTag

DoubleI

There is no need to include this tag if nodouble parameter is required.

GeoAsciiParamsTag

Used to store all of the ASCII valued GeoKeys, 34737
referenced by the GeoKeyDirectoryTag

ASCII

R

Required for ASCII valued GeoKeys

ModelTiePointTag

raster -> model tiepoint pairs in the order 33922
ModelTiepointTag = ( ,I,J,K, X,Y,Z ) where(I,J,K) is the point at location (I,J) in rasterspace with pixel-value K, and (X,Y,Z) is avector in model space12

DoubleR

Populate this tag with the tie point pair that
correlates to the grid reference (grid origin(coordinates 0,0))In case of grid origin, tag value is:
0 0
0
Ox
Oy Oz
where Ox, Oy et Oz are coordinates of thegrid origin (in the reference system
identified by GeoKeyDirectoryTag)
Oz only used for elevation data.

GeoTIFF Tags

12 Note that X is always equal to Easting or Longitude, and Y is always equal to Northing or Latitude.

31

6

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Field

Description

ModelPixelScaleTag

Tag

Type

Card

ROCI

Used to specify the size of raster pixel spacing 33550
in the model space units, consists of thefollowing three values ModelPixelScaleTag =(ScaleX, ScaleY, ScaleZ)
Double3

R

Restricted values for the profile
Value is: px py pz
where px (resp. py/pz) is pixel spacing
along X axis (resp. Y resp. Z axis) (in thereferencesystemidentified
byGeoKeyDirectoryTag and in its associatedunit)
Pz= 0 for 2D images or 1 for elevation data
(default value) or Z-scaling factor if
applicable. E.g, if values in raster areprovided in cm (i.e. multiplied by 100), a Z
scaling factor of 0.01 shall apply.

GeoTIFF Configuration GeoKeys
GTModelTypeGeoKey

Defines general type of model coordinate
system used, and to which the raster space willbe transformed.

1024

Short

1

R

The applicable codes are:
1 ModelTypeProjected (UTM / UPS, ...)
2 ModelTypeGeographic (e.g ARC)

GTRasterTypeGeoKey

Establishes the rastersystem:RasterPixelIsPoint
RasterPixelIsArea

coordinate

1025

Short

1

R

The applicable codes are:1
RasterPixelIsArea (used by imagery
products)
2
RasterPixelIsPoint (for discrete
coverage data including elevation data)

GTCitationGeoKey

Provided to give an ASCII reference topublished documentation on the overall
configuration of this GeoTIFF file.

1026

ASCII

1..*

0

This tag may identify detailed productspecification (e.g this profile), used todefine this GeoTIFF file.

2048

Short

1

C

4326 (i.e GCS_WGS84 meaning WGS84 )or 4030 (i.e GCSE_WGS84)
notrecommended by GeoTIFF.
Other CRS allowed by this standard (inconformance with DGIWG Geodetic Codesand Parameters Registry)13.

space

Geographic CS Parameter Keys
GeographicTypeGeoKey(name in GeoTIFF 1.0) /GeodeticCRSGeoKey(name in GeoTIFF 1.1)

This key may be used to specify the code forthe geographic coordinate system used to map
lat-long to a specific ellipsoid over the earth.

Present only for ARC data (or other
Geographic type data).
In this case, GTModelTypeGeoKey = 2 andProjectedCSTypeGeoKey /ProjectedCRSGeoKey is absent.
13 These CRS and PCS must be encoded in conformance with EPSG Geodetic Parameter.

32

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Field

Description

Tag

Type

GeogCitationGeoKey(name in GeoTIFF 1.0) /GeodeticCitationGeoKey(name in GeoTIFF 1.1)

This key provides a general citation andreference for all Geographic CS parameters.

2049

ASCII

2054

Short

1

3072

Short

1

GeogAngularUnitsGeokey

This key Allows the definition of geocentric CS
Angular units.
It is optional in this profile (though no userdefined GCS is allowed) in order to clarify that
decimal degrees is the angular unit to be
used.

Card

ROCI

Restricted values for the profile

C
WGS84 + may include Reference
Whendocument citation (EPSG, DGIWG Registry
GeographicTyp or [DMA TR 8350.2])
eGeoKey /GeodeticCRS
GeoKey ispresent
O
9102 (meaning decimal degrees) (Default)
When
GeographicTyp (maybepresent
only
if
eGeoKey /GeographicTypeGeoKey/
GeodeticCRS GeodeticCRSGeoKey is present)
GeoKey ispresent

Projected CS Parameter Keys
ProjectedCSTypeGeoKey(name in GeoTIFF 1.0) /ProjectedCRSGeoKey(name in GeoTIFF 1.1)

This code is provided to specify the projected
coordinate system.

C

Value =
326zz UTM Northern Hemisphere327zz UTM Southern Hemisphere(Where zz is the UTM zone number)
5041 - UPS projection (north zone)
5042 - UPS projection (south zone) OtherPCS allowed by this standard (inconformance with DGIWG Geodetic Codesand Parameters Registry)1312
Present only for cartographic data. In thiscase, GTModelTypeGeoKey = 1 andGeographicTypeGeoKey/
GeodeticCRSGeoKey is absent

PCSCitationGeoKey (name This key is provided to give an ASCII referencein GeoTIFF 1.0) /to published documentation on the Projected
ProjectedCitationGeoKey
Coordinate System.
(name in GeoTIFF 1.1)

3073

ASCII

33

1..*

C
When
ProjectedCSTy
peGeoKey /ProjectedCRS
GeoKey ispresent

Citation of Projected Coordinate System +may include Reference document citation(EPSG, DGIWG Registry or [NIMA TM
8358.2]For example, value may be:« UTM zzN / WGS84 »STD-DP-08-089r6
ProjLinearUnitsGeoKey

7 July 2020
This key defines the linear units used by the
projection.
It is optional in this profile (though no userdefined GCS is allowed) in order to clarify thatmeters is the linear unit to be used14.

3076

Short

1

O
When
ProjectedCSTy
peGeoKey /ProjectedCRS
GeoKey ispresent

9001 (meaning Linear_Meter) (Default)(may be present only if
ProjectedCSTypeGeoKey /ProjectedCRSGeoKey is present)

The following fields are not used by this profile:-

ModelTransformationTag (tag 34264)-

GeogGeodeticDatumGeoKey (tag 2050)-

GeogPrimeMeridianGeoKey (tag 2051) (Greenwich meridian always used)-

GeogLinearUnitsGeoKey (tag 2052) (meters (default) always used)-

GeogLinearUnitSizeGeoKey (tag 2053)-

GeogAngularUnitSizeGeoKey (tag 2055)-

GeogEllipsoidGeoKey (tag 2056)-

GeogSemiMajorAxisGeoKey (tag 2057)-

GeogSemiMinorAxisGeoKey (tag 2058)-

GeogInvFlatteningGeoKey (tag 2059)-

GeogAzimuthUnitsGeoKey (tag 2060)-

GeogPrimeMeridianLongGeoKey (tag 2061)-

ProjectionGeoKey (tag 3074)-

ProjCoordTransGeoKey (tag 3075)-

ProjLinearUnitSizeGeoKey (tag 3077)-

ProjStdParallel1GeoKey (tag 3078)-

ProjStdParallel2GeoKey (tag 3079)-

ProjNatOriginLongGeoKey (tag 3080)-

ProjNatOriginLatGeoKey (tag 3081)-

ProjFalseEastingGeoKey (tag 3082)-

ProjFalseNorthingGeoKey (tag 3083)-

ProjFalseOriginLongGeoKey (tag 3084)

14 The use of this optional tag for UTM projection adds no information as meters is adequetely defined in EPSG codes (for UTM). However, it might prove useful for other PCS.

34

STD-DP-08-089r6-

ProjFalseOriginLatGeoKey (tag 3085)-

ProjFalseOriginEastingGeoKey (tag 3086)-

ProjFalseOriginNorthingGeoKey (tag 3087)-

ProjCenterLongGeoKey (tag 3088)-

ProjCenterLatGeoKey (tag 3089)-

ProjCenterEastingGeoKey (tag 3090)-

ProjCenterNorthingGeoKey (tag 3091)-

ProjScaleAtNatOriginGeoKey (tag 3092)-

ProjScaleAtCenterGeoKey (tag 3093)-

ProjAzimuthAngleGeoKey (tag 3094)-

ProjStraightVertPoleLongGeoKey (tag 3095)

7 July 2020

35

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

The following table apply only for 3D gridded data such as terrain elevation.
Table 5: GeoTIFF Vertical CS parameter keys specifications of this profile
Field

Description

Tag

Type

Card

1

ROCI

Restricted values for the profile

Vertical CS Parameter Keys
VerticalCSTypeGeoKey (namein GeoTIFF 1.0) /VerticalGeoKey (name in
GeoTIFF 1.1)

This key may be used to specify the verticalcoordinate system.

4096

Short

VerticalCitationGeoKey

This key may be used to document thevertical coordinate system used, and its
parameters.

4097

ASCII

4099

Short

C
Only for 3D
data

Allowed values are: following EPSG codes:
4979 (WGS84 3D ellipsoid)5773 (EGM96)
3855 (EGM08)
5798 (EGM84)
5714 (MSL height)
5715 (MSL depth)
32767 for other Sounding datums idenfied
in DGIWG Geodetic registry, or user
defined Vertical CRS (see 13.5).

C
Only for 3D
data

Allowed values are (see 13.5):
WGS84 Ellipsoid,
EGM84, EGM96, EGM2008, MSL height,
MSL depth ,or the name of the Sounding datum
identified in DGIWG Geodetic registry(identifier: S-1 to S-40),
or description of user-defined vertical CRS.

C
Only for 3D
data

9001 (meaning Linear_Meter) (Default)

In this profile, for other vertical datum than
WGS84 and if VerticalCSTypeGeoKey isequal to 32767,this information shallcontain identification of EPSG code orname for the datum (e.g EGM96 , or EPSG
code= 5119 for IGN69,NGF in France). It
may also include reference of the datum in
the DGIWG Geodetic Codes andParameters registry.
VerticalUnitsGeoKey

This key may be used to specify the verticalunits of measurement used in thegeographic coordinate system, in cases
where geographic CS's needs to reference
the vertical coordinate. This, together with
the Citation key, comprises the only fully
implemented keys in this section, atpresent.

1

The following fields should not used by this profile: VerticalDatumGeoKey (tag 4098), except for user-defined vertical CRS.

36

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Annex B - Conformance test suites(normative)
This annex introduces the methodology for the conformance tests for this profile, and provides theconformance test suites relevant to TIFF and GeoTIFF profiling, specified in their respective
conformance statements tables.

B-1

Purpose, scope, and methodology

PurposeTo determine the extent a system or product conforms to this profile for the interpretation andgeneration of GeoTIFF files as constrained by this implementation profile.
Scope
Conformance testing will focus on the GeoTIFF features capabilities of the tested system or
product. Testers will check for conformance with this profile and also with the standards andspecifications that were used as normative documents in the construction of this profile. The intent
is to provide a high level of confidence that an implementation conforms to the profile. The term
GeoTIFF as used within the context of this appendix generally means TIFF and GeoTIFF as
specified by this profile.
Methodology
The GeoTIFF testing methodology uses a combination of test cases designed to address the abilityof the Implementation Under Test (IUT) to interpret and/or generate GeoTIFF compliant data files.
The test sponsor fills out the Implementation Conformance Statements (ICS) shown in B-3 (using
adequately). The tester uses this information to design the test scenarios and set of test cases tobe used in the test campaign. The test scenarios and test cases exercise the following test
strategy:- Use: The use portion of GeoTIFF compliance testing determines the degree to which a GeoTIFF
application can properly use / interpret GeoTIFF formatted files. Interpret applications, at aminimum, must be robust enough to unpack, interpret, and display any GeoTIFF compliant file.
Testers present the IUT with test case files designed to exercise the minimum required capabilities
for all interpret applications. Testers also present the IUT with test case files designed to exercise
the optional GeoTIFF features the IUT is required to support as designated by the test sponsor.
- Produce: The produce portion of GeoTIFF compliance testing determines the degree to which asystem can generate fully compliant GeoTIFF formatted files. For produce / generate testing, thetest sponsor designates the specific GeoTIFF capabilities and features the IUT is required tosupport for generation of GeoTIFF files. Testers design test scenarios for production of GeoTIFF
files (test cases) that exercise the required capabilities and features against the applicable test
criteria. The IUT operator generates test case files under the guidance of these test scenarios.
The testers evaluate the output test case files for compliance with the applicable portions of the
GeoTIFF profile using automated test tools (when available) and visual inspection.
- Data Conformance: Criteria used in the test campaign to evaluate data conformance include:
1. Completeness: checks for presence of mandatory (required) elements. A comparison test
shall also be performed to determine if all tags/keys/elements defined as conditional arepresent when the conditions described in the profile apply.

37

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

2. Maximum occurrence (all levels of obligation): ensures each TIFF or GeoTIFF field occurs
no more than the number of times specified in this profile.
3. Data Type (all levels of obligation): the value of each provided field is tested to ensure its
data type adheres to the data type specified.
4. Restricted values: the values of each tag element are tested to ensure they fall within thespecified restricted values.
5. File Format (TIFF structure): The TIFF file structure is as defined by the TIFF specification,
and as constrained by this profile.
6. GeoTIFF (GeoTIFF tags): The GeoTIFF tag structures are as defined by the GeoTIFF
specification, and as constrained by this profile.

B-2
B.2.1

Implementation Conformance Tests (normative)
Class B: Profile Baseline

All required tags in tables A.1 and A.2 must be present in conformant data, data produced by
conformant generator, and may be displayed on conformant use / interpret systems.
According to data instance, if condition applies, relevant requirements must be fulfilled.
This conformance class is based on a strict application of TIFF and GeoTIFF baselines rules.
The restrictions specified by this profile are the following:x-

TIFF restrictions:
Multi-band data: use of BIL (TIFF chunky format, specified by Tag PlanarConfiguration= 1) or planar (band sequential)-

No internal compression (specified by Tag Compression = 1), or Modified Huffman,
LZW, JPEG (new style), LZ77 (DEFLATE) or PackBits compression.FillOrder (pixel
Arrangement within a byte) : value of 2 is forbidden.

x

GeoTIFF restrictions:-Geooreference model: projected (UTM/UPS) or geographic (e.g ARC)
(GTModelTypeGeoKey = 1 or 2)
use of one single ModelTiePoint for georeferencing (associated with
ModelPixelScaleTag). Consequently, use of ModelTransformation tag is forbidden-

units: meters for projected data coordinates (UTM) or decimal degrees for geographic
coordinates (if these tags are populated, ProjLinearUnitsGeoKey = 9001 or
GeogAngularUnitsGeokey = 9102).

B.2.2

Class TM: Transparency Mask conformance classThis class makes use of multi-file capability of TIFF specification, addressed by multiple IFD.
Transparency mask uses a second subfile, addressed by second IFD.
The TIFF restriction specified by this profile for TM conformance class is the following: for 2nd IFD(Transparency Mask), NewSubfileType = 4.
B.2.3

Class IT: Internal tiling conformance classThis class makes use of internal tiling capability of TIFF specification, defined in TIFF extensions.
38

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

The TIFF restriction specified by this profile for IT conformance class is the following: if tiling is
implemented, Tile dimensions (Tile Length and Width) must be multiple of 16.
NB: It should also be noticed that, according to TIFF specification, use of strip tags is forbidden
when using internal tiling.
B.2.4

Class ED: Elevation data conformance classThis class makes use of elevation data encoding (TIFF extension for signed integer or float data)
and vertical georeference (GeoTIFF extension).

The TIFF extension specified by this profile for ED conformance class is the following: support of
GDAL_NODATA private tag for void areas.
The GeoTIFF restriction specified by this profile for ED conformance class are the following:-

VerticalUnitsGeoKey value = 9001 (meter)-

VerticalCSTypeGeoKey (name in GeoTIFF 1.0) or VerticalGeoKey (name in GeoTIFF 1.1) =Vertical CRS values in table A415 (recommended), or 32767 (user defined)-

VerticalCitationGeoKey = WGS84 or EGM84 or EGM96 or EGM2008 or hydrographic datum
name.
B.2.5

Class MB: Multi-band conformance classThis class makes use of the multi-band (4 to 8 bands) capability of TIFF specification, as extended
in this specification in 13.10 based on the TIFF extension tag ExtraSamples.
The TIFF extension specified by this profile for MB conformance class is the following: for multiband data, the following TIFF fields are required:- SamplesPerPixel = 4, PhotometricInterpretation = 2 (RGB), ExtraSamples count = (number ofbands ± 3) (refer to table A.1);- when opacity data is present, the ExtraSamples count = (number of bands ± 3 + 1 for the opacity
data).
B.2.6

Class CO: Compression conformance classThis class makes use of the TIFF LZW and JPEG extensions of TIFF specification, as extended inthis specification in 13.12 based on:-

the TIFF extended value for Compression tag for Modified Huffman: 2-

the TIFF extended value for Compression tag for LZW : 5-

the TIFF extended value for Compression tag for JPEG : 7 and the JPEG extension tags as
defined in table A2.

-

the TIFF extended value for Compression tag for LZ77(DEFLATE): 32946

the TIFF extended value for Compression tag for PackBits: 32773
The restrictions specified by this profile are the following:-

Use of YCbCr colorspace only in case of JPEG compression.

15 Recommended solution, in order to facilitate the use of software / applications (without having to parse textual field

and have the agility to identify Vertical CRS inside).

39

STD-DP-08-089r6

B-3

7 July 2020

Implementation Conformance Reports (for information)

These tables propose Implementation Conformance Report for this profile, with identifying
conformance class impacted by the elementary, where applicable, as an illustration of priciples
stated in B - 2. Default of conformance classe indicates Level 0 conformance.
The test sponsor fills out the Implementation Conformance Reports (ICTR) shown in the following
tables (using adequately).
NOTATION (for both tables) :R/O - Required/Optional

P - Partial support

N - Non-supported

S

Full Support

Table 6: TIFF ICR (Implementation Conformance Report)
Data /
Comment
Produce (identification ofUse (√)(√)
partial support)
R/R/
O S P N O S P N

Description of conformance test
TIFF Revision 6.0
FeatureCopyright
Include Copyright statement

O5

B
B

O5

B
B

O5

B

O5

B
B

R

B
B

R

R3

B

R
R
R

O1
O1
O1

B
B
B

R

O6

B

R

R7

MB

R
R
R
R

O1
O1
O1
O4

B
B
B
ED

O2

TM
TM

O2

IT

Display Copyright statement
Date/Time
Date and time of image creation

R

Display date and time of image creation
Fill OrderR

If used, Value = 1 (pixels with lower column values are
stored in the higher-order bits of the byte)
Image Description

R

Abstract Information (e.g. location, topic, security marking, TM
for transparency mask)
Display Image Description
Image Length and Width
Length and Width in Pixels
Display Length / Width Values
Planar Configuration
Value = 1 (component values for each pixel are storedcontiguously) (chunky format) or 2 (planar format with bands
stored sequentially)
Samples Per Pixel
1 (grayscale)
3 (RGB or YCbCr)
4 (4-Band data)
ExtraSamples (required for 4-bands data)
ExtraSamples = 1
ExtraSamples = number of bands 3 (+ 1 for the opacity
data if opacity data is present)
Bits Per Sample
1
8
16
32
Transparency Mask
NewSubfileType: Bit 2 = 1, all other bits = 0
Display a transparency mask
Tiling (no use of StripOffsets tag)Tile Length and Width

R

R

R
R
40

Conf.
Class

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Description of conformance test
TIFF Revision 6.0
Tile Offsets
Tile Byte Counts
Photometric Interpretation
1 (greyscale or bi-level - Black is Zero)
2 (RGB)
3 Palette Color
4 Transparency Mask
6 (YCbCr)

Use (√)
R
R

Data /
Produce
(√)
2
O
O2

R
R
R
R
R

O1
O1
O1
O2
O1

B
B
B
TM
B

O2

B
B

R

B

R

B
B

Colormap table (for palette color image)Include Colormap table
Display image using Colormap table

Comment(identification ofpartial support)

R

Resolution Unit
Value = 2 (dot per inches)
X/Y Resolution
Populate with intended display resolution

R

Conf.
Class

IT
IT

Display at specified resolution
SampleFormat (for gridded data other than image)R

1 (unsigned integer)

R
R
R
R

O
O1
O1
O1

B
ED
ED
ED

R
R
R
R

R
R8
R8
R8

B
B
B
CO

R

R8

CO

R

R8

CO

R
R
R

O2
O2
O2

B
B
B

R

O

B

O
R

B
ED
B
ED

O2
O2

B
B

1 (unsigned integer)
2 (two s complement signed integer)
3 (IEEE floating point)
Image Compression
Value = 1 (no compression)
Value = 2 (Modified Huffman)
Value = 32773 (PackBits)
Value = 5 (LZW)
Value = 7 (JPEG) + use of TIFF extension JPEG fields as
specified in table A.2
Use of YCbCr for JPEG compressed imagery
As specified in Table 3.
Strips (not used if internal tiling)
Rows per Strip
Strip Byte Counts
Strip Offsets
Thresholding
Value = 1 (no dithering or half-toning)

No Data / NULL value
Populate GDAL_NODATA tag
Populate GDAL_NODATA tag
Interpret value as void area
Interpret value as void area (required for elevation data)
Additional XML Metadata
TIFF_RSID Tag
GEO_METADATA Tag

R
R
R
R

LEGEND:(1) - At least one of the options must be implemented(5) - Desired but optional(2) - Required if feature is present(6) - Required if image is 4-bands(3) - Required if image is multi-band(7) - Required if image is 5 to 8 bands(4) - Option for gridded data other than image(8) - Required if image is compressed41

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020

Table 7: GeoTIFF ICR (Implementation Conformance Report)
Comment
GeoTIFF Revision 1.0 or GeoTIFF 1.1

Features
Tags
GeoKeyDirectoryTag
All keys referenced
GeoAsciiParamsTag
All ASCII type GeoKeys stored
ModelTiePointTag
Grid Origin X, Y
Grid Origin Z
ModelPixelScaleTag
ScaleX, ScaleY
Scale Z
Configuration GeoKeys
GTModelTypeGeoKey
1- Projected
2 ± Geographic
GTRasterTypeGeoKey
1- Pixel is Area
2 ± Pixel is Point
GTCitationGeoKey
Value as defined in Table 3

Use (√)
Produce (√)
R/O S P N R/OS P N(identification of partial
support)

Conf.
class

R

R

B

R

R

B

R
O

R
R5

B
B

R
O

R
R5

B
B

R
R

O1
O1

B
B

R
R

O1
O1

B
B

R

O

B

Coordinate Type is Required for Only One of the Following Sets of Keys:
Geographic Coordinate System Parameter Keys3

GeographicTypeGeoKey (GeoTIFF 1.0) /GeodeticCRSGeoKey (GeoTIFF 1.1)4326 ± GCS WGS 84
R4030 - GCSE WGS 84
R
GeogCitationGeoKey (GeoTIFF 1.0) /GeodeticCitationGeoKey (GeoTIFF 1.1)
Value = WGS84 | WGS84 [DGIWG
Registry] | WGS84 [DMA TR 8350.2](see table A.3)
R
GeogAngularUnitsGeokeyO9102 (decimal degrees)

O2
O2

B
B
B

R

B

O

B

Projected Coordinate System Parameter Keys4

ProjectedCSTypeGeoKey (GeoTIFF 1.0) /ProjectedCRSGeoKey (GeoTIFF 1.1)
326zz ± UTM North
R
O2
327zz ± UTM SouthR
O2
PCSCitationGeoKey (GeoTIFF 1.0) /ProjectedCitationGeoKey (GeoTIFF 1.1)
Value = see table A.3
RR
ProjLinearUnitsGeoKey
O
O
9101 (meters)
Vertical Coordinate System Parameter Keys5
VerticalCSTypeGeoKey (in GeoTIFF
1.0) / VerticalGeoKey (in GeoTIFF 1.1)
4979 ± WGS 84 3D ellipsoïd
O
O25773 ± EGM96 GeoidO
O23855 ± EGM08 GeoidO
O25798 ± EGM84 GeoidO
O25714 - MSL heightOO25715 - MSL depth
OO232767 ± user defined (or otherSounding datum as identified in
DGIWG Geodetic registry)
O
O2
42

B
B
B
B

ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED
ED

STD-DP-08-089r6

7 July 2020
Comment
Use (√)

GeoTIFF Revision 1.0 or GeoTIFF 1.1

VerticalCitationGeoKey
Value = see table A.4
VerticalUnitsGeoKey
Value = 9001 (linear meter)

Produce (√)(identification of partial
support)

Conf.
class

O

R

ED

O

R

ED

LEGEND:(1) - At least one of the options must be implemented(4) - Required for projected data(2) - At least one of the options must be implemented when feature is present(5) - Required for elevation data(3) - Required for unprojected data43