Analyzing a mosaic dataset

If you want to optimize your mosaic dataset or your mosaic dataset isn't behaving as you expect, you can analyze it using the Mosaic Dataset Analyzer tool. This tool is designed to examine your mosaic dataset to look for commonly known anomalies and report them as errors and warnings along with suggestions to resolve problems and optimize performance.

Individual items are analyzed to check for invalid parameters or incorrectly constructed function chains. The tool also performs visibility analysis on the mosaic dataset, checks validity of overviews, and makes general recommendations to improve service performance. Once the analysis is complete, the results are displayed in a tabular form.

The results are categorized into the following:

  • Error/High—Indicates an issue that may adversely affect the basic desktop roaming or publishing with the mosaic dataset. Examples: invalid visibility or cannot open the raster dataset.
  • Error/Medium—Indicates an issue that directly affects the authoring experience. Geoprocessing tools under the mosaic dataset toolset are quite likely to fail because of this issue. Examples: Empty mosaic or invalid raster type ID.
  • Error/Low—Indicates that the issue might affect some aspects related to the mosaic dataset (or any derived image service). Examples: invalid center XY or broken paths.
  • Warning/High—Indicates an issue related to performance or optimum display. Examples: missing overviews missing statistics.
  • Warning/Low—Indicates a low impact issue typically attached to a recommendation to ensure smooth and efficient operation. Examples: bad metadata, JPEG quality too low, or too many uncompressed pixels in the mosaic dataset, missing raster pyramids.
  • Message/Low—Only messages that report statistical facts related to the mosaic dataset appear under this category.

Accessing the Mosaic Dataset Analyzer

There are three ways to access the mosaic dataset analyzer:

  • From the Geoprocessing pane, search for Analyze Mosaic Dataset.
  • From the Contents pane, right-click on the layer and select Data > Analyze Mosaic Dataset.
  • From the Catalog pane, right-click on the dataset and select Analyze Mosaic Dataset.

The types of problems that can be analyzed are as follows:

Checks PerformedExplanation

Footprint geometry

Analyze the footprint geometry of each selected mosaic dataset item. This is checked on by default.

Function Chains

Analyze the function chains for each selected mosaic dataset item.

Raster

Analyze the original raster datasets. This is checked on by default.

Broken paths

Overviews are stale when the underlying source data has changed.

Source validity

Overviews are stale when the underlying source data has changed.

Stale overviews

Overviews are stale when the underlying source data has changed.

Pyramids

Analyze the raster pyramids associated with each mosaic dataset item in the selected mosaic dataset. Test for disconnected auxiliary files which can occur when they are stored in a raster proxy location.

Statistics

Test for disconnected auxiliary statistics files if they are stored in the raster proxy location. Analyze the covariance matrix associated with the raster, when the Gram-Schmidt pan-sharpening method is enabled. Analyze the radiometric pixel depth of a mosaic dataset item against the pixel depth of the mosaic dataset.

Performance

Factors that increase performance include compression during transmission and caching items with many raster functions.

Information

Generate an information log for the analysis.