Fundamentals of geoprocessing with the ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension

Geoprocessing is the processing of geographic information, one of the basic functions of a GIS. It provides a way to create new information by applying an operation to existing data. Any alteration or information extraction you want to perform on your data involves a geoprocessing task. It can be a simple task, such as converting geographic data to a different format, or it can involve multiple tasks performed in sequence, such as those that clip, select, then intersect datasets.

The ArcGIS 3D Analyst extension has a comprehensive array of toolsets that contain a rich set of tools to accomplish a wide variety of tasks. Use the ArcGIS 3D Analyst geoprocessing tools to create and modify triangulated irregular network (TIN), raster, and terrain surfaces and extract information and features from them. The 3D Analyst toolsets let you convert TINs to features and rasters; create 3D features from functional surfaces by extracting height information; interpolate information from rasters; mathematically manipulate rasters; reclassify rasters; and derive height, slope, aspect, and volumetric information from TINs and rasters.

ArcGIS 3D Analyst geoprocessing tools are organized into the following categories:

• 3D Features tools
• 3D Analyst Conversion tools
• 3D Analyst Data Management
• Functional Surface tools
• Raster Interpolation tools
• Raster Math tools
• Raster Reclass tools
• Raster Surface tools
• Triangulated Surface tools
• Visibility tools

Once you have created your data structures and derived result sets, you can visualize your data in three dimensions using ArcGlobe or ArcScene.