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GeoParquet

Modern columnar storage format combining Apache Parquet efficiency with geospatial capabilities.

Driver Metadata​

PropertyValue
Short NameGeoParquet
Long NameGeoParquet (Parquet + GeoArrow)
Supported Sincev0.3.0
Status✅ Stable
File Extension.parquet, .geoparquet

Driver Capabilities​

  • ✅ Read Support: Full
  • ✅ Write Support: Full
  • ✅ Info Support: Yes
  • ✅ Geometry Format: WKB (Well-Known Binary) with GeoArrow types
  • ✅ Geometry Types: All standard types with WKB encoding
  • ✅ Metadata: CRS, bounding boxes, encoding information

Format Description​

GeoParquet combines Apache Parquet's columnar storage with WKB-encoded geometries and GeoArrow types for geospatial data.

Reading Data​

Get Information​

geoetl-cli info data.parquet --driver GeoParquet

Output:

Dataset: data.parquet
Driver: GeoParquet

=== Geometry Columns ===
+----------+------------------+-----+
| Column   | Extension        | CRS |
+----------+------------------+-----+
| geometry | geoarrow.wkb     | N/A |
+----------+------------------+-----+

=== Fields ===
+------------+--------+----------+
| Field      | Type   | Nullable |
+------------+--------+----------+
| name       | String | Yes      |
| population | Int64  | Yes      |
+------------+--------+----------+

Convert from GeoParquet​

# To GeoJSON
geoetl-cli convert \
  --input data.parquet \
  --output data.geojson \
  --input-driver GeoParquet \
  --output-driver GeoJSON
# To CSV
geoetl-cli convert \
  --input data.parquet \
  --output data.csv \
  --input-driver GeoParquet \
  --output-driver CSV

Writing Data​

Convert to GeoParquet​

# From GeoJSON
geoetl-cli convert \
  --input data.geojson \
  --output data.parquet \
  --input-driver GeoJSON \
  --output-driver GeoParquet
# From CSV
geoetl-cli convert \
  --input data.csv \
  --output data.parquet \
  --input-driver CSV \
  --output-driver GeoParquet \
  --geometry-column geometry

Write Options​

Currently, GeoETL writes GeoParquet with optimal defaults. Future versions may support:

  • Compression codec selection (SNAPPY, GZIP, ZSTD)
  • Row group size
  • Column encoding
  • Metadata customization

Examples​

Convert GeoJSON to GeoParquet​

geoetl-cli convert \
  -i data.geojson \
  -o data.parquet \
  --input-driver GeoJSON \
  --output-driver GeoParquet

Convert CSV to GeoParquet​

geoetl-cli convert \
  -i data.csv \
  -o data.parquet \
  --input-driver CSV \
  --output-driver GeoParquet \
  --geometry-column geometry

Convert GeoParquet to GeoJSON​

geoetl-cli convert \
  -i data.parquet \
  -o data.geojson \
  --input-driver GeoParquet \
  --output-driver GeoJSON

Troubleshooting​

CSV Export with bbox Columns​

Problem: Error when exporting GeoParquet (created by ogr2ogr) to CSV

Cause: ogr2ogr GeoParquet files may have bbox struct columns that CSV cannot represent

Solution: Roundtrip via GeoJSON

# This may fail
geoetl-cli convert -i ogr_created.parquet -o output.csv \
  --input-driver GeoParquet --output-driver CSV

# Use roundtrip instead
geoetl-cli convert -i ogr_created.parquet -o temp.geojson \
  --input-driver GeoParquet --output-driver GeoJSON

geoetl-cli convert -i temp.geojson -o output.csv \
  --input-driver GeoJSON --output-driver CSV

Large File Performance​

Problem: Slow processing or high memory usage

Solution: GeoParquet uses streaming architecture - ensure sufficient disk I/O:

# Use verbose mode to monitor progress
geoetl-cli -v convert \
  -i large.geojson \
  -o large.parquet \
  --input-driver GeoJSON \
  --output-driver GeoParquet

Format Specification​

See Also​