m.transform - GRASS GIS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: m.transform: Computes a coordinate transformation based on the control points.
Keywords: miscellaneous, transformation, GCP

## NAME

m.transform - Computes a coordinate transformation based on the control points.

## KEYWORDS

miscellaneous, transformation, GCP

## SYNOPSIS

m.transform
m.transform --help
m.transform [-srx] group=name order=integer [format=string[,string,...]] [input=name] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

-s
  Display summary information
-r
  Reverse transform of coords file or coeff. dump
  Target east,north coordinates to local x,y
-x
  Display transform matrix coefficients
--help
  Print usage summary
--verbose
  Verbose module output
--quiet
  Quiet module output
--ui
  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

group=name [required]
  Name of input imagery group
order=integer [required]
  Rectification polynomial order
  Options: 1-3
  Default: 1
format=string[,string,...]
  Output format
  Options: idx, src, dst, fwd, rev, fxy, rxy, fd, rd
  Default: fd,rd
  idx: point index
  src: source coordinates
  dst: destination coordinates
  fwd: forward coordinates (destination)
  rev: reverse coordinates (source)
  fxy: forward coordinates difference (destination)
  rxy: reverse coordinates difference (source)
  fd: forward error (destination)
  rd: reverse error (source)
input=name
  File containing coordinates to transform ("-" to read from stdin)
  Local x,y coordinates to target east,north

## DESCRIPTION

m.transform is an utility to compute transformation based upon GCPs and output error measurements.

If coordinates are given with the input file option or fed from `stdin`, both the input and the output format is "x y" with one coordinate pair per line. Reverse transform is performed with the -r flag.

The format option determines how control points are printed out. A summary on the control points can be printed with the -s flag. The summary includes maximum deviation observed when transforming GCPs and overall RMS. The format option is ignored when coordinates are given with the input file option.

## NOTES

The transformations are:

order=1:

        e = [E0 E1][1].[1]
            [E2  0][e] [n]

        n = [N0 N1][1].[1]
            [N2  0][e] [n]

order=2:

        e = [E0 E1 E3][1 ] [1 ]
            [E2 E4  0][e ].[n ]
            [E5  0  0][e²] [n²]

        n = [N0 N1 N3][1 ] [1 ]
            [N2 N4  0][e ].[n ]
            [N5  0  0][e²] [n²]

order=3:

        e = [E0 E1 E3 E6][1 ] [1 ]
            [E2 E4 E7  0][e ].[n ]
            [E5 E8  0  0][e²] [n²]
            [E9  0  0  0][e³] [n³]

        n = [N0 N1 N3 N6][1 ] [1 ]
            [N2 N4 N7  0][e ].[n ]
            [N5 N8  0  0][e²] [n²]
            [N9  0  0  0][e³] [n³]

["." = dot-product, (AE).N = N'EA.]

In other words, order=1 and order=2 are equivalent to order=3 with the higher coefficients equal to zero.

## SEE ALSO

i.rectify, v.rectify, v.transform

## AUTHORS

Brian J. Buckley
Glynn Clements
Hamish Bowman

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: m.transform source code (history)

Accessed: Sunday Jun 21 14:59:26 2026

Main index | Miscellaneous index | Topics index | Keywords index | Graphical index | Full index

© 2003-2023 GRASS Development Team, GRASS GIS 7.8.8 Reference Manual