[gdal-dev] [PROPOSAL] Add CADRG write support via RPFTOC/NITF drivers

[Jim Bellenger]

When I worked for NGA, I had software that took an input GeoTIFF image and
output the RPF files.  A separate program was used to create the a.toc file.

The process is not trivial. The vector quantization compression is not
simple.

At one time, ERDAS took the RPF code and incorporated it into their
software.

I retired several years ago, and I am not sure what happened to the
software.

On Wed, Jun 11, 2025 at 7:52 AM Patrik Sylve via gdal-dev <
gdal-dev at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> We are exploring the possibility of adding write support for CADRG format
> in GDAL and would appreciate some community feedback before starting
> implementation.
>
> There is currently no open-source workflow for creating CADRG. GDAL can
> already read CADRG via RPFTOC/NITF drivers, so extending that work feels
> like a good next step.
>
>
> Short background on CADRG format:
>
> CADRG is a Raster Product Format (RPF) that consists of a TOC file
> referencing data frames. Each data frame is stored as a National Imagery
> Transmission Format (NITF) message.
>
> GDAL currently supports:
>
> * Reading CADRG (a.toc) via the RPFTOC driver
> * Reading individual CADRG frames via the NITF driver
> * Writing NITF images, both without and with JPEG compression
>
>
> To implement a CADRG writer, we could extend the existing NITF and RPFTOC
> drivers:
>
> NITF:
> * Implement Vector Quantisation compression
> * Add option to set Frame size
> ** A CADRG frame must be 1536x1536 pixels, so output would be tiled
> * Add option to set CADRG scale
>
> RPFTOC:
> * Extend with 'write' mode
> ** Internally call NITF driver to generate CADRG compliant data frames
> ** Generate a .toc file per MIL-STD-2411
>
> Example usage, create a CADRG from a TIF-file:
>
> gdal_translate input.tif ./RPF \
> -of RPFTOC \
>   -co "PRODUCT=CADRG" \
> * # NITF file header options*
> -co "FTITLE=My CADRG Product" \
> -co "FSCLAS=U" \
> ...
>
> Output:
> └── RPF/
> ├─── a.toc
> └─── frames/
> ├──── 00AVL01C.TL6
> └──── 00AVM01C.TL6
>
>
>
> Drivers:
> * https://gdal.org/en/stable/drivers/raster/rpftoc.html
> * https://gdal.org/en/stable/drivers/raster/nitf.html
>
> Standards:
> * CADRG:
> http://everyspec.com/MIL-PRF/MIL-PRF-080000-99999/MIL-PRF-89038_25371/
> * RPF: http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIL-STD-2000-2999/MIL-STD-2411_6903/
>
>
> Would this be a welcomed addition? Any thoughts or feedback is appreciated.
>
>
> Best regards / Vänliga hälsningar
>
> *Patrik Sylve*
>
> Software Developer
>
>
> *E:* patrik.sylve at t-kartor.com
>
>
> www.t-kartor.com
>
>
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