An overview of the Raster toolset

The Raster toolset in the Data Management toolbox provides tools to perform raster data management and raster processing. These tools allow you to work with raster dataset properties and create and process raster data.

The following table lists the available toolsets in the Raster toolset and provides a brief description of each.

Toolset	Description
Mosaic Dataset	Allows you to create and edit mosaic datasets.
Raster Catalog	Allows you to work with raster catalogs. These tools allow you to copy, create, edit, and delete raster catalogs and their items.
Raster Dataset	Allows you to create and mosaic raster datasets.
Raster Processing	Allows you to perform tasks to get your raster data ready for use.
Raster Properties	Provides tools to create, view, or edit the raster dataset properties.

List of Raster Data Management toolsets

An overview of the Mosaic Dataset toolset

The following table summarizes the tools in the Mosaic Dataset toolset.

Tool	Description
Add Rasters To Mosaic Dataset	Adds raster datasets to a mosaic dataset from many sources, including a file, folder, raster catalog, table, or web service.
Alter Mosaic Dataset Schema	Defines which editing operations non-owners have when editing an ArcSDE mosaic dataset.
Analyze Mosaic Dataset	Examines a mosaic dataset to determine solutions for known errors and other issues, and to detect methods for optimization. The errors, warnings, and messages can be examined when the mosaic dataset is open within ArcMap.
Apply Adjustments	Applies the geographic adjustments to the mosaic dataset items. This tool uses the solution file from the Compute Adjustments tool.
Build Boundary	Generates the boundary polygon for a mosaic dataset. By default, the boundary merges all the footprint polygons to create a single boundary representing the extent of the valid pixels. The boundary of the mosaic dataset is updated to exclude any areas where mosaic dataset items have been removed.
Build Footprints	Computes the extent of every raster in a mosaic dataset. This tool is used when you have added or removed raster datasets from a mosaic dataset and want to recompute the footprints.
Build Mosaic Dataset Item Cache	Inserts the Cached Raster function into the function chain for items within a mosaic dataset.
Build Overviews	Defines and generates overviews for a mosaic dataset.
Build Seamlines	Automatically generates seamlines for your mosaic dataset.
Calculate Cell Size Ranges	Computes the minimum and maximum cell sizes for the rasters in a mosaic dataset.
Color Balance Mosaic Dataset	Color balances a mosaic dataset so the tiles appear seamless.
Compute Adjustments	This tool is used to compute the adjustments to the mosaic dataset. This tool will create a solution table that can be used to apply the actual adjustments.
Compute Dirty Area	Identifies an area within a mosaic dataset that has changed since a specified point in time.
Compute Tie Points	Computes the tie points between the overlapped mosaic dataset items. The tie points can then be used to compute the adjustments for the mosaic dataset.
Create Mosaic Dataset	Makes an empty mosaic dataset in a geodatabase.
Create Referenced Mosaic Dataset	Creates a new mosaic dataset from an existing raster catalog, a selection set from a raster catalog, or a mosaic dataset.
Define Mosaic Dataset NoData	Allows you to specify one or more NoData values for a mosaic dataset.
Define Overviews	Customize the way you generate overviews. This tool grants a greater deal of control than Build Overviews.
Delete Mosaic Dataset	Removes a mosaic dataset, its overviews, and its item cache from disk.
Edit Raster Function	Adds, replaces, or removes a raster function template to a mosaic dataset, items in a mosaic dataset, or a raster layer that contains a raster function. A raster function template defines a raster function chain. The template is stored as an rft.xml file, which can be exported from the Raster Function Editor.
Export Mosaic Dataset Geometry	Exports feature classes for the footprint, boundary, seamline, or resolution levels of a mosaic dataset.
Export Mosaic Dataset Items	Creates a copy of your processed images within a mosaic dataset to a specified folder and raster file format.
Export Mosaic Dataset Paths	Creates a table of the file path for each item in a mosaic dataset. You can specify whether the table contains all the file paths or just the ones that are broken.
Generate Exclude Area	Allows you to set the exclude area, based on color mask or histogram percentage. The output of this tool is used within the Color Balance Mosaic Dataset tool.
Import Mosaic Dataset Geometry	Modifies the geometry for the footprints, boundary, or seamlines in a mosaic dataset to match those from a feature class.
Merge Mosaic Dataset Items	Merges together multiple mosaic dataset items.
Remove Rasters From Mosaic Dataset	Removes selected rasters (items) from a mosaic dataset.
Repair Mosaic Dataset Paths	Repairs broken file paths within a mosaic dataset.
Set Mosaic Dataset Properties	Sets the properties of a mosaic dataset. Many of these properties define the defaults used when displaying the mosaic dataset or how it can be used when it's published as an image service.
Split Mosaic Dataset Items	Splits mosaic dataset items that were merged together using Merge Mosaic Dataset Items. Selections and queries can be used to choose the mosaic dataset items to split apart.
Synchronize Mosaic Dataset	Rebuilds or updates each raster item in the mosaic dataset and updates affected fields in the attribute table, using the raster type and options that were used when it was originally added.

List of tools in the Mosaic Dataset toolset

An overview of the Raster Catalog toolset

A raster catalog is a collection of raster datasets. It is organized into rows; each row contains a raster dataset, which is called a raster catalog item. The Raster Catalog toolset allows you to copy, create, edit, and delete raster catalogs and their items.

The following table lists the tools available in the Raster Catalog toolset and provides a brief description of each. The output for all these tools is a raster catalog.

Tool	Description
Copy Raster Catalog Items	Makes a copy of a raster catalog, including all of its contents, or a subset of its contents if there is a selection.
Create Raster Catalog	Creates an empty raster catalog in a geodatabase.
Delete Raster Catalog Items	Deletes raster catalog items, including all its contents, or a subset of its contents if there is a selection.
Export Raster Catalog Paths	Creates a table listing the paths to the raster datasets contained in an unmanaged raster catalog or a mosaic dataset. The table can display all the file paths, or just the ones that are broken.
Repair Raster Catalog Paths	Repairs broken file paths or deletes broken links within an unmanaged raster catalog or a mosaic dataset.
Workspace To Raster Catalog	Loads all the raster datasets stored in the same workspace into an existing raster catalog.

List of tools in the Raster Catalog toolset

An overview of the Raster Dataset toolset

A raster dataset is the basic data model for rasters. A raster dataset is an organized array of pixels, which can have a single band or many bands. This toolset provides the tools to copy, create, or append raster datasets.

The following table lists the tools available in the Raster Dataset toolset and provides a brief description of each. The output for all these tools is a raster dataset.

Tool	Description
Copy Raster	Makes a copy of a raster dataset, loads raster datasets into a raster catalog, or converts a mosaic dataset into a raster dataset.
Create Random Raster	Creates a random raster dataset based on a user-specified distribution and extent.
Create Raster Dataset	Creates a raster dataset as a file or in a geodatabase.
Download Rasters	Allows you to download the source files of the selected rasters from an image service or mosaic dataset.
Mosaic	Mosaics multiple input rasters into an existing raster dataset.
Mosaic To New Raster	Mosaics multiple raster datasets into a new raster dataset.
Raster Catalog To Raster Dataset	Mosaics the contents of a raster catalog into a new raster dataset.
Workspace To Raster Dataset	Mosaics all the raster datasets stored within the specified workspace into one raster dataset.

List of tools in the Raster Dataset toolset

An overview of the Raster Processing toolset

The Raster Processing toolset is used to perform some tasks to get your data to a workable form. The raster processing tools allow you to perform several tasks with your data to prepare it for analysis and display.

The following table lists the tools available in the Raster Processing toolset and provides a brief description of each. The input and output for all these tools is a raster dataset.

Tool	Description
Clip	Creates a spatial subset of a raster, including a raster dataset, mosaic dataset, or image service layer.
Composite Bands	Creates a single raster dataset from multiple bands and can also create a raster dataset using only a subset of bands.
Create Ortho-Corrected Raster Dataset	Creates an orthocorrected raster dataset using the rational polynomial coefficients (RPC) associated with a raster dataset.
Create Pan-Sharpened Raster Dataset	Fuses a high-resolution panchromatic raster dataset with a lower-resolution multiband raster dataset to create a red-green-blue (RGB) raster with the resolution of the panchromatic raster.
Compute Pan-sharpening Weights	Calculates an optimal set of pan-sharpened weights for new or custom sensor data.
Extract Subdataset	Extracts raster datasets stored within a subdataset raster file.
Raster To DTED	Splits a raster dataset into files based on the DTED tiling structure.
Resample	Alters the raster dataset by changing the cell size and resampling method.
Split Raster	Creates a tiled output from an input raster dataset.

List of tools in the Raster Processing toolset

An overview of the Raster Properties toolset

A raster dataset has various properties that are associated with it: color maps, pyramids, statistics, attribute tables, world files, and cell values. The tools in this toolset help you create, delete, or edit the various properties that may exist for a raster dataset.

The following table lists the tools available in the Raster Properties toolset and provides a brief description of each.

Tool	Description
Add Colormap	Adds a new colormap or replaces an existing colormap on a raster dataset.
Batch Build Pyramids	Builds pyramids for multiple raster datasets.
Batch Calculate Statistics	Calculates statistics for multiple raster datasets.
Build Pyramids	Builds raster pyramids for a raster dataset.
Build Pyramids and Statistics	Traverses a folder structure, building pyramids and calculating statistics for all the raster datasets it contains. It can also build pyramids and calculate statistics for all the items in a raster catalog or mosaic dataset.
Build Raster Attribute Table	Adds a raster attribute table to a raster dataset or updates an existing one.
Calculate Statistics	Calculates statistics for a raster dataset or mosaic dataset.
Delete Colormap	Removes the color map associated with a raster dataset.
Delete Raster Attribute Table	Removes the raster attribute table associated with a raster dataset. Since raster attribute tables can only be built on single-band raster datasets, this tool is only valid for raster datasets with a single band.
Export Raster World File	Creates a world file based on the geographic information of a raster dataset. The pixel size and the location of the upper left pixel is extracted for the world file.
Get Cell Value	Retrieves the pixel value at a specific x,y coordinate. For multiband raster datasets you can specify from which bands to retrieve the cell value. If you do not specify any bands, the pixel value for all the bands will be returned for the input location.
Get Raster Properties	Returns the properties of a raster dataset, mosaic dataset, or a raster product.
Set Raster Properties	Sets some properties on a raster dataset or mosaic dataset, such as data type, statistics, and nodata values.

List of tools in the Raster Properties toolset