postgis_raster

postgis : PostGIS raster types and functions

Overview

ID	Extension	Package	Version	Category	License	Language
1502	postgis_raster	postgis	`3.6.2`	GIS	GPL-2.0	C

Attribute	Has Binary	Has Library	Need Load	Has DDL	Relocatable	Trusted
--s-d--	No	Yes	No	Yes	no	no

Relationships
Requires	postgis
Need By	h3_postgis
See Also	pointcloud_postgis pointcloud pgrouting h3 q3c ogr_fdw geoip pg_polyline
Siblings	postgis postgis_topology postgis_sfcgal postgis_tiger_geocoder address_standardizer address_standardizer_data_us

Packages

Type	Repo	Version	PG Major Compatibility	Package Pattern	Dependencies
EXT	PGDG	`3.6.2`	18 17 16 15 14	`postgis`	`postgis`
RPM	PGDG	`3.6.2`	18 17 16 15 14	`postgis36_$v`	-
DEB	PGDG	`3.6.2`	18 17 16 15 14	`postgresql-$v-postgis-3`	-

Linux / PG	PG18	PG17	PG16	PG15	PG14
el8.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1
el8.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1	PGDG 3.6.1
el9.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
el9.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
el10.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
el10.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
d12.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
d12.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
d13.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
d13.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
u22.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
u22.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
u24.x86_64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2
u24.aarch64	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2	PGDG 3.6.2

Source

Repository

git.osgeo.org/gitea/postgis/postgis

Install

Make sure PGDG repo available:

pig repo add pgdg -u    # add pgdg repo and update cache

Install this extension with pig:

pig install postgis;		# install via package name, for the active PG version
pig install postgis_raster;		# install by extension name, for the current active PG version

pig install postgis_raster -v 18;   # install for PG 18
pig install postgis_raster -v 17;   # install for PG 17
pig install postgis_raster -v 16;   # install for PG 16
pig install postgis_raster -v 15;   # install for PG 15
pig install postgis_raster -v 14;   # install for PG 14

Create this extension with:

CREATE EXTENSION postgis_raster CASCADE; -- requires postgis

Usage

PostGIS Raster: Raster data support for PostGIS

PostGIS Raster extends PostGIS with support for raster (gridded) data stored directly in PostgreSQL. It enables raster analysis, raster/vector interaction, and map algebra operations within SQL.

Raster Reference

Setup

CREATE EXTENSION postgis_raster;

Loading Raster Data

The raster2pgsql command-line tool imports raster files (GeoTIFF, etc.) into PostgreSQL:

# Load a GeoTIFF as tiled 100x100 rasters, create spatial index, use COPY
raster2pgsql -s 4326 -t 100x100 -I -C -M elevation.tif public.dem | psql mydb

# Append to existing table
raster2pgsql -s 4326 -t 100x100 -a more_data.tif public.dem | psql mydb

Key flags:

-s <srid> – Set the SRID
-t <width>x<height> – Tile the raster into chunks
-I – Create a spatial GiST index
-C – Apply raster constraints
-M – Vacuum analyze after loading

Querying Raster Data

Raster Metadata

-- Get raster dimensions and pixel size
SELECT rid,
    ST_Width(rast) AS width,
    ST_Height(rast) AS height,
    ST_ScaleX(rast) AS pixel_size_x,
    ST_ScaleY(rast) AS pixel_size_y,
    ST_NumBands(rast) AS bands,
    ST_SRID(rast) AS srid
FROM dem LIMIT 5;

Pixel Values

-- Get the value at a specific point
SELECT ST_Value(rast, ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint(-73.985, 40.748), 4326)) AS elevation
FROM dem
WHERE ST_Intersects(rast, ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint(-73.985, 40.748), 4326));

-- Get value at column/row position (band 1)
SELECT ST_Value(rast, 1, 10, 20) FROM dem WHERE rid = 1;

Band Statistics

SELECT (ST_SummaryStats(rast)).*
FROM dem WHERE rid = 1;
-- Returns: count, sum, mean, stddev, min, max

Raster Processing

Clipping Rasters by Vector Geometry

-- Clip raster to a polygon boundary
SELECT ST_Clip(rast, geom) AS clipped_rast
FROM dem, boundaries
WHERE ST_Intersects(rast, geom);

Map Algebra

Apply pixel-by-pixel operations:

-- Single-raster map algebra: classify elevation
SELECT ST_MapAlgebra(rast, 1, NULL,
    'CASE WHEN [rast] > 100 THEN 1 WHEN [rast] > 50 THEN 2 ELSE 3 END') AS classified
FROM dem;

-- Two-raster map algebra: difference between two DEMs
SELECT ST_MapAlgebra(a.rast, 1, b.rast, 1, '[rast1] - [rast2]') AS diff
FROM dem_old a, dem_new b
WHERE ST_Intersects(a.rast, b.rast);

Raster/Vector Interaction

-- Convert raster pixels to vector points
SELECT (ST_PixelAsPoints(rast)).*
FROM dem WHERE rid = 1;

-- Convert raster to polygons (one per unique value)
SELECT (ST_DumpAsPolygons(rast)).*
FROM dem WHERE rid = 1;

-- Intersect raster with vector and get values
SELECT p.name, ST_Value(d.rast, p.geom) AS elevation
FROM dem d, points p
WHERE ST_Intersects(d.rast, p.geom);

Resampling and Reprojection

-- Resample to a different pixel size
SELECT ST_Rescale(rast, 0.001, -0.001) FROM dem;

-- Reproject to a different SRID
SELECT ST_Transform(rast, 3857) FROM dem;

Exporting Rasters

-- Export as GeoTIFF (binary)
SELECT ST_AsTIFF(rast) FROM dem WHERE rid = 1;

-- Export as PNG
SELECT ST_AsPNG(rast) FROM dem WHERE rid = 1;

-- Export as JPEG
SELECT ST_AsJPEG(rast) FROM dem WHERE rid = 1;

Last updated on 2026-03-12

postgis_topology postgis_sfcgal