Coordinate System is `' (empty) in GeoTIFF when checking with GDAL

Question

Following is the output for my gdalinfo mygeo.tif.
Driver: GTiff/GeoTIFF
Files: 3489_DUBLIN_AREA_2KM2_rgb_124639_id32c1_20150326115630.tif
Size is 9000, 6732
Coordinate System is `'
Metadata:
  TIFFTAG_MAXSAMPLEVALUE=254
  TIFFTAG_MINSAMPLEVALUE=0
  TIFFTAG_RESOLUTIONUNIT=1 (unitless)
  TIFFTAG_SOFTWARE=FramePro 1.3.0.2569 (rev 68105)
  TIFFTAG_XRESOLUTION=1
  TIFFTAG_YRESOLUTION=1
Image Structure Metadata:
  INTERLEAVE=PIXEL
Corner Coordinates:
Upper Left  (    0.0,    0.0)
Lower Left  (    0.0, 6732.0)
Upper Right ( 9000.0,    0.0)
Lower Right ( 9000.0, 6732.0)
Center      ( 4500.0, 3366.0)
Band 1 Block=9000x1 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Red
Band 2 Block=9000x1 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Green
Band 3 Block=9000x1 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Blue

mygeo.tif is a georeferenced tiff (GeoTIFF) image. Therefore, I reckon it should display the coordinate reference system. What could be the possible reason to see it blank?

user30184 · Answer

My guess is that your image is not true GeoTIFF or it is corrupted. You can check the GeoTIFF tags of the image with listgeo utility http://geotiff.maptools.org/listgeo.html or with tiffinfo tool http://www.libtiff.org/man/tiffinfo.1.html. Report from listgeo is easier to read while tiffinfo may suit better for serious debugging because it shows the exact tag numbers and field values. Windows users can get these command line utilities by installing OSGeo4W.
Parts of the reports about a valid GeoTIFF:
listgeo test.tif
TIFFReadDirectory: Warning, Unknown field with tag 42112 (0xa480) encountered.
Geotiff_Information:
   Version: 1
   Key_Revision: 1.0
   Tagged_Information:
      ModelTiepointTag (2,3):
         0                 0                 0
         -11914525.1483331 4478208.11503727  0
      ModelPixelScaleTag (1,3):
         100               100               0
      End_Of_Tags.
   Keyed_Information:
      GTModelTypeGeoKey (Short,1): ModelTypeProjected
      GTRasterTypeGeoKey (Short,1): RasterPixelIsArea
      GTCitationGeoKey (Ascii,25): "WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator"
      GeogCitationGeoKey (Ascii,7): "WGS 84"
      GeogAngularUnitsGeoKey (Short,1): Angular_Degree
      ProjectedCSTypeGeoKey (Short,1): Unknown-3857
      ProjLinearUnitsGeoKey (Short,1): Linear_Meter
      End_Of_Keys.
   End_Of_Geotiff.

tiffinfo test.tif
TIFFReadDirectory: Warning, Unknown field with tag 33550 (0x830e) encountered.
TIFFReadDirectory: Warning, Unknown field with tag 33922 (0x8482) encountered.
TIFFReadDirectory: Warning, Unknown field with tag 34735 (0x87af) encountered.
TIFFReadDirectory: Warning, Unknown field with tag 34737 (0x87b1) encountered.
TIFFReadDirectory: Warning, Unknown field with tag 42112 (0xa480) encountered.
TIFF Directory at offset 0x8 (8)
  Image Width: 33 Image Length: 42
  Bits/Sample: 32
  Sample Format: IEEE floating point
  Compression Scheme: None
  Photometric Interpretation: min-is-black
  Samples/Pixel: 1
  Rows/Strip: 42
  Planar Configuration: single image plane
  Tag 33550: 100.000000,100.000000,0.000000
  Tag 33922: 0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,-11914525.148333,4478208.115037,0.000000
  Tag 34735: 1,1,0,7,1024,0,1,1,1025,0,1,1,1026,34737,25,0,2049,34737,7,25,2054,0,1,9102,3072,0,1,3857,3076,0,1,9001
  Tag 34737: WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator|WGS 84|
  Tag 42112: <GDALMetadata>

Coordinate System is `' (empty) in GeoTIFF when checking with GDAL

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