GeoPackage - Introduction

Introduction

The GeoPackage Encoding Standard describes a set of rules and conventions for storing vector features, imagery tile matrix sets, raster map tile matrix sets and non-spatial tabular data in an SQLite database. The standard also describes rules for extending the capabilities of a GeoPackage.

History

GeoPackage 1.0 was approved as a standard in January 2014. GeoPackage 1.1 was approved as a standard in August 2015. GeoPackage 1.2 was approved as a standard in August 2017. GeoPackage 1.3 was approved as a standard in November 2020.

Versions

1.3 is the current latest version

Test Suite

A test suite exists in the OGC repository.

Usage

GeoPackage is used for storing and accessing:

  • Vector feature data

  • Imagery tile matrix sets

  • Raster map tile matrix sets

  • Non-spatial tabular data

  • Metadata that describes other stored data

Implementation Summary

  • Implemented in an SQLite database

  • Feature geometry is encoded in Well-Known Binary (WKB) based on the OGC standard ”Simple Feature Access” (Part 1: Common architecture (OGC 06-103r4), Part 2: SQL option (OGC 06-104r4))

  • Supports both vector feature data and tile matrix sets of imagery and maps

  • Ideal format for encoding geospatial data where Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) are limited

Relation to other OGC Standards

Due to its XML serialization, Geography Markup Language (GML) is well suited to geospatial data exchange across networks. In contrast, GeoPackage is better suited to storage and random access of geospatial data on a file system. GeoPackage implements the OGC standard ”Simple Feature Access” (see above) which provides a common way for applications to store and access feature data in relational or object-relational databases.