[gdal-dev] GDAL contour

[Frank Warmerdam]

On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 3:00 PM, Geoff Shipton
<geoff at tritonimaginginc.com> wrote:
> I am considering using GDAL contour as a way to generate bathymetry
> contours.
>
>
>
> Can anyone point me to a bit more information than is available here:
>
>
>
> http://www.gdal.org/gdal_contour.html
>
>
>
> For example what is available as file types for <src_filename>?  It seems to
> work just fine for .TIF images are there any other file types?

Geoff,

Any GDAL supported raster format should work for the input.

> The  -f option supports .DXF outputs, are there others? (apart from
> shapefiles)

In theory any of the formats listed at the following URL with "Yes" in
the creation column, but in practice some formats will be
inappropriate.

  http://www.gdal.org/ogr/ogr_formats.html

Keep in mind that gdal_contour produces approximately one
segment in the polygon edges per pixel crossed.  You will often
want to perform some sort of simplification after contour
generation.  I'm not sure what the best way is to do that.

Best regards,
--
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
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and watch the world go round - Rush    | Geospatial Software Developer