Provided by: gdal-bin_3.12.0+dfsg-1_amd64 
NAME
gdal-raster-stack - Combine together input bands into a multi-band output, either virtual (VRT) or
materialized
Added in version 3.11.
SYNOPSIS
Usage: gdal raster stack [OPTIONS] <INPUT>... <OUTPUT>
Combine together input bands into a multi-band output, either virtual (VRT) or materialized.
Positional arguments:
-i, --input <INPUT> Input raster datasets (or specify a @<filename> to point to a file containing filenames) [1.. values] [required]
-o, --output <OUTPUT> Output raster dataset [required]
Common Options:
-h, --help Display help message and exit
--json-usage Display usage as JSON document and exit
--config <KEY>=<VALUE> Configuration option [may be repeated]
-q, --quiet Quiet mode (no progress bar)
Options:
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT> Output format ("GDALG" allowed)
--co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Creation option [may be repeated]
--overwrite Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
Mutually exclusive with --append
--append Append as a subdataset to existing output
Mutually exclusive with --overwrite
-b, --band <BAND> Input band(s) (1-based index) [may be repeated]
--absolute-path Whether the path to the input datasets should be stored as an absolute path
--resolution <xres>,<yres>|same|average|common|highest|lowest> Target resolution (in destination CRS units) (default: same)
--bbox <BBOX> Target bounding box as xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax (in destination CRS units)
--target-aligned-pixels Round target extent to target resolution
--src-nodata <SRC-NODATA> Set nodata values for input bands. [1.. values]
--dst-nodata <DST-NODATA> Set nodata values at the destination band level. [1.. values]
--hide-nodata Makes the destination band not report the NoData.
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT> Input formats [may be repeated]
--oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Open options [may be repeated]
DESCRIPTION
This program combine together input bands from GDAL datasets into a dataset, that can be either a virtual
stack in the VRT (Virtual Dataset) format, or in a more conventional raster format such as GeoTIFF.
All bands of each input file are added as separate output bands, unless -b is specified to select a
subset of them.
The list of input GDAL datasets can be specified at the end of the command line or put in a text file
(one filename per line) for very long lists. Wildcards '*', '?' or '['] of VSIGlob() can be used, even
on files located on network file systems such as /vsis3/, /vsigs/, /vsiaz/, etc.
Stating with GDAL 3.12, this command can also be used as the first step of gdal raster pipeline.
Options
The following options are available:
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
Which output raster format to use. Allowed values may be given by gdal --formats | grep raster |
grep rw | sort
--co <NAME>=<VALUE>
Many formats have one or more optional creation options that can be used to control particulars
about the file created. For instance, the GeoTIFF driver supports creation options to control
compression, and whether the file should be tiled.
May be repeated.
The creation options available vary by format driver, and some simple formats have no creation
options at all. A list of options supported for a format can be listed with the --formats command
line option but the documentation for the format is the definitive source of information on driver
creation options. See Raster drivers format specific documentation for legal creation options for
each format.
--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset. Otherwise, by default, gdal errors
out if the target file or dataset already exists.
-b <band>
Select an input <band> to be processed. Bands are numbered from 1. If input bands not set all
bands will be added to the output. Multiple -b switches may be used to select a set of input
bands.
--resolution {<xres,yres>|same|highest|lowest|average}
In case the resolution of all input files is not the same, the --resolution flag enables the user
to control the way the output resolution is computed.
same, the default, checks that all source rasters have the same resolution and errors out when
this is not the case.
highest will pick the smallest values of pixel dimensions within the set of source rasters.
lowest will pick the largest values of pixel dimensions within the set of source rasters.
average will compute an average of pixel dimensions within the set of source rasters.
common determines the greatest common divisor of the source pixel dimensions, e.g. 0.2 for source
pixel dimensions of 0.4 and 0.6.
<xres>,<yres>. The values must be expressed in georeferenced units. Both must be positive values.
--absolute-path
Added in version 3.12.0.
When writing a VRT file, enables writing the absolute path of the input datasets. By default,
input filenames are written in a relative way with respect to the VRT filename (when possible).
--bbox <xmin>,<ymin>,<xmax>,<ymax>
Set georeferenced extents of output file. The values must be expressed in georeferenced units. If
not specified, the extent of the output is the minimum bounding box of the set of source rasters.
Pixels within the extent of the output but not covered by a source raster will be read as valid
pixels with a value of zero unless a NODATA value is specified using --dst-nodata or an alpha mask
band is added with --add-alpha.
--target-aligned-pixels
(target aligned pixels) align the coordinates of the extent of the output file to the values of
the --resolution, such that the aligned extent includes the minimum extent. Alignment means that
xmin / resx, ymin / resy, xmax / resx and ymax / resy are integer values.
--src-nodata <value>[,<value>]...
Set nodata values for input bands (different values can be supplied for each band). If the option
is not specified, the intrinsic nodata settings on the source datasets will be used (if they
exist). The value set by this option is written in the NODATA element of each ComplexSource
element.
--dst-nodata <value>[,<value>]...
Set nodata values at the output band level (different values can be supplied for each band). If
more than one value is supplied, all values should be quoted to keep them together as a single
operating system argument. If the option is not specified, intrinsic nodata settings on the first
dataset will be used (if they exist). The value set by this option is written in the NoDataValue
element of each VRTRasterBand element. Use a value of None to ignore intrinsic nodata settings on
the source datasets.
--hide-nodata
Even if any band contains nodata value, giving this option makes the output band not report the
NoData. Useful when you want to control the background color of the dataset. By using along with
the --add-alpha option, you can prepare a dataset which doesn't report nodata value but is
transparent in areas with no data.
GDALG OUTPUT (ON-THE-FLY / STREAMED DATASET)
This program supports serializing the command line as a JSON file using the GDALG output format. The
resulting file can then be opened as a raster dataset using the GDALG: GDAL Streamed Algorithm driver,
and apply the specified pipeline in a on-the-fly / streamed way.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Make a RGB stack from 3 single-band input files
gdal raster stack red.tif green.tif blue.tif rgb.tif
Example 2: Make a virtual (VRT) stack from 2 single-band input files
gdal raster stack raster1.tif raster2.tif result.vrt
AUTHOR
Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>
COPYRIGHT
1998-2025
Nov 07, 2025 GDAL-RASTER-STACK(1)