diff --git a/src/main/java/no/nibio/vips/gis/GISUtil.java b/src/main/java/no/nibio/vips/gis/GISUtil.java
index a009737be501ef04ea8fe917062855dcfe523456..c7c2ca55aa1843a7dd6e0950d449ae1c029da700 100644
--- a/src/main/java/no/nibio/vips/gis/GISUtil.java
+++ b/src/main/java/no/nibio/vips/gis/GISUtil.java
@@ -267,4 +267,26 @@ public class GISUtil {
             return null;
         }
     }
+    
+    public Point getJtsPointFromString(String lonlatCoordinate) throws LonLatStringFormatException
+    {
+        String[] xy = lonlatCoordinate.split(",");
+        if(xy.length != 2)
+        {
+            throw new LonLatStringFormatException("Coordinate string must contain [lon,lat], which is not the case here: " + lonlatCoordinate);
+        }
+        try
+        {
+            Double x = Double.valueOf(xy[0]);
+            Double y = Double.valueOf(xy[1]);
+            com.vividsolutions.jts.geom.Coordinate jtsCoordinate = new com.vividsolutions.jts.geom.Coordinate();
+            jtsCoordinate.x = x;
+            jtsCoordinate.y = y;
+            return createPointWGS84(jtsCoordinate);
+        }
+        catch(NumberFormatException ex)
+        {
+            throw new LonLatStringFormatException(ex.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/no/nibio/vips/gis/LonLatStringFormatException.java b/src/main/java/no/nibio/vips/gis/LonLatStringFormatException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5a4c0782856c6f4ac79452b63716e88c56c9afb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/no/nibio/vips/gis/LonLatStringFormatException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2019 NIBIO <http://www.nibio.no/>. 
+ * 
+ * This file is part of VIPSLogic.
+ * VIPSLogic is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the NIBIO Open Source License as published by 
+ * NIBIO, either version 1 of the License, or (at your option) any
+ * later version.
+ * 
+ * VIPSLogic is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * NIBIO Open Source License for more details.
+ * 
+ * You should have received a copy of the NIBIO Open Source License
+ * along with VIPSLogic.  If not, see <http://www.nibio.no/licenses/>.
+ * 
+ */
+
+package no.nibio.vips.gis;
+
+/**
+ * @copyright 2019 <a href="http://www.nibio.no/">NIBIO</a>
+ * @author Tor-Einar Skog <tor-einar.skog@nibio.no>
+ */
+public class LonLatStringFormatException extends Exception {
+    public LonLatStringFormatException(String msg)
+    {
+        super(msg);
+    }
+}