r.buffer.lowmem - GRASS GIS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: r.buffer.lowmem: This is the low-memory alternative to the classic r.buffer module.
Keywords: raster, buffer

## NAME

r.buffer.lowmem - Creates a raster map showing buffer zones surrounding cells that contain non-NULL category values.
This is the low-memory alternative to the classic r.buffer module.

## KEYWORDS

raster, buffer

## SYNOPSIS

r.buffer.lowmem
r.buffer.lowmem --help
r.buffer.lowmem [-z] input=name output=name distances=float[,float,...] [units=string] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

-z
  Ignore zero (0) data cells instead of NULL cells
--overwrite
  Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help
  Print usage summary
--verbose
  Verbose module output
--quiet
  Quiet module output
--ui
  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

input=name [required]
  Name of input raster map
output=name [required]
  Name for output raster map
distances=float[,float,...] [required]
  Distance zone(s)
units=string
  Units of distance
  Options: meters, kilometers, feet, miles, nautmiles
  Default: meters

## DESCRIPTION

r.buffer.lowmem creates a new raster map showing buffer (a.k.a. "distance" or "proximity") zones around all cells that contain non-NULL category values in an existing raster map. The distances of buffer zones from cells with non-zero category values are user-chosen.

This is the low-memory alternative to the classic r.buffer module. It is much slower than the classic version, but will run on massive raster maps without using a lot of RAM. If your raster map is larger than 32000x32000 cells on a system with 1 GB of RAM, or larger than 90000x90000 cells on a system with 8 GB of RAM, consider using this module.

For more info see manual of r.buffer.

## EXAMPLE

In the following example, the buffer zones would be (in the default units of meters): 0-100, 101-200, 201-300, 301-400 and 401-500.

    r.buffer.lowmem input=roads output=roads.buf distances=100,200,300,400,500

Result:

    r.category input=roads.buf

          1       distances calculated from these locations
          2       0-100 meters
          3       100-200 meters
          4       200-300 meters
          5       300-400 meters
          6       400-500 meters

## SEE ALSO

g.region, r.buffer, r.cost, r.grow.distance, r.mapcalc, r.reclass, v.buffer

## AUTHORS

Michael Shapiro, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
James Westervelt, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
Low-memory Python version by Glynn Clements

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: r.buffer.lowmem source code (history)

Accessed: Saturday May 09 11:20:59 2026

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