Provided by: grass-doc_7.4.0-1_all 
NAME
r.patch - Creates a composite raster map layer by using known category values from one
(or more) map layer(s) to fill in areas of "no data" in another map layer.
KEYWORDS
raster, geometry, mosaicking, merge, patching, aggregation, series
SYNOPSIS
r.patch
r.patch --help
r.patch [-zs] input=name[,name,...] output=name [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose]
[--quiet] [--ui]
Flags:
-z
Use zero (0) for transparency instead of NULL
-s
Do not create color and category files
--overwrite
Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help
Print usage summary
--verbose
Verbose module output
--quiet
Quiet module output
--ui
Force launching GUI dialog
Parameters:
input=name[,name,...] [required]
Name of raster maps to be patched together
output=name [required]
Name for resultant raster map
DESCRIPTION
The GRASS program r.patch allows the user to build a new raster map the size and
resolution of the current region by assigning known data values from input raster maps to
the cells in this region. This is done by filling in "no data" cells, those that do not
yet contain data, contain NULL data, or, optionally contain 0 data, with the data from the
first input map. Once this is done the remaining holes are filled in by the next input
map, and so on.
This program is useful for making a composite raster map layer from two or more adjacent
map layers, for filling in "holes" in a raster map layer’s data (e.g., in digital
elevation data), or for updating an older map layer with more recent data. The current
geographic region definition and mask settings are respected.
Figure: Result of patching two raster maps containing NULLs using the default settings
The first name listed in the string input=name,name,name, ... is the name of the first map
whose data values will be used to fill in "no data" cells in the current region. The
second through last input name maps will be used, in order, to supply data values for for
the remaining "no data" cells.
Figure: Result of patching two raster maps using the -z flag to treat zeros as NULLs
Relation to SQL COALESCE() function
The module is corresponds to the SQL COALESCE() function. This function takes two or more
arguments and returns a copy of its first non-NULL argument. If all arguments are NULL,
the function returns NULL.
The r.patch module iterates over all cells and for each cell of the output raster map uses
the first corresponding non-NULL cell in the series of the input raster maps.
Example of filling areas
Below, the raster map layer on the far left is patched with the middle (patching) raster
map layer, to produce the composite raster map layer on the right. The example assumes
zero values to be treated as NULLs (-z flag).
1 1 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 0 0
1 1 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 0 0
3 3 3 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 3 2 2 0 0
3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4
3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Switching the patched and the patching raster map layers produces the following results:
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 3 2 2 0 0 3 3 3 3 2 2 0 0
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
NOTES
Frequently, this program is used to patch together adjacent map layers which have been
digitized separately. The program v.mkgrid can be used to make adjacent maps align
neatly.
The user should check the current geographic region settings before running r.patch, to
ensure that the region boundaries encompass all of the data desired to be included in the
composite map and to ensure that the region resolution is the resolution of the desired
data. To set the geographic region settings to one or several raster maps, the g.region
program can be used:
g.region raster=map1[,map2[,...]]
Use of r.patch is generally followed by use of the GRASS programs g.remove and g.rename;
g.remove is used to remove the original (un-patched) raster map layers, while g.rename is
used to then assign to the newly-created composite (patched) raster map layer the name of
the original raster map layer.
r.patch reads the existing category label files and color tables from the input maps and
creates these files for the patched, composite output map. This can be quite time
consuming for certain maps, especially if there are many different category values across
the patched maps. The -s flag allows disabling the reading and creation of these support
files, meaning that the output map will have no category labels and no explicit color
table.
Number of raster maps to be processed is given by the limit of the operating system. For
example, both the hard and soft limits are typically 1024. The soft limit can be changed
with e.g. ulimit -n 1500 (UNIX-based operating systems) but not higher than the hard
limit. If it is too low, you can as superuser add an entry in
/etc/security/limits.conf
# <domain> <type> <item> <value>
your_username hard nofile 1500
This would raise the hard limit to 1500 file. Be warned that more files open need more
RAM. See also the Wiki page Hints for large raster data processing.
Operating systems usually limit the length of the command line which limits the number of
input raster maps user can pass to the module using the option input. In that case,
r.series can be used instead of r.patch.
EXAMPLES
Example with three maps
The input are three maps called roads, water and forest. Primarily, we want to use the
values from roads, then from water and if no other values are available we want to use
forest. First we set the computation region assuming that the all three maps fully
overlap and have the same resolution (so we can safely use the just the one without
further modifications of the region). Then we perform the patching.
g.region raster=roads
r.patch input=roads,water,forest output=result
Example using Bash syntax
Create a list of maps matching a pattern, extend the region to include them all, and patch
them together to create a mosaic. Overlapping maps will be used in the order listed.
MAPS=`g.list type=raster sep=, pat="map_*"`
g.region raster=$MAPS
r.patch in=$MAPS out=mosaic
SEE ALSO
g.region, g.remove, g.rename, r.mapcalc, r.support, r.series, v.mkgrid
Hints for large raster data processing
AUTHOR
Michael Shapiro, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
-z flag and performance improvement by Huidae Cho
Last changed: $Date: 2017-07-30 06:15:07 +0200 (Sun, 30 Jul 2017) $
SOURCE CODE
Available at: r.patch source code (history)
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