---
name: "r.quantile"
section: "1grass"
platform: "linux"
package: "grass-doc"
version: "8.4.1-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/r.quantile"
---

# r.quantile(1grass)

Compute quantiles using two passes.

## NAME

**r.quantile**  - Compute quantiles using two passes.

## KEYWORDS

raster, algebra, statistics, percentile, quantile

## SYNOPSIS

**r.quantile**\
 **r.quantile --help**\
 **r.quantile** \[-**r**\] **input**=*name*  \[**quantiles**=*integer*\]   \[**percentiles**=*float*\[,*float*,...\]\]   \[**bins**=*integer*\]   \[**file**=*name*\]   \[--**overwrite**\]  \[--**help**\]  \[--**verbose**\]  \[--**quiet**\]  \[--**ui**\]

### Flags:

- **-r**

  Generate recode rules based on quantile-defined intervals

- **--overwrite**

  Allow output files to overwrite existing files

- **--help**

  Print usage summary

- **--verbose**

  Verbose module output

- **--quiet**

  Quiet module output

- **--ui**

  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

- **input**=*name* **\[required\]**

  Name of input raster map

- **quantiles**=*integer*

  Number of quantiles\
   Default: *4*

- **percentiles**=*float\[,float*,...\]

  List of percentiles

- **bins**=*integer*

  Number of bins to use\
   Default: *1000000*

- **file**=*name*

  Name for output file (if omitted or "-" output to stdout)

## DESCRIPTION

*r.quantile* computes quantiles in a manner suitable for use with large amounts of data. It is using two passes.

## NOTES

Quantiles are calculated following algorithm 7 from Hyndman and Fan (1996), which is also the default in R and numpy.

## EXAMPLE

Calculation of elevation quantiles (printed to standard-out):\

```
g.region raster=elevation -p
r.quantile input=elevation percentiles=0.1,1,10,25,50,75,90,99,99.9
```

The output of *r.quantile* can be used for quantile classification:\

```
g.region raster=elevation -p
r.quantile elevation quantiles=5 -r --quiet | r.recode elevation \
           out=elev_quant5 rules=-
```

## REFERENCES

- •

  Hyndman and Fan (1996) *Sample Quantiles in Statistical* *Packages*, **American Statistician**. American Statistical Association. 50 (4): 361-365. DOI: 10.2307/2684934

- •

  *Engineering* *Statistics Handbook: Percentile*, NIST

## SEE ALSO

*r.mode,* *r.quant,* *r.recode,* *r.series,* *r.stats,* *r.stats.quantile,* *r.stats.zonal,* *r.statistics,* *r.univar,* *v.rast.stats*

## AUTHORS

Glynn Clements\
 Markus Metz

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: r.quantile source code (history)

Accessed: Monday Feb 24 17:50:47 2025

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