GDAL-RASTER-PANSHARPEN(1) GDAL GDAL-RASTER-PANSHARPEN(1)
gdal-raster-pansharpen - Perform a pansharpen operation
Added in version 3.12.
Usage: gdal raster pansharpen [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <SPECTRAL>... <OUTPUT>
Perform a pansharpen operation.
Positional arguments:
-i, --panchromatic, --input <INPUT> Input panchromatic raster dataset [required]
--spectral <SPECTRAL> Input spectral band dataset [1.. values] [required]
-o, --output <OUTPUT> Output raster dataset [required]
Common Options:
-h, --help Display help message and exit
--json-usage Display usage as JSON document and exit
--config <KEY>=<VALUE> Configuration option [may be repeated]
-q, --quiet Quiet mode (no progress bar)
Options:
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT> Output format ("GDALG" allowed)
--co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Creation option [may be repeated]
--overwrite Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
Mutually exclusive with --append
--append Append as a subdataset to existing output
Mutually exclusive with --overwrite
-r, --resampling <RESAMPLING> Resampling algorithm. RESAMPLING=nearest|bilinear|cubic|cubicspline|lanczos|average (default: cubic)
--weights <WEIGHTS> Weight for each input spectral band [may be repeated]
--nodata <NODATA> Override nodata value of input bands
--bit-depth <BIT-DEPTH> Override bit depth of input bands
--spatial-extent-adjustment <SPATIAL-EXTENT-ADJUSTMENT> Select behavior when bands have not the same extent. SPATIAL-EXTENT-ADJUSTMENT=union|intersection|none|none-without-warning (default: union)
-j, --num-threads <NUM-THREADS> Number of jobs (or ALL_CPUS) (default: ALL_CPUS)
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT> Input formats [may be repeated]
--oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Open options [may be repeated]
gdal raster pansharpen performs a pan-sharpening operation. It can
create a "classic" output dataset (such as GeoTIFF), or a VRT dataset
describing the pan-sharpening operation.
It takes as input a one-band panchromatic dataset and several
spectral bands, generally at a lower resolution than the panchromatic
band. The output is a multi-band dataset (with as many bands as input
panchromatic bands), enhanced at the resolution of the panchromatic
band.
All bands should be in the same coordinate reference system.
More details can be found in the Pansharpened VRT section.
The following options are available:
-i, --panchromatic, --input <INPUT>
Dataset with panchromatic band. [required]
--spectral <spectral_dataset>[,band=<num>]
Dataset with one or several spectral bands. [required]
If the band option is not specified, all bands of the dataset
are taken into account. Otherwise, only the specified (num)th
band. The same dataset can be repeated several times.
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
Which output raster format to use. Allowed values may be given
by gdal --formats | grep raster | grep rw | sort
--co, --creation-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
Many formats have one or more optional creation options that
can be used to control particulars about the file created. For
instance, the GeoTIFF driver supports creation options to
control compression, and whether the file should be tiled.
May be repeated.
The creation options available vary by format driver, and some
simple formats have no creation options at all. A list of
options supported for a format can be listed with the
--formats command line option but the documentation for the
format is the definitive source of information on driver
creation options. See Raster drivers format specific
documentation for legal creation options for each format.
--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.
Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or
dataset already exists.
--weights <WEIGHTS>
Specify a weight for the computation of the pseudo
panchromatic value. There must be as many values as input
spectral bands.
-r, --resampling nearest|bilinear|cubic|cubicspline|lanczos|average
Select a resampling algorithm. cubic is the default.
--bit-depth <val>
Specify the bit depth of the panchromatic and spectral bands
(e.g. 12). If not specified, the NBITS metadata item from the
panchromatic band will be used if it exists.
--nodata <val>
Specify nodata value for bands. Used for the resampling and
pan-sharpening computation itself. If not set, deduced from
the input bands, provided they have a consistent setting.
--spatial-extent-adjustment
union|intersection|none|none-without-warning
Select behavior when bands have not the same extent. See
SpatialExtentAdjustment documentation in Pansharpened VRT
union is the default.
-j, --num-threads <value>
Specify number of threads to use to do the resampling and
pan-sharpening itself. Can be an integer number or ALL_CPUS
(the default)
GDALG OUTPUT (ON-THE-FLY / STREAMED DATASET)
This program supports serializing the command line as a JSON file
using the GDALG output format. The resulting file can then be opened
as a raster dataset using the GDALG: GDAL Streamed Algorithm driver,
and apply the specified pipeline in a on-the-fly / streamed way.
Example 1: With spectral bands in a single dataset
gdal raster pansharpen panchro.tif rgb.tif pansharpened_out.tif
Example 2: With a few spectral bands from a single dataset, reordered
gdal raster pansharpen panchro.tif bgr.tif,band=3 bgr.tif,band=2 bgr.tif,band=1 pansharpened_out.tif
Example 3: With spectral bands in several datasets
gdal raster pansharpen panchro.tif red.tif green.tif blue.tif pansharpened_out.tif
Example 4: Specifying weights
gdal raster pansharpen -w 0.7,0.2,0.1 panchro.tif multispectral.tif pansharpened_out.tif
Example 5: Select RGB bands from a RGBNir multispectral dataset while
computing the pseudo panchromatic intensity on the 4 RGBNir bands
gdal raster pipeline read panchro.tif ! pansharpen rgbnir.tif ! select 1,2,3 ! write pansharpened_out.tif
Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>
1998-2026
March 20, 2026 GDAL-RASTER-PANSHARPEN(1)
NAME
gdal-raster-pansharpen - Perform a pansharpen operation
Added in version 3.12.
SYNOPSIS
Usage: gdal raster pansharpen [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <SPECTRAL>... <OUTPUT>
Perform a pansharpen operation.
Positional arguments:
-i, --panchromatic, --input <INPUT> Input panchromatic raster dataset [required]
--spectral <SPECTRAL> Input spectral band dataset [1.. values] [required]
-o, --output <OUTPUT> Output raster dataset [required]
Common Options:
-h, --help Display help message and exit
--json-usage Display usage as JSON document and exit
--config <KEY>=<VALUE> Configuration option [may be repeated]
-q, --quiet Quiet mode (no progress bar)
Options:
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT> Output format ("GDALG" allowed)
--co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Creation option [may be repeated]
--overwrite Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
Mutually exclusive with --append
--append Append as a subdataset to existing output
Mutually exclusive with --overwrite
-r, --resampling <RESAMPLING> Resampling algorithm. RESAMPLING=nearest|bilinear|cubic|cubicspline|lanczos|average (default: cubic)
--weights <WEIGHTS> Weight for each input spectral band [may be repeated]
--nodata <NODATA> Override nodata value of input bands
--bit-depth <BIT-DEPTH> Override bit depth of input bands
--spatial-extent-adjustment <SPATIAL-EXTENT-ADJUSTMENT> Select behavior when bands have not the same extent. SPATIAL-EXTENT-ADJUSTMENT=union|intersection|none|none-without-warning (default: union)
-j, --num-threads <NUM-THREADS> Number of jobs (or ALL_CPUS) (default: ALL_CPUS)
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT> Input formats [may be repeated]
--oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Open options [may be repeated]
DESCRIPTION
gdal raster pansharpen performs a pan-sharpening operation. It can
create a "classic" output dataset (such as GeoTIFF), or a VRT dataset
describing the pan-sharpening operation.
It takes as input a one-band panchromatic dataset and several
spectral bands, generally at a lower resolution than the panchromatic
band. The output is a multi-band dataset (with as many bands as input
panchromatic bands), enhanced at the resolution of the panchromatic
band.
All bands should be in the same coordinate reference system.
More details can be found in the Pansharpened VRT section.
OPTIONS
The following options are available:
-i, --panchromatic, --input <INPUT>
Dataset with panchromatic band. [required]
--spectral <spectral_dataset>[,band=<num>]
Dataset with one or several spectral bands. [required]
If the band option is not specified, all bands of the dataset
are taken into account. Otherwise, only the specified (num)th
band. The same dataset can be repeated several times.
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
Which output raster format to use. Allowed values may be given
by gdal --formats | grep raster | grep rw | sort
--co, --creation-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
Many formats have one or more optional creation options that
can be used to control particulars about the file created. For
instance, the GeoTIFF driver supports creation options to
control compression, and whether the file should be tiled.
May be repeated.
The creation options available vary by format driver, and some
simple formats have no creation options at all. A list of
options supported for a format can be listed with the
--formats command line option but the documentation for the
format is the definitive source of information on driver
creation options. See Raster drivers format specific
documentation for legal creation options for each format.
--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.
Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or
dataset already exists.
--weights <WEIGHTS>
Specify a weight for the computation of the pseudo
panchromatic value. There must be as many values as input
spectral bands.
-r, --resampling nearest|bilinear|cubic|cubicspline|lanczos|average
Select a resampling algorithm. cubic is the default.
--bit-depth <val>
Specify the bit depth of the panchromatic and spectral bands
(e.g. 12). If not specified, the NBITS metadata item from the
panchromatic band will be used if it exists.
--nodata <val>
Specify nodata value for bands. Used for the resampling and
pan-sharpening computation itself. If not set, deduced from
the input bands, provided they have a consistent setting.
--spatial-extent-adjustment
union|intersection|none|none-without-warning
Select behavior when bands have not the same extent. See
SpatialExtentAdjustment documentation in Pansharpened VRT
union is the default.
-j, --num-threads <value>
Specify number of threads to use to do the resampling and
pan-sharpening itself. Can be an integer number or ALL_CPUS
(the default)
GDALG OUTPUT (ON-THE-FLY / STREAMED DATASET)
This program supports serializing the command line as a JSON file
using the GDALG output format. The resulting file can then be opened
as a raster dataset using the GDALG: GDAL Streamed Algorithm driver,
and apply the specified pipeline in a on-the-fly / streamed way.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: With spectral bands in a single dataset
gdal raster pansharpen panchro.tif rgb.tif pansharpened_out.tif
Example 2: With a few spectral bands from a single dataset, reordered
gdal raster pansharpen panchro.tif bgr.tif,band=3 bgr.tif,band=2 bgr.tif,band=1 pansharpened_out.tif
Example 3: With spectral bands in several datasets
gdal raster pansharpen panchro.tif red.tif green.tif blue.tif pansharpened_out.tif
Example 4: Specifying weights
gdal raster pansharpen -w 0.7,0.2,0.1 panchro.tif multispectral.tif pansharpened_out.tif
Example 5: Select RGB bands from a RGBNir multispectral dataset while
computing the pseudo panchromatic intensity on the 4 RGBNir bands
gdal raster pipeline read panchro.tif ! pansharpen rgbnir.tif ! select 1,2,3 ! write pansharpened_out.tif
AUTHOR
Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>
COPYRIGHT
1998-2026
March 20, 2026 GDAL-RASTER-PANSHARPEN(1)