r.in.bin - GRASS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: r.in.bin: Import a binary raster file into a GRASS raster map layer.
Keywords: raster, import

## NAME

r.in.bin - Import a binary raster file into a GRASS raster map layer.

## KEYWORDS

raster, import

## SYNOPSIS

r.in.bin
r.in.bin --help
r.in.bin [-fdsbh] input=name output=name [title=phrase] [bytes=integer] [header=integer] [bands=integer] [order=string] [north=float] [south=float] [east=float] [west=float] [rows=integer] [cols=integer] [anull=float] [flip=string[,string,...]] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

-f
  Import as floating-point data (default: integer)
-d
  Import as double-precision floating-point data (default: integer)
-s
  Signed data (two's complement)
-b
  Byte swap the data during import
-h
  Get region info from GMT style header
--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 [required]
  Name of binary raster file to be imported
output=name [required]
  Output name or prefix if several bands are imported
title=phrase
  Title for resultant raster map
bytes=integer
  Number of bytes per cell
  Options: 1, 2, 4, 8
header=integer
  Header size in bytes
  Default: 0
bands=integer
  Number of bands in input file
  Bands must be in band-sequential order
  Default: 1
order=string
  Output byte order
  Options: big, little, native, swap
  Default: native
north=float
  Northern limit of geographic region (outer edge)
south=float
  Southern limit of geographic region (outer edge)
east=float
  Eastern limit of geographic region (outer edge)
west=float
  Western limit of geographic region (outer edge)
rows=integer
  Number of rows
cols=integer
  Number of columns
anull=float
  Set Value to NULL
flip=string[,string,...]
  Flip input horizontal and/or vertical
  Options: h, v
  h: Flip input horizontal (East - West)
  v: Flip input vertical (North - South)

## DESCRIPTION

r.in.bin allows the user to create a (binary) GRASS raster map layer from a variety of binary raster data formats.

The -s flag is used for importing two's-complement signed data.

The -h flag is used to read region information from a Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) type binary header. It is compatible with GMT binary grid types 1 and 2.

The north, south, east, and west field values are the coordinates of the edges of the geographic region. The rows and cols values describe the dimensions of the matrix of data to follow. If the input is a GMT binary array (-h flag), the six dimension fields (north, south, east, west, rows and cols) are obtained from the GMT header. If the bytes field is entered incorrectly an error will be generated suggesting a closer bytes value.

r.in.bin can be used to import numerous binary arrays including: ETOPO30, ETOPO-5, ETOPO-2, Globe DEM, BIL, AVHRR and GMT binary arrays (ID 1 & 2).

## NOTES

If optional parameters are not supplied, r.in.bin attempts to calculate them. For example if the rows and columns parameters are not entered, r.in.bin automatically calculates them by subtracting south from north and west from east. This will only produce correct results if the raster resolution equals 1. Also, if the north, south, east, and west parameters are not entered, r.in.bin assigns them from the rows and columns parameters. In the AVHRR example (see below), the raster would be assigned a north=128, south=0, east=128, west=0.

The geographic coordinates north, south, east, and west describe the outer edges of the geographic region. They run along the edges of the cells at the edge of the geographic region and not through the center of the cells at the edges.

Eastern limit of geographic region (in projected coordinates must be east of the west parameter value, but in geographical coordinates will wrap around the globe; user errors can be detected by comparing the ewres and nsres values of the imported map layer carefully).
Western limit of geographic region (in projected coordinates must be west of the east parameter value, but in geographical coordinates will wrap around the globe; user errors can be detected by comparing the ewres and nsres values of the imported map layer carefully).

Notes on (non)signed data:

If you use the -s flag, the highest bit is the sign bit. If this is 1, the data is negative, and the data interval is half of the unsigned (not exactly).

This flag is only used if bytes= 1. If bytes is greater than 1, the flag is ignored.

## EXAMPLES

### GTOPO30 DEM

The following is a sample call of r.in.bin to import GTOPO30 DEM data:

    r.in.bin -sb input=E020N90.DEM output=gtopo30 bytes=2 north=90 south=40
    east=60 west=20 r=6000 c=4800

(you can add "anull=-9999" if you want sea level to have a NULL value)

### GMT

The following is a sample call of r.in.bin to import a GMT type 1 (float) binary array:

    r.in.bin -hf input=sample.grd output=sample.grass

(-b could be used to swap bytes if required)

### AVHRR

The following is a sample call of r.in.bin to import an AVHRR image:

    r.in.bin in=p07_b6.dat out=avhrr c=128 r=128

### ETOPO2

The following is a sample call of r.in.bin to import ETOPO2 DEM data (here full data set):

    r.in.bin ETOPO2.dos.bin out=ETOPO2min r=5400 c=10800 n=90 s=-90 w=-180 e=180 bytes=2
    r.colors ETOPO2min rules=terrain

### TOPEX/SRTM30 PLUS

The following is a sample call of r.in.bin to import SRTM30 PLUS data:

    r.in.bin -sb input=e020n40.Bathymetry.srtm output=e020n40_topex \
             bytes=2 north=40 south=-10 east=60 west=20 r=6000 c=4800
    r.colors e020n40_topex rules=etopo2

### GPCP

The following is a sample call of r.in.bin to import GPCP 1DD v1.2 data:

    YEAR="2000"
    MONTH="01"
    # number of days of this month
    MDAYS=`date -d"${YEAR}-${MONTH}-01 + 1 month - 1 day" +%d`
    r.in.bin in=gpcp_1dd_v1.2_p1d.${YEAR}${MONTH} out=gpcp_${YEAR}.${MONTH}. \
             order=big bytes=4 -f header=1440 anull=-99999 \
             n=90 s=-90 w=0 e=360 rows=180 cols=360 bands=$MDAYS

The following is a sample call of r.in.bin to import GPCP v2.2 data:

    r.in.bin in=gpcp_v2.2_psg.1979 out=gpcp_1979. \
             order=big bytes=4 -f header=576 anull=-99999 \
             n=90 s=-90 w=0 e=360 rows=72 cols=144 bands=12

## SEE ALSO

r.import, r.out.bin, r.in.ascii, r.out.ascii, r.in.gdal, r.out.gdal, r.in.srtm

## AUTHORS

Jacques Bouchard, France (bouchard@onera.fr)
Bob Covill, Canada (bcovill@tekmap.ns.ca)
Markus Metz
Man page: Zsolt Felker (felker@c160.pki.matav.hu)

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: r.in.bin source code (history)

Latest change: Thursday May 08 20:58:05 2025 in commit: 4144ba81fa125e1549fc52e1cf5feb4fa004be8b

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© 2003-2026 GRASS Development Team, GRASS 8.5.0 Reference Manual