Geodata Import in QGIS#

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Vector data Import#

Tip

When importing a shapefile by drag-and-drop you have to use the file with the ending .shp!

Open vector layer#

Open vector data via Layer Tab#

  1. Click on Layer-> Add Layer-> Add Vector Layer.

  2. Click on the three points and navigate to your vector file.

  3. Select the file and click Open

  4. Back in QGIS click Add

Open vector data via drag-and-drop#

  1. In your file browser, open the folder with the vector data you want to import.

  2. Drag-and-drop it onto the QGIS map canvas.

Raster data Import#

Open raster data via Layer Tab#

  1. Click on Layer-> Add Layer-> Add Raster Layer.

  2. Click on the three points and navigate to your raster file.

  3. Select the file and click Open

  4. Back in QGIS click Add

Open raster data via drag-and-drop#

  1. In your file browser, open the folder with the raster data you want to import.

  2. Drag-and-drop it onto the QGIS map canvas.

Open NetCDF raster files#

  1. Layer -> Add Layer -> Add Raster Layer -> Select your file -> click add

  2. A window will open and you have to select the exact dataset you want to use. -> Click add Layers

  3. Click on the ? in the Layers window. The window Coordination Reference System Select will open. -> Select the correct reference system-> Click OK

Text data import#

Tip

To directly load .csv or EXCEL data into QGIS, the datasets need to have columns containing geometry in the form of latitude (Y-field) and longitude (X-field).

Open .csv data in QGIS#

Note

When loading vector data in text format like .csv or .txt in QGIS, this data has to have latitude and longitude columns.

  • X field =“LONGITUDE”

  • Y field = “LATITUDE”

  1. Layer -> Add Layer ->Open Delimited Text Layer.

  2. Click on File name click on the three points and navigate to your csv. file and click Open.

  3. In the window “Data Source manager| Delimited Text” in QGIS you can find multiple drop-down menus

    • File Format: Here you can specify which delimiter is used in the file you want to import. In a standard .csv file commas , is used. If this is not the case, select Custom delimiters. Here you can choose the exact delimiter used in your file.

    Tip

    To find out which delimiter is used you can open your .csv file in Notepad or Excel. There you can check which delimiter is used to separate the information.

    • Record and Fields Options: Under this drop-down menu, you can instruct QGIS to detect the data type of the different columns of the field and to detect column headers. Usually, you do not have to make any adjustments here.

    • Geometry definition: In this section, you specify which columns of the file contain the spatial information to geo-referenced the data on the map. If the file has a column containing latitude and another with longitude data, you can use them to georeferenced the data. Check Point Coordinates. Select for X field “LONGITUDE” and for Y field “LATITUDE”. Under Geometry CRSselect the coordinate reference system (CRS). By default, QGIS will select the CRS of the project. If the file does not have spatial information choose the option No geometry (attribute only table).

  4. Click Add

Open .xlsx files in QGIS#

  1. Drag and drop the .xlsx file in QGIS.

  2. If the file contains multiple tables, select the table you want to work with. Click add Layers

  3. click on the Processing tab -> Toolbox -> search for the tool Create points layer from table

  4. Select you table as Input Layer

  5. Select the longitude column for X field and the latitude column for Y field

  6. Click Run

Tip

Another option is always to transform the .xlsx file into a .csv, which is easier to open in QGIS.