GIS Formats
Comprensive list of GIS formats for your geospatial data
AutoCAD DXF
Drawing Interchange Format used in computer-aided design.
CSV
While not inherently a GIS format, CSV files are often used to store tabular data including coordinates that can be converted to GIS data.
Census data formats
Generally found as part of shapefile datasets in GIS; DBF is a standard database file used to store tabular data.
Digital Elevation Models
A representation of terrain elevations for geographic digital information.
ESRI File Geodatabase
A collection of files in a folder used to store collections of geographic datasets.
ESRI Personal Geodatabase
Stored in Microsoft Access data format, containing geometry data.
Erdas Imagine
A raster data format used in ERDAS IMAGINE software.
Esri Grid
A raster GIS file format developed by Esri, which has a binary and an ASCII format.
GML (Geography Markup Language)
An XML grammar for expressing geographical features.
GeoJSON
A format for encoding a variety of geographic data structures using JSON.
GeoPackage
An open format for geographic information system data based on SQLite.
GeoTIFF
A metadata standard which allows georeferencing information to be embedded within a TIFF file.
JPEG 2000
A raster image compression standard and coding system.
KML and KMZ
Used by Google Earth and other GIS applications, KML is for geographic visualization, including points, lines, polygons, and images.
LiDAR data formats
Used for storing LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data.
MapInfo Tab
A format used by MapInfo GIS products for vector data.
Portable Network Graphics
Commonly used for storing raster graphics and images.
PostGIS
A spatial database extender for PostgreSQL object-relational database, storing GIS objects.
SQL Database formats
Used in spatial databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server with spatial extensions, etc.
Shapefile
A popular vector data format developed by ESRI for geographic information system (GIS) software.
TopoJSON
An extension of GeoJSON that encodes topology.
Web Coverage Service (WCS)
Unlike WMS, which delivers static map images, WCS provides raw raster data that can be used for detailed analysis in GIS applications.
Web Feature Service (WFS)
WFS allows users to request and retrieve vector features, such as points, lines, and polygons, along with their associated attribute data.
Web Map Service (WMS)
A standard protocol developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) for serving static map images over the Internet.
XML based formats
For specialized applications such as aviation (AIXM) or urban modeling (CityGML).
