Searching for images in ArcGIS

Finding the right images can be a tedious task, particularly if you have a lot of image data stored on the computers or servers within your organization. Those images may be stored in different formats or distributed as raster products. The search capabilities of ArcGIS has made it easy to search for your raster data. The Search window lets you search for all supported raster data types: raster datasets, mosaic datasets, raster catalogs, raster products, mosaic dataset items, and image service items.

The search can find rasters based on many image properties such as sensor name, format, cloud cover, and so on. You can perform keyword searches using items such as the sensor name, product type, or dataset tag. For example, you can type quickbird in the Search window, and the search engine will search for the matching string from a set of dataset properties.

Note:

In order to be effective, you should already be familiar with how Search in ArcGIS works.

Before searching for any particular data, you will also need to configure the indexing options to Register the folders and server connections to the locations of the data you want to search in.

Structuring the search

You can also perform a structured search using the key properties of imagery. Structured searches will be more specific than keyword searches and can narrow down your search results. For example, if you search with sensorname:landsat* AND type:"Raster Product", only the Landsat raster products will be returned. Any other data type or data without the text landsat in the file name or path will be filtered out.

Note:

• Use * to represent the remaining letters. For example, using Landsat* will find Landsat 7 ETM+, Landsat 4-5 TM, Landsat 1-5 MSS, or anything that begins with Landsat.
• The string values are not case sensitive, therefore, landsat, Landsat, and LANDSAT will return same result.
• The field name is case sensitive. You must use lowercase for all field names.

This table contains all image-specific fields and values used in a structured search.

Field Name	Field Description	Values	Examples
rasterdatatype	The data source type.	For example, generic, elevation, thematic, processed.	rasterdatatype:elevation
acquisitiondate	The date at which the image was acquired.	A date format that is compliant with the System.DateTime.Parse requirements. Recommended formats: "mm/dd/yyyy" "mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss AM"	acquisitiondate>"9/7/2008 7:31:12 PM" acquisitiondate<"12/1/2010" acquisitiondate:["1/1/2006" TO "1/1/2007"]
cloudcover	The percentage of image cloud coverage.	0–100 (percent).	cloudcover<=10 cloudcover=0
sensorname	The name of the sensor.	The same name as the raster type, such as IKONOS-2 and LANDSAT 7 ETM+.	sensorname:landsat7*
productname	The name of the product provided by the sensor.	The same name as the Satellite sensor raster types, such as Geo, Standard, and Level1A.	productname:geo
sunazimuth	The azimuth angle of the sun at which the image was acquired.	A value between 0–360, for example, 172.34.	sunazimuth>170.0 sunazimuth:[150 TO 180]
sunelevation	The elevation (altitude) angle of the sun at which the image was acquired.	A value between 0–90, for example, 29.72.	sunelevation>20.0 sunelevation:[60 TO 80]
sensorazimuth	The azimuth angle of the sensor at which the image was acquired.	A value between 0–360, for example, 228.72.	sensorazimuth:[0 TO 360] sensorazimuth>200.0
sensorelevation	The elevation angle of the sensor at which the image was acquired.	A value between 0–90, for example, 74.64.	sensorelevation:[50 TO 80] sensorelevation>70.2
offnadir	The off nadir angle of the camera when the image was acquired.	A value between 0–90, for example, 15.36.	offnadir:[0 TO 19] offnadir<10.2
bandnames	A list of band names.	Red, Green, Blue, Near Infrared, CoastalBlue, and so on.	bandnames:red
rasterdatasettag	A tag used to describe the type of raster products, or type of raster items, in a mosaic dataset.	For example, MS, Pan, Pan sharpen, Thermal, and so on.	rasterdatasettag:Pansharpen
format	A raster format string.	For example, TIFF, IMAGINE Image, and so on.	format:tiff format:Imagine*

You can perform operations on the search results. The results of the image search can then be added to a mosaic dataset. After you perform the search, click Operations and click Add all to mosaic.

Typical workflows when searching imagery

Here are a few workflow examples of searching for imagery.

Search for new images with a specific raster type within your study area

This workflow shows you how to search for the most recent Quickbird images within your study area.

1. In ArcMap, zoom into your study area.
2. Open the Search window, click the Images filter, then click the Raster Product type.
3. In the Search text box, complete the query as: type:"Raster Product" AND sensorname:quickbird.
4. Click the extent drop-down menu and choose Within Current Extent.
5. Click the Sort By drop-down menu and choose Acquisition Date. The most recent images will appear on top in the search results.
6. Right-click on the most recent search result and choose Add to Map or Add to Mosaic.

Depending on which option you chose in the previous step, ArcMap will have either displayed the query results in your map, or have loaded the query results into the Add Rasters to Mosaic Dataset tool.

Create a mosaic dataset with a specific raster type and specific attributes

This workflow shows you how to create a mosaic dataset with Landsat imagery that has less than 5 percent cloud cover and is newer than 1972.

1. Open the Search window, click the Images filter, then choose Raster Product type.
2. In the Search text box, complete the query as: type:"Raster Product" AND sensorname:landsat* AND cloudcover<5 AND acquisitiondate>"1/1/1972".
3. Use the Create Mosaic Dataset tool to create a mosaic dataset with an 8-bit unsigned pixel type.
4. In the Search window, click the Search Option drop-down menu and choose Add All to Mosaic.

   The rasters in the current search results will be added to the Add Rasters to Mosaic Dataset tool.

5. In the tool dialog, choose the newly created mosaic dataset as the input.

The Add Rasters to mosaic dataset tool has been set up to load all your search results into your new mosaic dataset. Adjust any parameters as needed, then you can click OK to execute the tool.

Find all multispectral raster products and mosaic dataset items that cover your area

This workflow shows you how to find all the multispectral raster product and mosaic dataset items that cover the Portland, OR, area.

1. Open the Search window, and click Search Options.
2. Click on the Index tab, and uncheck the Skip mosaic dataset items option. Since we want to view all the mosaic dataset items within the coverage area, we need to adjust this parameter.
3. Click OK to apply the options and return to the Search window.
4. Click the Images filter, then choose the Raster Product type.
5. In the Search text box, complete the query as: (type:"Raster Product" OR type:"Mosaic Dataset Item") AND rasterdatasettag:ms in Portland, Oregon, United States.

The results will be shown in the Search window.

Find mosaic datasets that are not created with a specific raster type

This workflow will find all the mosaic datasets that are not created with the Ikonos raster type.

1. Open the Search window, click the Images filter, then choose Mosaic Dataset type.
2. In the Search text box, complete the query as: type:"Mosaic Dataset Item" NOT (sensorname:ikonos-2).

The results will be shown in the Search window.