Image tile service

An image tile service is a type of data service that stores and provides access to image tiles. An image tile service can also package image tiles for offline use as image tile packages. Image tile services are created and managed using data management tools and are accessed with a REST API.

Mapping applications typically use client APIs and image tile services to access and display image tiles in a map or scene.

Image tile layers showing the 2018 Kilauea eruption with data published as hosted image tile services

Key features

Securely store image tiles in the ArcGIS Platform.
Efficiently display large amounts of pre-rendered geographic data.
Create image tile services from feature layers.
Access and view image tiles while offline.

How to use an image tile service

You typically use an image tile service by:

Creating an image tile service using data managament tools.
Displaying image tiles from the image tile service in a map or scene.

How an image tile service works

An image tile service is accessed using the base service URL and consists of properties describing the service. Some key properties are:

Name
Default geographic extent for viewing tiles
Bounding geographic extent for all tiles
Supported image formats
Tiling information

An image tile service also provides:

A REST API for programmatic access.
A web page for exploring and interacting with the image tile service.
Operations for working offline with image tiles stored in the image tile service.

Image tile service URL

To access an image tile service, use the host, unique service ID, and service name.

https://<host>/arcgis/rest/services/<serviceName>/MapServer

For example:

https://services.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer

Parameters

`f`

The format (f) parameter defines how data is returned.

To get JSON for parsing in an application, use json.
To get formatted JSON, use pjson Formatted JSON includes additional whitespace which can add to the size of the JSON that is returned, though this is often insignificant as responses are gzip compressed..
To access the web interface, use html or omit the f parameter.

Image tile URL

To get an image tile from an image tile service, use the host, unique service ID, and service name, and path to tiles in {z}/{y}/{x} format.

https://<host>/arcgis/rest/services/<serviceName>/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}

Example:

https://server.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer/tile/4/7/4

Examples

View an image tile service web page

Explore an image tile service by visiting its web page:

https://services.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer

Get tile format information from an image tile service

Get the image tile service description properties for this service as formatted JSON.

The service is shared with everyone, so no token is required.

Request

Response

https://services.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer?f=json

The properties show that the image tiles in the image tile service are created in Web Mercator projection (this is a common projection for web basemaps, and has a WKID or 3857). Each tile is a JPEG image of 256x256 pixels at 96 pixels per inch.

Tiles are available for zoom levels (also known as LODs, or Levels of Detail) 0 through 23.

{
  "currentVersion": 10.6,
  "serviceDescription": "World Imagery provides one meter or better satellite and aerial imagery in many parts of the world and lower resolution satellite imagery worldwide. The map includes 15m TerraColor imagery at small and mid-scales (~1:591M down to ~1:288k) for the world. The map features Maxar imagery at 0.3m resolution for select metropolitan areas around the world, 0.5m resolution across the United States and parts of Western Europe, and 1m resolution imagery across the rest of the world. In addition to commercial sources, the World Imagery map features high-resolution aerial photography contributed by the GIS User Community. This imagery ranges from 0.3m to 0.03m resolution (down to ~1:280 in select communities). For more information on this map, including the terms of use, visit us &lt;a href=\"http://goto.arcgisonline.com/maps/World_Imagery \" target=\"_new\" &gt;online&lt;/a&gt;.",
  "mapName": "Layers",
  "description": "World Imagery provides one meter or better satellite and aerial imagery in many parts of the world and lower resolution satellite imagery worldwide. The map includes 15m TerraColor imagery at small and mid-scales (~1:591M down to ~1:288k) for the world. The map features Maxar imagery at 0.3m resolution for select metropolitan areas around the world, 0.5m resolution across the United States and parts of Western Europe, and 1m resolution imagery across the rest of the world. In addition to commercial sources, the World Imagery map features high-resolution aerial photography contributed by the GIS User Community. This imagery ranges from 0.3m to 0.03m resolution (down to ~1:280 in select communities). For more information on this map, including the terms of use, visit us online at http://goto.arcgisonline.com/maps/World_Imagery",
  "copyrightText": "Source: Esri, Maxar, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community",
  "supportsDynamicLayers": false,
  "layers": [ { "id": 0, "name": "World Imagery", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 0, "maxScale": 0 }, { "id": 1, "name": "Low Resolution 15m Imagery", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 0, "maxScale": 0 }, { "id": 2, "name": "High Resolution 60cm Imagery", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 0, "maxScale": 0 }, { "id": 3, "name": "High Resolution 30cm Imagery", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 0, "maxScale": 0 }, { "id": 4, "name": "Citations", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 0, "maxScale": 0 }, { "id": 5, "name": "1.9cm Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 106, "maxScale": 0 }, { "id": 6, "name": "3.7cm Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 212, "maxScale": 106 }, { "id": 7, "name": "7.5cm Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 425, "maxScale": 212 }, { "id": 8, "name": "15cm Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 850, "maxScale": 425 }, { "id": 9, "name": "30cm Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 1700, "maxScale": 850 }, { "id": 10, "name": "60cm Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 3400, "maxScale": 1700 }, { "id": 11, "name": "1.2m Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 6800, "maxScale": 3400 }, { "id": 12, "name": "2.4m Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 13500, "maxScale": 6800 }, { "id": 13, "name": "4.8m Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 27000, "maxScale": 13500 }, { "id": 14, "name": "9.6m Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 54000, "maxScale": 27000 }, { "id": 15, "name": "19m Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 108000, "maxScale": 54000 }, { "id": 16, "name": "38m Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 216000, "maxScale": 108000 }, { "id": 17, "name": "75m Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 432000, "maxScale": 216000 }, { "id": 18, "name": "150m Resolution Metadata", "parentLayerId": -1, "defaultVisibility": true, "subLayerIds": null, "minScale": 0, "maxScale": 432000 } ],
  "tables": [],
  "spatialReference": {
    "wkid": 102100,
    "latestWkid": 3857
  },
  "singleFusedMapCache": true,
  "tileInfo": {
    "rows": 256,
    "cols": 256,
    "dpi": 96,
    "format": "JPEG",
    "compressionQuality": 75,
    "origin": {
      "x": -20037508.342787,
      "y": 20037508.342787
    },
    "spatialReference": {
      "wkid": 102100,
      "latestWkid": 3857
    },
    "lods": [
      {
        "level": 0,
        "resolution": 156543.03392800014,
        "scale": 591657527.591555
      },
      {
        "level": 1,
        "resolution": 78271.51696399994,
        "scale": 295828763.795777
      },
      {
        "level": 2,
        "resolution": 39135.75848200009,
        "scale": 147914381.897889
      },
      {
        "level": 3,
        "resolution": 19567.87924099992,
        "scale": 73957190.948944
      },
      {
        "level": 4,
        "resolution": 9783.93962049996,
        "scale": 36978595.474472
      },
      {
        "level": 5,
        "resolution": 4891.96981024998,
        "scale": 18489297.737236
      },
      {
        "level": 6,
        "resolution": 2445.98490512499,
        "scale": 9244648.868618
      },
      {
        "level": 7,
        "resolution": 1222.992452562495,
        "scale": 4622324.434309
      },
      {
        "level": 8,
        "resolution": 611.4962262813797,
        "scale": 2311162.217155
      },
      {
        "level": 9,
        "resolution": 305.74811314055756,
        "scale": 1155581.108577
      },
      {
        "level": 10,
        "resolution": 152.87405657041106,
        "scale": 577790.554289
      },
      {
        "level": 11,
        "resolution": 76.43702828507324,
        "scale": 288895.277144
      },
      {
        "level": 12,
        "resolution": 38.21851414253662,
        "scale": 144447.638572
      },
      {
        "level": 13,
        "resolution": 19.10925707126831,
        "scale": 72223.819286
      },
      {
        "level": 14,
        "resolution": 9.554628535634155,
        "scale": 36111.909643
      },
      {
        "level": 15,
        "resolution": 4.77731426794937,
        "scale": 18055.954822
      },
      {
        "level": 16,
        "resolution": 2.388657133974685,
        "scale": 9027.977411
      },
      {
        "level": 17,
        "resolution": 1.1943285668550503,
        "scale": 4513.988705
      },
      {
        "level": 18,
        "resolution": 0.5971642835598172,
        "scale": 2256.994353
      },
      {
        "level": 19,
        "resolution": 0.29858214164761665,
        "scale": 1128.497176
      },
      {
        "level": 20,
        "resolution": 0.14929107082380833,
        "scale": 564.248588
      },
      {
        "level": 21,
        "resolution": 0.07464553541190416,
        "scale": 282.124294
      },
      {
        "level": 22,
        "resolution": 0.03732276770595208,
        "scale": 141.062147
      },
      {
        "level": 23,
        "resolution": 0.01866138385297604,
        "scale": 70.5310735
      }
    ]
  },
  "initialExtent": {
    "xmin": -20037507.22959434,
    "ymin": -19971868.88040859,
    "xmax": 20037507.22959434,
    "ymax": 19971868.880408563,
    "spatialReference": {
      "cs": "pcs",
      "wkid": 102100
    }
  },
  "fullExtent": {
    "xmin": -20037507.22959434,
    "ymin": -19971868.88040859,
    "xmax": 20037507.22959434,
    "ymax": 19971868.880408563,
    "spatialReference": {
      "cs": "pcs",
      "wkid": 102100
    }
  },
  "minScale": 0,
  "maxScale": 0,
  "units": "esriMeters",
  "supportedImageFormatTypes": "PNG32,PNG24,PNG,JPG,DIB,TIFF,EMF,PS,PDF,GIF,SVG,SVGZ,BMP",
  "documentInfo": {
    "Title": "World Imagery",
    "Author": "Esri",
    "Comments": "",
    "Subject": "imagery, satellite, aerial, 500m (World), 15m (World)",
    "Category": "imageryBaseMapsEarthCover (Imagery, basemaps, and land cover)",
    "AntialiasingMode": "None",
    "TextAntialiasingMode": "Force",
    "Keywords": "World,Global,United States"
  },
  "capabilities": "Map,Tilemap,Query,Data",
  "supportedQueryFormats": "JSON, AMF, geoJSON",
  "exportTilesAllowed": false,
  "datumTransformations": [
    {
      "geoTransforms": [
        {
          "wkid": 108001,
          "latestWkid": 1241,
          "transformForward": true,
          "name": "NAD_1927_To_NAD_1983_NADCON"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "geoTransforms": [
        {
          "wkid": 108001,
          "latestWkid": 1241,
          "transformForward": false,
          "name": "NAD_1927_To_NAD_1983_NADCON"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "supportsDatumTransformation": true,
  "maxRecordCount": 100,
  "maxImageHeight": 4096,
  "maxImageWidth": 4096,
  "supportedExtensions": "KmlServer"
}

Authentication

This service requires authentication using either:

API key: Allows access to location services using a permanent token that can be restricted to specific services and included in public applications.
ArcGIS Identity (OAuth 2.0): Uses OAuth 2.0 protocol to authenticate app users with their ArcGIS Online or Enterprise Identity. The resulting token is used to access the service.

Tutorials

To learn how to work with image tile services that are hosted in the ArcGIS Platform, try the following tutorial.

Add an image tile layer

Access and display an image tile layer in a map.

PreviousVector tile service VisualizationIntroduction

DocumentationMapping APIs and location services

Image tile service

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