GIS professionals often work with OSM (OpenStreetMap) data, which has a strong reputation in the open data domain. However, in recent years, as OSM data continues to expand globally with increasing geographic features, frequent updates, and wide regional distribution, importing and processing OSM data has become highly time-consuming and hardware-intensive. Although the traditional .osm.pbf (Protocolbuffer Binary Format) is widely used, it still faces performance bottlenecks, especially on machines with limited hardware resources. Recently, the GeoDesk team introduced the GOB data format, aiming to improve the efficiency of data distribution and import, making OSM data processing lighter and faster.

What is the GOB Format?

GOB is part of the GeoDesk Toolkit, an open-source toolset, and exists as a companion format to its core format GOL ("Geo-Object Library").

GOB can be understood as: a highly compressed GOL file with indexing removed.

Key Features of the GOB Format

According to official documentation, the advantages of GOB include:

  1. Smaller Size: On average, 30% smaller than PBF. The global PBF file is about 65.4 GB, while the GOB file is only 46.0 GB.
  2. Faster Import: Import speed is approximately 5 times faster than building from PBF to GOL (Geo-Object Library, a single-file database format).
  3. Rapid Extraction: GOB files are internally divided by tiles, facilitating the extraction of regional subsets, quick splitting, or merging.
  4. Designed for Archiving and Distribution: GOB is not intended to replace PBF. It does not store metadata, history, or other information and is not suitable for editing.

Quick Start

Since GOB is a companion format to GOL, data conversion still requires using the GOL tools. Download link:

https://www.geodesk.com/download

Note that version 2.1 or higher is required.

Export GOB from GOL

gol save <gol-file> [<gob-file>]

If <gob-file> is omitted, it will use the same filename as the GOL file with a .gob suffix. To export a specific area, you can add a --area or -a parameter, specifying a (multi)polygon using WKT, GeoJSON, or simple coordinates (lon,lat pairs; rings will be automatically closed). For example:

gol save world bodensee -a 9.55,47.4,8.78,47.66,9.01,47.88,9.85,47.58,9.82,47.46

Load GOB into GOL

gol load <gol-file> [<gob-file>]

If <gob-file> is omitted, it will use the same filename as the GOB file with a .gol suffix. The --area or -a parameter can also be used to specify a particular region.

Additionally, Open Planet Data has started publishing global GOB format files daily, making it convenient for users to download and use directly.

For detailed usage, please refer to the official documentation:

https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/new-osm-file-format-30-smaller-than-pbf-5x-faster-to-import/137151

Summary

The introduction of the GOB format provides a highly attractive, high-performance solution for OSM data distribution and downstream applications. Particularly for individual developers or small servers with limited memory and computational resources, its "lightweight" nature will significantly enhance data processing efficiency.

If your application relies on OSM-related data, it is recommended to try the GOB format. Of course, as this format has just been released, it is not yet recommended for production environments. It would be prudent to wait for further iterations and stability. Additionally, aspects such as the maturity of the toolchain, ecosystem support, format stability, and compatibility and interoperability with traditional formats like PBF should be monitored.