path: root/doc/rfc/rfc7946.txt

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                         H. Butler
Request for Comments: 7946                                     Hobu Inc.
Category: Standards Track                                        M. Daly
ISSN: 2070-1721                                                  Cadcorp
                                                                A. Doyle

                                                              S. Gillies
                                                                  Mapbox
                                                                S. Hagen

                                                               T. Schaub
                                                             Planet Labs
                                                             August 2016


                           The GeoJSON Format

Abstract

   GeoJSON is a geospatial data interchange format based on JavaScript
   Object Notation (JSON).  It defines several types of JSON objects and
   the manner in which they are combined to represent data about
   geographic features, their properties, and their spatial extents.
   GeoJSON uses a geographic coordinate reference system, World Geodetic
   System 1984, and units of decimal degrees.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7946.












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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.1.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     1.2.  Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     1.3.  Specification of GeoJSON  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     1.4.  Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     1.5.  Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   2.  GeoJSON Text  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   3.  GeoJSON Object  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.1.  Geometry Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       3.1.1.  Position  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       3.1.2.  Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
       3.1.3.  MultiPoint  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
       3.1.4.  LineString  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
       3.1.5.  MultiLineString . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
       3.1.6.  Polygon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       3.1.7.  MultiPolygon  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       3.1.8.  GeometryCollection  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       3.1.9.  Antimeridian Cutting  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       3.1.10. Uncertainty and Precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     3.2.  Feature Object  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     3.3.  FeatureCollection Object  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   4.  Coordinate Reference System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   5.  Bounding Box  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     5.1.  The Connecting Lines  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     5.2.  The Antimeridian  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     5.3.  The Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   6.  Extending GeoJSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     6.1.  Foreign Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   7.  GeoJSON Types Are Not Extensible  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
     7.1.  Semantics of GeoJSON Members and Types Are Not Changeable  16
   8.  Versioning  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17



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   9.  Mapping 'geo' URIs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   10. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   11. Interoperability Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     11.1.  I-JSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     11.2.  Coordinate Precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
   12. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
   13. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
     13.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
     13.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
   Appendix A.  Geometry Examples  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     A.1.  Points  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     A.2.  LineStrings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
     A.3.  Polygons  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
     A.4.  MultiPoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
     A.5.  MultiLineStrings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
     A.6.  MultiPolygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
     A.7.  GeometryCollections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
   Appendix B.  Changes from the Pre-IETF GeoJSON Format
                Specification  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
     B.1.  Normative Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
     B.2.  Informative Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
   Appendix C.  GeoJSON Text Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28

1.  Introduction

   GeoJSON is a format for encoding a variety of geographic data
   structures using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) [RFC7159].  A
   GeoJSON object may represent a region of space (a Geometry), a
   spatially bounded entity (a Feature), or a list of Features (a
   FeatureCollection).  GeoJSON supports the following geometry types:
   Point, LineString, Polygon, MultiPoint, MultiLineString,
   MultiPolygon, and GeometryCollection.  Features in GeoJSON contain a
   Geometry object and additional properties, and a FeatureCollection
   contains a list of Features.

   The format is concerned with geographic data in the broadest sense;
   anything with qualities that are bounded in geographical space might
   be a Feature whether or not it is a physical structure.  The concepts
   in GeoJSON are not new; they are derived from preexisting open
   geographic information system standards and have been streamlined to
   better suit web application development using JSON.

   GeoJSON comprises the seven concrete geometry types defined in the
   OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification for SQL [SFSQL]:
   0-dimensional Point and MultiPoint; 1-dimensional curve LineString
   and MultiLineString; 2-dimensional surface Polygon and MultiPolygon;



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   and the heterogeneous GeometryCollection.  GeoJSON representations of
   instances of these geometry types are analogous to the well-known
   binary (WKB) and well-known text (WKT) representations described in
   that same specification.

   GeoJSON also comprises the types Feature and FeatureCollection.
   Feature objects in GeoJSON contain a Geometry object with one of the
   above geometry types and additional members.  A FeatureCollection
   object contains an array of Feature objects.  This structure is
   analogous to that of the Web Feature Service (WFS) response to
   GetFeatures requests specified in [WFSv1] or to a Keyhole Markup
   Language (KML) Folder of Placemarks [KMLv2.2].  Some implementations
   of the WFS specification also provide GeoJSON-formatted responses to
   GetFeature requests, but there is no particular service model or
   Feature type ontology implied in the GeoJSON format specification.

   Since its initial publication in 2008 [GJ2008], the GeoJSON format
   specification has steadily grown in popularity.  It is widely used in
   JavaScript web-mapping libraries, JSON-based document databases, and
   web APIs.

1.1.  Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in
   [RFC2119].

1.2.  Conventions Used in This Document

   The ordering of the members of any JSON object defined in this
   document MUST be considered irrelevant, as specified by [RFC7159].

   Some examples use the combination of a JavaScript single-line comment
   (//) followed by an ellipsis (...) as placeholder notation for
   content deemed irrelevant by the authors.  These placeholders must of
   course be deleted or otherwise replaced, before attempting to
   validate the corresponding JSON code example.

   Whitespace is used in the examples inside this document to help
   illustrate the data structures, but it is not required.  Unquoted
   whitespace is not significant in JSON.

1.3.  Specification of GeoJSON

   This document supersedes the original GeoJSON format specification
   [GJ2008].




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1.4.  Definitions

   o  JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), and the terms object, member,
      name, value, array, number, true, false, and null, are to be
      interpreted as defined in [RFC7159].

   o  Inside this document, the term "geometry type" refers to seven
      case-sensitive strings: "Point", "MultiPoint", "LineString",
      "MultiLineString", "Polygon", "MultiPolygon", and
      "GeometryCollection".

   o  As another shorthand notation, the term "GeoJSON types" refers to
      nine case-sensitive strings: "Feature", "FeatureCollection", and
      the geometry types listed above.

   o  The word "Collection" in "FeatureCollection" and
      "GeometryCollection" does not have any significance for the
      semantics of array members.  The "features" and "geometries"
      members, respectively, of these objects are standard ordered JSON
      arrays, not unordered sets.

1.5.  Example

   A GeoJSON FeatureCollection:

   {
       "type": "FeatureCollection",
       "features": [{
           "type": "Feature",
           "geometry": {
               "type": "Point",
               "coordinates": [102.0, 0.5]
           },
           "properties": {
               "prop0": "value0"
           }
       }, {
           "type": "Feature",
           "geometry": {
               "type": "LineString",
               "coordinates": [
                   [102.0, 0.0],
                   [103.0, 1.0],
                   [104.0, 0.0],
                   [105.0, 1.0]
               ]
           },
           "properties": {



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               "prop0": "value0",
               "prop1": 0.0
           }
       }, {
           "type": "Feature",
           "geometry": {
               "type": "Polygon",
               "coordinates": [
                   [
                       [100.0, 0.0],
                       [101.0, 0.0],
                       [101.0, 1.0],
                       [100.0, 1.0],
                       [100.0, 0.0]
                   ]
               ]
           },
           "properties": {
               "prop0": "value0",
               "prop1": {
                   "this": "that"
               }
           }
       }]
   }

2.  GeoJSON Text

   A GeoJSON text is a JSON text and consists of a single GeoJSON
   object.

3.  GeoJSON Object

   A GeoJSON object represents a Geometry, Feature, or collection of
   Features.

   o  A GeoJSON object is a JSON object.

   o  A GeoJSON object has a member with the name "type".  The value of
      the member MUST be one of the GeoJSON types.

   o  A GeoJSON object MAY have a "bbox" member, the value of which MUST
      be a bounding box array (see Section 5).

   o  A GeoJSON object MAY have other members (see Section 6).






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3.1.  Geometry Object

   A Geometry object represents points, curves, and surfaces in
   coordinate space.  Every Geometry object is a GeoJSON object no
   matter where it occurs in a GeoJSON text.

   o  The value of a Geometry object's "type" member MUST be one of the
      seven geometry types (see Section 1.4).

   o  A GeoJSON Geometry object of any type other than
      "GeometryCollection" has a member with the name "coordinates".
      The value of the "coordinates" member is an array.  The structure
      of the elements in this array is determined by the type of
      geometry.  GeoJSON processors MAY interpret Geometry objects with
      empty "coordinates" arrays as null objects.

3.1.1.  Position

   A position is the fundamental geometry construct.  The "coordinates"
   member of a Geometry object is composed of either:

   o  one position in the case of a Point geometry,

   o  an array of positions in the case of a LineString or MultiPoint
      geometry,

   o  an array of LineString or linear ring (see Section 3.1.6)
      coordinates in the case of a Polygon or MultiLineString geometry,
      or

   o  an array of Polygon coordinates in the case of a MultiPolygon
      geometry.

   A position is an array of numbers.  There MUST be two or more
   elements.  The first two elements are longitude and latitude, or
   easting and northing, precisely in that order and using decimal
   numbers.  Altitude or elevation MAY be included as an optional third
   element.

   Implementations SHOULD NOT extend positions beyond three elements
   because the semantics of extra elements are unspecified and
   ambiguous.  Historically, some implementations have used a fourth
   element to carry a linear referencing measure (sometimes denoted as
   "M") or a numerical timestamp, but in most situations a parser will
   not be able to properly interpret these values.  The interpretation
   and meaning of additional elements is beyond the scope of this
   specification, and additional elements MAY be ignored by parsers.




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   A line between two positions is a straight Cartesian line, the
   shortest line between those two points in the coordinate reference
   system (see Section 4).

   In other words, every point on a line that does not cross the
   antimeridian between a point (lon0, lat0) and (lon1, lat1) can be
   calculated as

   F(lon, lat) = (lon0 + (lon1 - lon0) * t, lat0 + (lat1 - lat0) * t)

   with t being a real number greater than or equal to 0 and smaller
   than or equal to 1.  Note that this line may markedly differ from the
   geodesic path along the curved surface of the reference ellipsoid.

   The same applies to the optional height element with the proviso that
   the direction of the height is as specified in the coordinate
   reference system.

   Note that, again, this does not mean that a surface with equal height
   follows, for example, the curvature of a body of water.  Nor is a
   surface of equal height perpendicular to a plumb line.

   Examples of positions and geometries are provided in Appendix A,
   "Geometry Examples".

3.1.2.  Point

   For type "Point", the "coordinates" member is a single position.

3.1.3.  MultiPoint

   For type "MultiPoint", the "coordinates" member is an array of
   positions.

3.1.4.  LineString

   For type "LineString", the "coordinates" member is an array of two or
   more positions.

3.1.5.  MultiLineString

   For type "MultiLineString", the "coordinates" member is an array of
   LineString coordinate arrays.








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3.1.6.  Polygon

   To specify a constraint specific to Polygons, it is useful to
   introduce the concept of a linear ring:

   o  A linear ring is a closed LineString with four or more positions.

   o  The first and last positions are equivalent, and they MUST contain
      identical values; their representation SHOULD also be identical.

   o  A linear ring is the boundary of a surface or the boundary of a
      hole in a surface.

   o  A linear ring MUST follow the right-hand rule with respect to the
      area it bounds, i.e., exterior rings are counterclockwise, and
      holes are clockwise.

   Note: the [GJ2008] specification did not discuss linear ring winding
   order.  For backwards compatibility, parsers SHOULD NOT reject
   Polygons that do not follow the right-hand rule.

   Though a linear ring is not explicitly represented as a GeoJSON
   geometry type, it leads to a canonical formulation of the Polygon
   geometry type definition as follows:

   o  For type "Polygon", the "coordinates" member MUST be an array of
      linear ring coordinate arrays.

   o  For Polygons with more than one of these rings, the first MUST be
      the exterior ring, and any others MUST be interior rings.  The
      exterior ring bounds the surface, and the interior rings (if
      present) bound holes within the surface.

3.1.7.  MultiPolygon

   For type "MultiPolygon", the "coordinates" member is an array of
   Polygon coordinate arrays.

3.1.8.  GeometryCollection

   A GeoJSON object with type "GeometryCollection" is a Geometry object.
   A GeometryCollection has a member with the name "geometries".  The
   value of "geometries" is an array.  Each element of this array is a
   GeoJSON Geometry object.  It is possible for this array to be empty.







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   Unlike the other geometry types described above, a GeometryCollection
   can be a heterogeneous composition of smaller Geometry objects.  For
   example, a Geometry object in the shape of a lowercase roman "i" can
   be composed of one point and one LineString.

   GeometryCollections have a different syntax from single type Geometry
   objects (Point, LineString, and Polygon) and homogeneously typed
   multipart Geometry objects (MultiPoint, MultiLineString, and
   MultiPolygon) but have no different semantics.  Although a
   GeometryCollection object has no "coordinates" member, it does have
   coordinates: the coordinates of all its parts belong to the
   collection.  The "geometries" member of a GeometryCollection
   describes the parts of this composition.  Implementations SHOULD NOT
   apply any additional semantics to the "geometries" array.

   To maximize interoperability, implementations SHOULD avoid nested
   GeometryCollections.  Furthermore, GeometryCollections composed of a
   single part or a number of parts of a single type SHOULD be avoided
   when that single part or a single object of multipart type
   (MultiPoint, MultiLineString, or MultiPolygon) could be used instead.

3.1.9.  Antimeridian Cutting

   In representing Features that cross the antimeridian,
   interoperability is improved by modifying their geometry.  Any
   geometry that crosses the antimeridian SHOULD be represented by
   cutting it in two such that neither part's representation crosses the
   antimeridian.

   For example, a line extending from 45 degrees N, 170 degrees E across
   the antimeridian to 45 degrees N, 170 degrees W should be cut in two
   and represented as a MultiLineString.

   {
       "type": "MultiLineString",
       "coordinates": [
           [
               [170.0, 45.0], [180.0, 45.0]
           ], [
               [-180.0, 45.0], [-170.0, 45.0]
           ]
       ]
   }








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   A rectangle extending from 40 degrees N, 170 degrees E across the
   antimeridian to 50 degrees N, 170 degrees W should be cut in two and
   represented as a MultiPolygon.

   {
       "type": "MultiPolygon",
       "coordinates": [
           [
               [
                   [180.0, 40.0], [180.0, 50.0], [170.0, 50.0],
                   [170.0, 40.0], [180.0, 40.0]
               ]
           ],
           [
               [
                   [-170.0, 40.0], [-170.0, 50.0], [-180.0, 50.0],
                   [-180.0, 40.0], [-170.0, 40.0]
               ]
           ]
       ]
   }

3.1.10.  Uncertainty and Precision

   As in [RFC5870], the number of digits of the values in coordinate
   positions MUST NOT be interpreted as an indication to the level of
   uncertainty.

3.2.  Feature Object

   A Feature object represents a spatially bounded thing.  Every Feature
   object is a GeoJSON object no matter where it occurs in a GeoJSON
   text.

   o  A Feature object has a "type" member with the value "Feature".

   o  A Feature object has a member with the name "geometry".  The value
      of the geometry member SHALL be either a Geometry object as
      defined above or, in the case that the Feature is unlocated, a
      JSON null value.

   o  A Feature object has a member with the name "properties".  The
      value of the properties member is an object (any JSON object or a
      JSON null value).







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   o  If a Feature has a commonly used identifier, that identifier
      SHOULD be included as a member of the Feature object with the name
      "id", and the value of this member is either a JSON string or
      number.

3.3.  FeatureCollection Object

   A GeoJSON object with the type "FeatureCollection" is a
   FeatureCollection object.  A FeatureCollection object has a member
   with the name "features".  The value of "features" is a JSON array.
   Each element of the array is a Feature object as defined above.  It
   is possible for this array to be empty.

4.  Coordinate Reference System

   The coordinate reference system for all GeoJSON coordinates is a
   geographic coordinate reference system, using the World Geodetic
   System 1984 (WGS 84) [WGS84] datum, with longitude and latitude units
   of decimal degrees.  This is equivalent to the coordinate reference
   system identified by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) URN
   urn:ogc:def:crs:OGC::CRS84.  An OPTIONAL third-position element SHALL
   be the height in meters above or below the WGS 84 reference
   ellipsoid.  In the absence of elevation values, applications
   sensitive to height or depth SHOULD interpret positions as being at
   local ground or sea level.

   Note: the use of alternative coordinate reference systems was
   specified in [GJ2008], but it has been removed from this version of
   the specification because the use of different coordinate reference
   systems -- especially in the manner specified in [GJ2008] -- has
   proven to have interoperability issues.  In general, GeoJSON
   processing software is not expected to have access to coordinate
   reference system databases or to have network access to coordinate
   reference system transformation parameters.  However, where all
   involved parties have a prior arrangement, alternative coordinate
   reference systems can be used without risk of data being
   misinterpreted.

5.  Bounding Box

   A GeoJSON object MAY have a member named "bbox" to include
   information on the coordinate range for its Geometries, Features, or
   FeatureCollections.  The value of the bbox member MUST be an array of
   length 2*n where n is the number of dimensions represented in the
   contained geometries, with all axes of the most southwesterly point
   followed by all axes of the more northeasterly point.  The axes order
   of a bbox follows the axes order of geometries.




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   The "bbox" values define shapes with edges that follow lines of
   constant longitude, latitude, and elevation.

   Example of a 2D bbox member on a Feature:

   {
       "type": "Feature",
       "bbox": [-10.0, -10.0, 10.0, 10.0],
       "geometry": {
           "type": "Polygon",
           "coordinates": [
               [
                   [-10.0, -10.0],
                   [10.0, -10.0],
                   [10.0, 10.0],
                   [-10.0, -10.0]
               ]
           ]
       }
       //...
   }

   Example of a 2D bbox member on a FeatureCollection:

   {
       "type": "FeatureCollection",
       "bbox": [100.0, 0.0, 105.0, 1.0],
       "features": [
       //...
       ]
   }

   Example of a 3D bbox member with a depth of 100 meters:

   {
       "type": "FeatureCollection",
       "bbox": [100.0, 0.0, -100.0, 105.0, 1.0, 0.0],
       "features": [
       //...
       ]
   }










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5.1.  The Connecting Lines

   The four lines of the bounding box are defined fully within the
   coordinate reference system; that is, for a box bounded by the values
   "west", "south", "east", and "north", every point on the northernmost
   line can be expressed as

   (lon, lat) = (west + (east - west) * t, north)

   with 0 <= t <= 1.

5.2.  The Antimeridian

   Consider a set of point Features within the Fiji archipelago,
   straddling the antimeridian between 16 degrees S and 20 degrees S.
   The southwest corner of the box containing these Features is at 20
   degrees S and 177 degrees E, and the northwest corner is at 16
   degrees S and 178 degrees W.  The antimeridian-spanning GeoJSON
   bounding box for this FeatureCollection is

   "bbox": [177.0, -20.0, -178.0, -16.0]

   and covers 5 degrees of longitude.

   The complementary bounding box for the same latitude band, not
   crossing the antimeridian, is

   "bbox": [-178.0, -20.0, 177.0, -16.0]

   and covers 355 degrees of longitude.

   The latitude of the northeast corner is always greater than the
   latitude of the southwest corner, but bounding boxes that cross the
   antimeridian have a northeast corner longitude that is less than the
   longitude of the southwest corner.

5.3.  The Poles

   A bounding box that contains the North Pole extends from a southwest
   corner of "minlat" degrees N, 180 degrees W to a northeast corner of
   90 degrees N, 180 degrees E.  Viewed on a globe, this bounding box
   approximates a spherical cap bounded by the "minlat" circle of
   latitude.

   "bbox": [-180.0, minlat, 180.0, 90.0]






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   A bounding box that contains the South Pole extends from a southwest
   corner of 90 degrees S, 180 degrees W to a northeast corner of
   "maxlat" degrees S, 180 degrees E.

   "bbox": [-180.0, -90.0, 180.0, maxlat]

   A bounding box that just touches the North Pole and forms a slice of
   an approximate spherical cap when viewed on a globe extends from a
   southwest corner of "minlat" degrees N and "westlon" degrees E to a
   northeast corner of 90 degrees N and "eastlon" degrees E.

   "bbox": [westlon, minlat, eastlon, 90.0]

   Similarly, a bounding box that just touches the South Pole and forms
   a slice of an approximate spherical cap when viewed on a globe has
   the following representation in GeoJSON.

   "bbox": [westlon, -90.0, eastlon, maxlat]

   Implementers MUST NOT use latitude values greater than 90 or less
   than -90 to imply an extent that is not a spherical cap.

6.  Extending GeoJSON

6.1.  Foreign Members

   Members not described in this specification ("foreign members") MAY
   be used in a GeoJSON document.  Note that support for foreign members
   can vary across implementations, and no normative processing model
   for foreign members is defined.  Accordingly, implementations that
   rely too heavily on the use of foreign members might experience
   reduced interoperability with other implementations.

   For example, in the (abridged) Feature object shown below

   {
       "type": "Feature",
       "id": "f1",
       "geometry": {...},
       "properties": {...},
       "title": "Example Feature"
   }

   the name/value pair of "title": "Example Feature" is a foreign
   member.  When the value of a foreign member is an object, all the
   descendant members of that object are themselves foreign members.





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   GeoJSON semantics do not apply to foreign members and their
   descendants, regardless of their names and values.  For example, in
   the (abridged) Feature object below

   {
       "type": "Feature",
       "id": "f2",
       "geometry": {...},
       "properties": {...},
       "centerline": {
           "type": "LineString",
           "coordinates": [
               [-170, 10],
               [170, 11]
           ]
       }
   }

   the "centerline" member is not a GeoJSON Geometry object.

7.  GeoJSON Types Are Not Extensible

   Implementations MUST NOT extend the fixed set of GeoJSON types:
   FeatureCollection, Feature, Point, LineString, MultiPoint, Polygon,
   MultiLineString, MultiPolygon, and GeometryCollection.

7.1.  Semantics of GeoJSON Members and Types Are Not Changeable

   Implementations MUST NOT change the semantics of GeoJSON members and
   types.

   The GeoJSON "coordinates" and "geometries" members define Geometry
   objects.  FeatureCollection and Feature objects, respectively, MUST
   NOT contain a "coordinates" or "geometries" member.

   The GeoJSON "geometry" and "properties" members define a Feature
   object.  FeatureCollection and Geometry objects, respectively, MUST
   NOT contain a "geometry" or "properties" member.

   The GeoJSON "features" member defines a FeatureCollection object.
   Feature and Geometry objects, respectively, MUST NOT contain a
   "features" member.









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8.  Versioning

   The GeoJSON format can be extended as defined here, but no explicit
   versioning scheme is defined.  A specification that alters the
   semantics of GeoJSON members or otherwise modifies the format does
   not create a new version of this format; instead, it defines an
   entirely new format that MUST NOT be identified as GeoJSON.

9.  Mapping 'geo' URIs

   'geo' URIs [RFC5870] identify geographic locations and precise (not
   uncertain) locations can be mapped to GeoJSON Geometry objects.

   For this section, as in [RFC5870], "lat", "lon", "alt", and "unc" are
   placeholders for 'geo' URI latitude, longitude, altitude, and
   uncertainty values, respectively.

   A 'geo' URI with two coordinates and an uncertainty ('u') parameter
   that is absent or zero, and a GeoJSON Point geometry may be mapped to
   each other.  A GeoJSON Point is always converted to a 'geo' URI that
   has no uncertainty parameter.

   'geo' URI:

   geo:lat,lon

   GeoJSON:

   {"type": "Point", "coordinates": [lon, lat]}

   The mapping between 'geo' URIs and GeoJSON Points that specify
   elevation is shown below.

   'geo' URI:

   geo:lat,lon,alt

   GeoJSON:

   {"type": "Point", "coordinates": [lon, lat, alt]}

   GeoJSON has no concept of uncertainty; imprecise or uncertain 'geo'
   URIs thus cannot be mapped to GeoJSON geometries.








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10.  Security Considerations

   GeoJSON shares security issues common to all JSON content types.  See
   [RFC7159], Section 12 for additional information.  GeoJSON does not
   provide executable content.

   GeoJSON does not provide privacy or integrity services.  If sensitive
   data requires privacy or integrity protection, those must be provided
   by the transport -- for example, Transport Layer Security (TLS) or
   HTTPS.  There will be cases in which stored data need protection,
   which is out of scope for this document.

   As with other geographic data formats, e.g., [KMLv2.2], providing
   details about the locations of sensitive persons, animals, habitats,
   and facilities can expose them to unauthorized tracking or injury.
   Data providers should recognize the risk of inadvertently identifying
   individuals if locations in anonymized datasets are not adequately
   skewed or not sufficiently fuzzed [Sweeney] and recognize that the
   effectiveness of location obscuration is limited by a number of
   factors and is unlikely to be an effective defense against a
   determined attack [RFC6772].

11.  Interoperability Considerations

11.1.  I-JSON

   GeoJSON texts should follow the constraints of Internet JSON (I-JSON)
   [RFC7493] for maximum interoperability.

11.2.  Coordinate Precision

   The size of a GeoJSON text in bytes is a major interoperability
   consideration, and precision of coordinate values has a large impact
   on the size of texts.  A GeoJSON text containing many detailed
   Polygons can be inflated almost by a factor of two by increasing
   coordinate precision from 6 to 15 decimal places.  For geographic
   coordinates with units of degrees, 6 decimal places (a default common
   in, e.g., sprintf) amounts to about 10 centimeters, a precision well
   within that of current GPS systems.  Implementations should consider
   the cost of using a greater precision than necessary.

   Furthermore, the WGS 84 [WGS84] datum is a relatively coarse
   approximation of the geoid, with the height varying by up to 5 m (but
   generally between 2 and 3 meters) higher or lower relative to a
   surface parallel to Earth's mean sea level.






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12.  IANA Considerations

   The media type for GeoJSON text is "application/geo+json" and is
   registered in the "Media Types" registry described in [RFC6838].  The
   entry for "application/vnd.geo+json" in the same registry should have
   its status changed to be "OBSOLETED" with a pointer to the media type
   "application/geo+json" and a reference added to this RFC.

   Type name:  application

   Subtype name:  geo+json

   Required parameters:  n/a

   Optional parameters:  n/a

   Encoding considerations:  binary

   Security considerations:  See Section 10 above

   Interoperability considerations:  See Section 11 above

   Published specification:  [[RFC7946]]

   Applications that use this media type:  No known applications
      currently use this media type.  This media type is intended for
      GeoJSON applications currently using the "application/
      vnd.geo+json" or "application/json" media types, of which there
      are several categories: web mapping, geospatial databases,
      geographic data processing APIs, data analysis and storage
      services, and data dissemination.

   Additional information:

      Magic number(s):  n/a

      File extension(s):  .json, .geojson

      Macintosh file type code:  n/a

      Object Identifiers:  n/a

      Windows clipboard name:  GeoJSON

      Macintosh uniform type identifier:  public.geojson conforms to
         public.json





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   Person to contact for further information:  Sean Gillies
      (sean.gillies@gmail.com)

   Intended usage:  COMMON

   Restrictions on usage:  none

   Restrictions on usage:  none

   Author:  see "Authors' Addresses" section of [[RFC7946]].

   Change controller:  Internet Engineering Task Force

13.  References

13.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC6838]  Freed, N., Klensin, J., and T. Hansen, "Media Type
              Specifications and Registration Procedures", BCP 13,
              RFC 6838, DOI 10.17487/RFC6838, January 2013,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6838>.

   [RFC7159]  Bray, T., Ed., "The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data
              Interchange Format", RFC 7159, DOI 10.17487/RFC7159, March
              2014, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7159>.

   [RFC7493]  Bray, T., Ed., "The I-JSON Message Format", RFC 7493,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7493, March 2015,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7493>.

   [WGS84]    National Imagery and Mapping Agency, "Department of
              Defense World Geodetic System 1984: Its Definition and
              Relationships with Local Geodetic Systems", Third Edition,
              1984.












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13.2.  Informative References

   [GJ2008]   Butler, H., Daly, M., Doyle, A., Gillies, S., Schaub, T.,
              and C. Schmidt, "The GeoJSON Format Specification", June
              2008.

   [KMLv2.2]  Wilson, T., "OGC KML", OGC 07-147r2, Version 2.2.0, April
              2008.

   [RFC5870]  Mayrhofer, A. and C. Spanring, "A Uniform Resource
              Identifier for Geographic Locations ('geo' URI)",
              RFC 5870, DOI 10.17487/RFC5870, June 2010,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5870>.

   [RFC6772]  Schulzrinne, H., Ed., Tschofenig, H., Ed., Cuellar, J.,
              Polk, J., Morris, J., and M. Thomson, "Geolocation Policy:
              A Document Format for Expressing Privacy Preferences for
              Location Information", RFC 6772, DOI 10.17487/RFC6772,
              January 2013, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6772>.

   [RFC7464]  Williams, N., "JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Text
              Sequences", RFC 7464, DOI 10.17487/RFC7464, February 2015,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7464>.

   [SFSQL]    OpenGIS Consortium, Inc., "OpenGIS Simple Features
              Specification For SQL Revision 1.1", OGC 99-049, May 1999.

   [Sweeney]  Sweeney, L., "k-anonymity: a model for protecting
              privacy", International Journal on Uncertainty, Fuzziness
              and Knowledge-based Systems 10 (5), 2002; 557-570,
              DOI 10.1142/S0218488502001648, 2002.

   [WFSv1]    Vretanos, P., "Web Feature Service Implementation
              Specification", OGC 04-094, Version 1.1.0, May 2005.

















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Appendix A.  Geometry Examples

   Each of the examples below represents a valid and complete GeoJSON
   object.

A.1.  Points

   Point coordinates are in x, y order (easting, northing for projected
   coordinates, longitude, and latitude for geographic coordinates):

     {
         "type": "Point",
         "coordinates": [100.0, 0.0]
     }

A.2.  LineStrings

   Coordinates of LineString are an array of positions (see
   Section 3.1.1):

     {
         "type": "LineString",
         "coordinates": [
             [100.0, 0.0],
             [101.0, 1.0]
         ]
     }
























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A.3.  Polygons

   Coordinates of a Polygon are an array of linear ring (see
   Section 3.1.6) coordinate arrays.  The first element in the array
   represents the exterior ring.  Any subsequent elements represent
   interior rings (or holes).

   No holes:

     {
         "type": "Polygon",
         "coordinates": [
             [
                 [100.0, 0.0],
                 [101.0, 0.0],
                 [101.0, 1.0],
                 [100.0, 1.0],
                 [100.0, 0.0]
             ]
         ]
     }

   With holes:

     {
         "type": "Polygon",
         "coordinates": [
             [
                 [100.0, 0.0],
                 [101.0, 0.0],
                 [101.0, 1.0],
                 [100.0, 1.0],
                 [100.0, 0.0]
             ],
             [
                 [100.8, 0.8],
                 [100.8, 0.2],
                 [100.2, 0.2],
                 [100.2, 0.8],
                 [100.8, 0.8]
             ]
         ]
     }








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A.4.  MultiPoints

   Coordinates of a MultiPoint are an array of positions:

     {
         "type": "MultiPoint",
         "coordinates": [
             [100.0, 0.0],
             [101.0, 1.0]
         ]
     }

A.5.  MultiLineStrings

   Coordinates of a MultiLineString are an array of LineString
   coordinate arrays:

     {
         "type": "MultiLineString",
         "coordinates": [
             [
                 [100.0, 0.0],
                 [101.0, 1.0]
             ],
             [
                 [102.0, 2.0],
                 [103.0, 3.0]
             ]
         ]
     }





















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A.6.  MultiPolygons

   Coordinates of a MultiPolygon are an array of Polygon coordinate
   arrays:

     {
         "type": "MultiPolygon",
         "coordinates": [
             [
                 [
                     [102.0, 2.0],
                     [103.0, 2.0],
                     [103.0, 3.0],
                     [102.0, 3.0],
                     [102.0, 2.0]
                 ]
             ],
             [
                 [
                     [100.0, 0.0],
                     [101.0, 0.0],
                     [101.0, 1.0],
                     [100.0, 1.0],
                     [100.0, 0.0]
                 ],
                 [
                     [100.2, 0.2],
                     [100.2, 0.8],
                     [100.8, 0.8],
                     [100.8, 0.2],
                     [100.2, 0.2]
                 ]
             ]
         ]
     }
















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A.7.  GeometryCollections

   Each element in the "geometries" array of a GeometryCollection is one
   of the Geometry objects described above:

     {
         "type": "GeometryCollection",
         "geometries": [{
             "type": "Point",
             "coordinates": [100.0, 0.0]
         }, {
             "type": "LineString",
             "coordinates": [
                 [101.0, 0.0],
                 [102.0, 1.0]
             ]
         }]
     }

Appendix B.  Changes from the Pre-IETF GeoJSON Format Specification

   This appendix briefly summarizes non-editorial changes from the 2008
   specification [GJ2008].

B.1.  Normative Changes

   o  Specification of coordinate reference systems has been removed,
      i.e., the "crs" member of [GJ2008] is no longer used.

   o  In the absence of elevation values, applications sensitive to
      height or depth SHOULD interpret positions as being at local
      ground or sea level (see Section 4).

   o  Implementations SHOULD NOT extend position arrays beyond 3
      elements (see Section 3.1.1).

   o  A line between two positions is a straight Cartesian line (see
      Section 3.1.1).

   o  Polygon rings MUST follow the right-hand rule for orientation
      (counterclockwise external rings, clockwise internal rings).

   o  The values of a "bbox" array are "[west, south, east, north]", not
      "[minx, miny, maxx, maxy]" (see Section 5).

   o  A Feature object's "id" member is a string or number (see
      Section 3.2).




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   o  Extensions MAY be used, but MUST NOT change the semantics of
      GeoJSON members and types (see Section 6).

   o  GeoJSON objects MUST NOT contain the defining members of other
      types (see Section 7.1).

   o  The media type for GeoJSON is "application/geo+json".

B.2.  Informative Changes

   o  The definition of a GeoJSON text has been added.

   o  Rules for mapping 'geo' URIs have been added.

   o  A recommendation of the I-JSON [RFC7493] constraints has been
      added.

   o  Implementers are cautioned about the effect of excessive
      coordinate precision on interoperability.

   o  Interoperability concerns of GeometryCollections are noted.  These
      objects should be used sparingly (see Section 3.1.8).

Appendix C.  GeoJSON Text Sequences

   All GeoJSON objects defined in this specification --
   FeatureCollection, Feature, and Geometry -- consist of exactly one
   JSON object.  However, there may be circumstances in which
   applications need to represent sets or sequences of these objects
   (over and above the grouping of Feature objects in a
   FeatureCollection), e.g., in order to efficiently "stream" large
   numbers of Feature objects.  The definition of such sets or sequences
   is outside the scope of this specification.

   If such a representation is needed, a new media type is required that
   has the ability to represent these sets or sequences.  When defining
   such a media type, it may be useful to base it on "JavaScript Object
   Notation (JSON) Text Sequences" [RFC7464], leaving the foundations of
   how to represent multiple JSON objects to that specification, and
   only defining how it applies to GeoJSON objects.

Acknowledgements

   The GeoJSON format is the product of discussion on the GeoJSON
   mailing list, <http://lists.geojson.org/listinfo.cgi/
   geojson-geojson.org>, before October 2015 and in the IETF's GeoJSON
   WG after October 2015.




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   Material in this document was adapted with changes from
   <http://geojson.org/geojson-spec.html> [GJ2008], which is licensed
   under <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/>.

Authors' Addresses

   Howard Butler
   Hobu Inc.

   Email: howard@hobu.co


   Martin Daly
   Cadcorp

   Email: martin.daly@cadcorp.com


   Allan Doyle

   Email: adoyle@intl-interfaces.com


   Sean Gillies
   Mapbox

   Email: sean.gillies@gmail.com
   URI:   http://sgillies.net


   Stefan Hagen
   Rheinaustr. 62
   Bonn  53225
   Germany

   Email: stefan@hagen.link
   URI:   http://stefan-hagen.website/


   Tim Schaub
   Planet Labs

   Email: tim.schaub@gmail.com








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