ER Mapper .ECW File Description

Surfer imports ERMapper .ECW files.

Enhanced Compression Wavelet .ECW is an open standard wavelet compression image format developed by Earth Resource Mapping. The file format is optimized for aerial and satellite imagery, and efficiently compresses very large images with fine, alternating contrast. This is a lossy compression format. A region can be specified for import in the .ECW Image Import Options dialog, or the image can be imported as a read-only image. Each of these options decreases the import time for large ECW files.

The .ECW file format has the following properties:

  • Embeds map projection information

  • Fast compression (about 1.5 MB of compressed file per second on 1 GHz processor)

  • Typical compression ratios between 1:10 and 1:100

  • Possible decompression of selected regions without the need to decompress the whole file

  • Data flow compression allows for compression of big files with small RAM requirements

Import Options

See .ECW Image Import Options Dialog.

Import Automation Options

See ER Mapper .ECW Import Automation Options.

See Also

ER Mapper .ERS Grid File Description

ER Mapper .ECW Import Options Dialog

ER Mapper .ECW Import Automation Options

File Format Chart