Convertion of a .dem file to coordinates and elevation

Question

I have a .dem-file with elevation data of an area and I am looking to programmatically convert this data to coordinates and elevation in C++. After a lot of searching, it looks like GDALTranslate might do the trick.

Is .xyz a good format when coordinates (northing, easting) and elevation is what I'm looking for?

Also where can I find C++ example for that scenario ?

Answer 1

This is easy to do using GDAL. Here is function I regularly use to convert raster data to XYZ format. Note: .xyz is just a space (or tab) delimited text file.

#include "gdal_priv.h"

void Raster::toXYZ(const char *rasterPath, const char *xyzPath)
{
    setProperties(rasterPath);

    GDALDataset *pRaster;
    pRaster = (GDALDataset*) GDALOpen(rasterPath, GA_ReadOnly);

    int nRows = pRaster.RasterYSize()
    int nCols = pRaster.RasterXSize()
    double noData = -9999.0
    double xtlCenter, ytlCenter, xCenter, yCenter;
    double transform[6];
    transform = pRaster->GetGeoTransform(transform)

    xtlCenter = transform[0] + (transform[1]/2.0);
    ytlCenter = transform[3] + (fabs(transform[5])/2.0);

    float *read = (float*) CPLMalloc(sizeof(float)*1);

    QFile fout(xyzPath);
    fout.open(QIODevice::WriteOnly | QIODevice::Text);
    QTextStream out(&fout);
    out.setRealNumberNotation(QTextStream::FixedNotation);

    for (int i=0; i<nRows; i++)
    {
        yCenter = ytlCenter + (i*fabs(transform[5]));
        for (int j=0; j<nCols; j++)
        {
            pRaster->GetRasterBand(1)->RasterIO(GF_Read,j,i,1,1,read,1,1,GDT_Float32,0,0);
            if (*read != noData)
            {
                xCenter = xtlCenter + (j*transform[1]);
                out.setRealNumberPrecision(5);
                out << xCenter << "\t" <<yCenter << "\t" << *read <<"\n";
            }
        }
    }
    fout.close();
    CPLFree(read);
    GDALClose(pRaster);
}