MBTiles

Starting with GDAL 1.10, the MBTiles driver allows to read rasters in the MBTiles format, which is a specification for storing tiled map data in SQLite databases.

GDAL/OGR must be compiled with OGR SQLite driver support, and JPEG and PNG drivers.

The SRS is always the Pseudo-Mercator (a.k.a Google Mercator) projection.

The driver can retrieve pixel attributes encoded according to the UTFGrid specification available in some MBTiles files. They can be obtained with the gdallocationinfo utility, or with a GetMetadataItem("Pixel_iCol_iLine", "LocationInfo") call on a band object.

Examples:

Accessing a remote MBTiles raster :

$ gdalinfo /vsicurl/http://a.tiles.mapbox.com/v3/kkaefer.iceland.mbtiles

Output:

Driver: MBTiles/MBTiles
Files: /vsicurl/http://a.tiles.mapbox.com/v3/kkaefer.iceland.mbtiles
Size is 16384, 16384
Coordinate System is:
PROJCS["WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator",
    GEOGCS["WGS 84",
        DATUM["WGS_1984",
            SPHEROID["WGS 84",6378137,298.257223563,
                AUTHORITY["EPSG","7030"]],
            AUTHORITY["EPSG","6326"]],
        PRIMEM["Greenwich",0,
            AUTHORITY["EPSG","8901"]],
        UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433,
            AUTHORITY["EPSG","9122"]],
        AUTHORITY["EPSG","4326"]],
    PROJECTION["Mercator_1SP"],
    PARAMETER["central_meridian",0],
    PARAMETER["scale_factor",1],
    PARAMETER["false_easting",0],
    PARAMETER["false_northing",0],
    UNIT["metre",1,
        AUTHORITY["EPSG","9001"]],
    AXIS["X",EAST],
    AXIS["Y",NORTH],
    EXTENSION["PROJ4","+proj=merc +a=6378137 +b=6378137 +lat_ts=0.0 +lon_0=0.0 +x_0=0.0 +y_0=0 +k=1.0 +units=m +nadgrids=@null +wktext  +no_defs"],
    AUTHORITY["EPSG","3857"]]
Origin = (-3757031.250000000000000,11271093.750000000000000)
Pixel Size = (152.873992919921875,-152.873992919921875)
Image Structure Metadata:
  INTERLEAVE=PIXEL
Corner Coordinates:
Upper Left  (-3757031.250,11271093.750) ( 33d44'59.95"W, 70d36'45.36"N)
Lower Left  (-3757031.250, 8766406.250) ( 33d44'59.95"W, 61d36'22.97"N)
Upper Right (-1252343.750,11271093.750) ( 11d14'59.98"W, 70d36'45.36"N)
Lower Right (-1252343.750, 8766406.250) ( 11d14'59.98"W, 61d36'22.97"N)
Center      (-2504687.500,10018750.000) ( 22d29'59.97"W, 66d30'47.68"N)
Band 1 Block=256x256 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Red
  Overviews: 8192x8192, 4096x4096, 2048x2048, 1024x1024, 512x512
  Mask Flags: PER_DATASET ALPHA
  Overviews of mask band: 8192x8192, 4096x4096, 2048x2048, 1024x1024, 512x512
Band 2 Block=256x256 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Green
  Overviews: 8192x8192, 4096x4096, 2048x2048, 1024x1024, 512x512
  Mask Flags: PER_DATASET ALPHA
  Overviews of mask band: 8192x8192, 4096x4096, 2048x2048, 1024x1024, 512x512
Band 3 Block=256x256 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Blue
  Overviews: 8192x8192, 4096x4096, 2048x2048, 1024x1024, 512x512
  Mask Flags: PER_DATASET ALPHA
  Overviews of mask band: 8192x8192, 4096x4096, 2048x2048, 1024x1024, 512x512
Band 4 Block=256x256 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Alpha
  Overviews: 8192x8192, 4096x4096, 2048x2048, 1024x1024, 512x512

Reading pixel attributes encoded according to the UTFGrid specification :

$ gdallocationinfo /vsicurl/http://a.tiles.mapbox.com/v3/mapbox.geography-class.mbtiles -wgs84 2 49 -b 1 -xml

Output:

<Report pixel="33132" line="22506">
  <BandReport band="1">
    <LocationInfo>
      <Key>74</Key>
      <JSon>{"admin":"France","flag_png":"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"}</JSon>
    </LocationInfo>
    <Value>238</Value>
  </BandReport>
</Report>