geoprimsField-grade geospatial math

H3 cell set outline (cellsToMultiPolygon)

The outline of a set of cells: the boundary between the set and everything outside it, as polygons with their holes, in GeoJSON.

Go the other way: H3 polygon fill (polygonToCells) →

1

The set outlines as 1 piece.

Rings
PartRingLatitudeLongitude
0040.449060965 deg-79.984686025 deg
0040.448021064 deg-79.986650906 deg
0040.446276128 deg-79.986359370 deg
0040.445236238 deg-79.988324096 deg
0040.443491369 deg-79.988032515 deg
0040.442786369 deg-79.985776361 deg
0040.441041546 deg-79.985484889 deg
0040.440336516 deg-79.983228886 deg
0040.441376254 deg-79.981264245 deg
0040.440671138 deg-79.979008283 deg
0040.441710810 deg-79.977043529 deg
0040.443455674 deg-79.977334694 deg
0040.444495357 deg-79.975369785 deg
0040.446240288 deg-79.975660906 deg
0040.446945515 deg-79.977917089 deg
0040.448690492 deg-79.978208319 deg
0040.449395689 deg-79.980464654 deg
0040.448355854 deg-79.982429649 deg
0040.449060965 deg-79.984686025 deg
Holes
Points
Enclosed area
South
West
North
Provenance
Computed by
indexing.h3.cells-to-polygon 1.0.0, core 0.1.0
Model
H3 C cellsToMultiPolygon: the boundary segments of every cell, less those walked from both sides, followed end to end
Accuracy
The same polygons as H3 C 4.4.1 on 400 cell sets: solid patches, patches with a hole, separate patches, sets around a pentagon, and sets across the antimeridian, at resolutions 3 to 11
Notes
None
Cites
Uber Technologies and the H3 contributors, H3: A Hexagonal Hierarchical Geospatial Indexing System (API reference v4); Hydronium Labs, h3o: a Rust implementation of H3

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How we got thisFormula, worked example, sources, and proof

Model: H3 C cellsToMultiPolygon: the boundary segments of every cell, less those walked from both sides, followed end to end

Accuracy: The same polygons as H3 C 4.4.1 on 400 cell sets: solid patches, patches with a hole, separate patches, sets around a pentagon, and sets across the antimeridian, at resolutions 3 to 11

When to use this: Use this to turn a set of cells back into an area: the outline of a covering, a service area assembled from cells, or a set of cells picked on a map, ready to draw or to hand to something that speaks GeoJSON. It is the inverse of filling a polygon with cells.

Limitations: Every cell must be at one resolution, so compact a mixed set back to one resolution first. The outline follows cell edges, so it is the boundary of the cells rather than of whatever they were meant to approximate, and at a coarse resolution the two differ by up to a cell. A set in separate pieces comes back as separate polygons, and a piece wrapped around a gap comes back with a hole.

Worked example: A cell and its six neighbors outline as one hexagon of 18 sides. Source: H3 cellsToMultiPolygon. It is golden test vector v002, and every build checks the tool still gives its answer within its tolerance.

You enter

Cells
892a8471483ffff 892a8471487ffff 892a847148fffff 892a8471497ffff 892a84714b3ffff 892a84714bbffff 892a847334bffff

You get

Pieces
1
Holes
0
Points
19
Enclosed area
0.737325 km²
South
40.440336516°
West
-79.988324096°
North
40.449395689°
East
-79.975369785°
GeoJSON
{"type":"MultiPolygon","coordinates":[[[[-79.984686025,40.449060965],[-79.986650906,40.448021064],[-79.986359370,40.446276128],[-79.988324096,40.445236238],[-79.988032515,40.443491369],[-79.985776361,40.442786369],[-79.985484889,40.441041546],[-79.983228886,40.440336516],[-79.981264245,40.441376254],[-79.979008283,40.440671138],[-79.977043529,40.441710810],[-79.977334694,40.443455674],[-79.975369785,40.444495357],[-79.975660906,40.446240288],[-79.977917089,40.446945515],[-79.978208319,40.448690492],[-79.980464654,40.449395689],[-79.982429649,40.448355854],[-79.984686025,40.449060965]]]]}

Review: Not yet independently reviewed by a GIS professional.

Last verified: 2026-09-18, when a maintainer last confirmed this tool's sources at the issuer. See the sources ledger.

Status: version 1.0.0, core 0.1.0. See this tool in the verification report.

Checked against: 24 golden test vectors (download the test vectors, each with its source and tolerance). See how results are checked and every source.

Sources

Terms

H3: H3 hexagonal hierarchical index
A global grid of hexagons (and 12 pentagons) at 16 resolutions, each cell about one-seventh the area of its parent, named by a 15-character index. Source: H3 hexagonal index

H3 — H3 hexagonal hierarchical index

A global grid of hexagons (and 12 pentagons) at 16 resolutions, each cell about one-seventh the area of its parent, named by a 15-character index.

Source: H3 hexagonal index