Introduction to raster operations

RasterOperationMapViewer
Map Viewer analysis pane displaying the list of available raster analysis operations.

What are raster operations?

A raster operation, also known as a task or geoprocessing operation, is a web service endpoint designed to work with . Raster operations allow you to run a specific analytical process on a raster dataset like classification, change detection, terrain analysis, spatial interpolation and more. Performing a raster operation results in the creation of a new raster dataset.

You can use raster operations to:

  • Classify pixels into categories, such as land cover types or water features.
  • Compare raster datasets from different time intervals to detect, identify and quantify change, such as urban sprawl or vegetation loss.
  • Calculate terrain attributes like aspect, slope or hillshade.
  • Create elevation models to predict variables such as temperture or precipitation.
  • Predict habitat suitablity for conservation planning or wildlife management.
  • Predict flood risk for emergency response planing, floodplain management and infrustructure development.
  • Assess and manage natural resources like forests, water bodies and agricultural land.

What raster operations are available?

The raster analysis service contains a number of operations that you can access and use in your applications. These operations are grouped by category by the type of analysis they perform:

For a list of all the raster operations supported by the raster analysis service, go to Types of raster operations

How to perform a raster operation request

The general steps to perform an analysis with a raster operation are:

  1. Get your raster analysis service URL.
  2. Identify the operation you would like to perform.
  3. Provide the input parameter values.
  4. Make the request.
  5. Handle the results.

Example

This example shows how to perform a SummarizeRasterWithin raster operation request using the raster analysis service.

Request
cURLcURLHTTP
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curl "{YOUR_RASTER_ANALYSIS_SERVICE_URL}/SummarizeRasterWithin/submitJob" \
-H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
-d "token={access_token}" \
-d "f=json" \
-d "zoneField=COUNTY_FIPS" \
-d "outputName={"serviceProperties": {"name": "Summaize_within_rest_api","capabilities": "Image, TilesOnly"},"itemProperties": {"description": "output generated from the summarizeRasterWithin operation in postman","title": "Summarize raster within"}}" \
-d "statisticType=Mean" \
-d "inputZoneLayer={"url":"https://services.arcgis.com/P3ePLMYs2RVChkJx/arcgis/rest/services/USA_Census_Counties/FeatureServer/0","filter":"STATE_NAME = 'Alabama'","itemId":"14c5450526a8430298b2fa74da12c2f4"}" \
-d "inputRasterLayerToSummarize={"url":"https://tiledimageservices3.arcgis.com/GVgbJbqm8hXASVYi/arcgis/rest/services/US_Annual_Temperature/ImageServer"}"
Response
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{
  "jobId": "{JOB_ID}",
  "jobStatus": "esriJobNew"
}

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