What is a "Nodata value"
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A nodata value simply is a pixel value in a vector or raster map representing no information. It is not to be confused with a pixel value of 0 (zero).
E.g. in a raster-map containing temperatures of a surface in °C, a pixel value of 0 represents a temperature of 0 °C, while a nodata-pixel simply represents a part of the surface where no information on the temperature is available.
Accumulations of neighboring pixels result in so called “nodata-areas”.
The way nodata values are saved depends on the respective data type. They may be saved as numbers or strings. Examples are shown in the table below.
Data type | Nodata value (string) | Nodata value (number) |
---|---|---|
GRASS raster | null | |
Arc/Info ASCII Grid | -9999 |