[gdal-dev] Wrong metadata or gdalinfo weakness (on Landsat scene over Madagascar)?

[Nikos Alexandris]

For the Landsat scene over Madagascar LE71610762013070PFS00, gdalinfo reports 
UTM Zone 38N (EPSG:32638, <http://spatialreference.org/ref/epsg/32638/>). This 
is wrong. It should be UTM Zone 38 _S_ (EPSG:32738, 
<http://spatialreference.org/ref/epsg/32738/>).

Is it the metadata's fault or is gdalinfo wrongly guessing?  Any help?


The scene contains in its (old) metadata file (that is the 
LE71610762013070PFS00_MTLold.txt file):

,--%<---
GROUP = PROJECTION_PARAMETERS
    REFERENCE_DATUM = "WGS84"
    REFERENCE_ELLIPSOID = "WGS84"
    GRID_CELL_SIZE_PAN = 15.000
    GRID_CELL_SIZE_THM = 30.000
    GRID_CELL_SIZE_REF = 30.000
    ORIENTATION = "NUP"
    RESAMPLING_OPTION = "CC"
    SCAN_GAP_INTERPOLATION = 2
    MAP_PROJECTION = "UTM"
  END_GROUP = PROJECTION_PARAMETERS
  GROUP = UTM_PARAMETERS
    ZONE_NUMBER = 38
  END_GROUP = UTM_PARAMETERS
`--->%--


The newer version of the metadata file reports:

,--%<---
GROUP = PROJECTION_PARAMETERS
    MAP_PROJECTION = "UTM"
    DATUM = "WGS84"
    ELLIPSOID = "WGS84"
    UTM_ZONE = 38
    GRID_CELL_SIZE_PANCHROMATIC = 15.00
    GRID_CELL_SIZE_REFLECTIVE = 30.00
    GRID_CELL_SIZE_THERMAL = 30.00
    ORIENTATION = "NORTH_UP"
    RESAMPLING_OPTION = "CUBIC_CONVOLUTION"
    SCAN_GAP_INTERPOLATION = 2.0
  END_GROUP = PROJECTION_PARAMETERS
`--->%--


No sign of Northern or Southern hemisphere reference. Reporting on the scene 
by using gdalinfo:

,--%<---
gdalinfo -nomd LE71610762013070PFS00_B1.TIF -proj4

Driver: GTiff/GeoTIFF
Files: LE71610762013070PFS00_B1.TIF
Size is 8041, 6961
Coordinate System is:
PROJCS["WGS 84 / UTM zone 38N",
    GEOGCS["WGS 84",
        DATUM["WGS_1984",
            SPHEROID["WGS 84",6378137,298.257223563,
                AUTHORITY["EPSG","7030"]],
            AUTHORITY["EPSG","6326"]],
        PRIMEM["Greenwich",0],
        UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433],
        AUTHORITY["EPSG","4326"]],
    PROJECTION["Transverse_Mercator"],
    PARAMETER["latitude_of_origin",0],
    PARAMETER["central_meridian",45],
    PARAMETER["scale_factor",0.9996],
    PARAMETER["false_easting",500000],
    PARAMETER["false_northing",0],
    UNIT["metre",1,
        AUTHORITY["EPSG","9001"]],
    AUTHORITY["EPSG","32638"]]
PROJ.4 string is:
'+proj=utm +zone=38 +datum=WGS84 +units=m +no_defs '
Origin = (185385.000000000000000,-2452185.000000000000000)
Pixel Size = (30.000000000000000,-30.000000000000000)
Corner Coordinates:
Upper Left  (  185385.000,-2452185.000) ( 41d56'59.71"E, 22d 8'46.86"S)
Lower Left  (  185385.000,-2661015.000) ( 41d54'25.45"E, 24d 1'48.22"S)
Upper Right (  426615.000,-2452185.000) ( 44d17'17.50"E, 22d10'24.01"S)
Lower Right (  426615.000,-2661015.000) ( 44d16'41.43"E, 24d 3'34.61"S)
Center      (  306000.000,-2556600.000) ( 43d 6'20.60"E, 23d 6'24.43"S)
Band 1 Block=8041x1 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Gray
`--->%--

This is obviously wrong. It should be UTM Zone 38 _S_ (not _N_). That is EPSG 
32738 <http://spatialreference.org/ref/epsg/32738/> (and not 32638 
<http://spatialreference.org/ref/epsg/32638/>).

Thanks, Nikos