r.buffer.lowmem(1)

💖 r.buffer.lowmem 💖

okay bestie, pull up a chair, because this is r.buffer.lowmem — the GRASS GIS module from the 1 manual section that makes buffer zones around non-NULL cells in a raster map. it's the low-memory glow-up of the classic r.buffer module. yes, it's giving "I can't remember everything but I will show up for you." 🫶

✨ KEYWORDS ✨

raster, buffer — that's the vibe check, periodt.

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🌸 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. like, "0? not my problem." 💅
• --overwrite — allow output files to overwrite existing files. no hesitation, no mercy.
• --help — print usage summary. your girl always comes with receipts.
• --verbose — verbose module output. tell me EVERYTHING.
• --quiet — quiet module output. shhh, we're being mysterious. 🤫
• --ui — force launching GUI dialog. for the visual learners, we love that for you.

🦋 Parameters 🦋

• input=name [required] — name of input raster map. the main character, obviously.
• output=name [required] — name for output raster map. the new era.
• distances=float[,float,...] [required] — distance zone(s). you can list a whole little squad of them, comma-separated.
• units=string — units of distance.
  • Options: meters, kilometers, feet, miles, nautmiles
  • Default: meters

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💀 DESCRIPTION 💀

so r.buffer.lowmem creates a brand-new raster map showing buffer zones (a.k.a. "distance" or "proximity" zones, iykyk) around all cells that contain non-NULL category values in an existing raster map. the distances of those buffer zones from cells with non-zero category values? user-chosen. you decide. main character energy fr fr. ✨

this is the low-memory alternative to the classic r.buffer module. and listen — it is much slower than the classic version, no cap. but the tradeoff is iconic: it 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. that's the threshold, bestie, respect the threshold.

for more info see the manual of r.buffer.

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🌈 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

look at that little category list, she's organized. 🔥

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

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

the whole friend group, honestly. go say hi. 💜

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💅 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

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⭐ SOURCE CODE ⭐

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

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that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 — and now the lil sign-off: this was accessed Saturday Jan 17 05:41:52 2026, from the GRASS GIS 8.4.2 Reference Manual, © 2003-2025 GRASS Development Team. slay, stay buffered, and remember: 32000x32000 is not a personality trait, it's a lifestyle. 💖 bye babes ✨