GeoTiff.js
A pure JavaScript library for parsing and reading raster data from TIFF and GeoTIFF files in both browser and Node.js environments.
What is GeoTiff.js?
geotiff.js is a pure JavaScript library for parsing TIFF and GeoTIFF files, providing access to metadata and raw raster data. It solves the problem of reading and analyzing geospatial imagery and scientific data directly in the browser or Node.js without native dependencies.
Developers working with geospatial data, remote sensing, scientific visualization, or any application requiring TIFF file parsing in JavaScript environments.
It offers a lightweight, dependency-free solution with broad format support, performance optimizations like worker pools, and the flexibility to handle custom data workflows, unlike heavier GIS libraries.
Overview
geotiff.js is a small library to parse TIFF files for visualization or analysis. It is written in pure JavaScript, and is usable in both the browser and node.js applications.
Use Cases
Best For
- Parsing geospatial TIFF files for web-based mapping applications
- Reading scientific raster data in Node.js for analysis pipelines
- Visualizing remote sensing imagery directly in the browser with WebGL
- Extracting metadata and elevation data from GeoTIFF files
- Handling large TIFF files with tiled or compressed formats efficiently
- Building custom tools for TIFF data manipulation without native libraries
Not Ideal For
- Applications requiring out-of-the-box geospatial analysis tools like coordinate transformations or raster calculations
- Real-time systems where synchronous, low-latency data access is critical due to async operations and decoding overhead
- Projects heavily reliant on BigTIFF features beyond basic reading, as JavaScript limitations cause inaccuracies with 64-bit integers
- Teams seeking a complete GIS solution with built-in mapping and visualization without integrating additional libraries
Pros & Cons
Pros
Works in both browsers and Node.js, reading from remote URLs, ArrayBuffers, Blobs, and local filesystems, enabling flexible deployment across environments.
Handles stripped, tiled, and interleaved images with compressions like LZW, Deflate, JPEG, and LERC, covering a wide range of TIFF and GeoTIFF variants.
Includes configurable tile caching, worker pools for parallel decoding, and deferred loading to efficiently manage large files and reduce memory usage.
Automatically extracts bounding boxes, origins, and resolutions from geospatial headers, essential for mapping and analysis workflows.
Cons
Due to JavaScript's lack of native 64-bit integer handling, BigTIFF files are approximated, potentially causing inaccuracies with very large datasets.
Version 3 introduced significant breaking changes, such as making methods like getTiePoints() async, requiring non-trivial migration efforts for existing codebases.
Focuses on low-level data access, forcing developers to implement custom solutions for common tasks like coordinate transforms or data analysis, increasing development time.
The writeArrayBuffer function is in beta and only supports uncompressed writing, limiting its use for generating optimized or production-ready GeoTIFF files.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Projects
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