An overview of the Image Analysis functions

The Image Analysis module (arcpy.ia) includes functions for processing and creating rasters or raster objects. The functions are organized into related groupings in the following categories: Analysis, Appearance, Band Indices, Classification, Conversion, Correction, Data Management, Math, Reclass, Statistical, and Surface.

Some functions available with the arcpy.ia module require an Image Analyst or a Spatial Analyst license. Where applicable, the extension License requirement for each function is listed in the table below. All other functions can be used with an ArcGIS Pro Basic license.

If the function requires a license and you are working with a Concurrent Use license, you can use the CheckOutExtension function to access the functionality.

The geoprocessing tools available in the Image Analyst toolbox are also available as geoprocessing functions in the arcpy.ia module.

Analysis

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

Aggregate

Creates a raster object by aggregating the input multidimensional raster based on a dimension interval and an aggregation method.

Image Analyst

Anomaly

Creates a raster object that contains the anomaly pixel values of the input multidimensional raster based on a time-dimension interval and the anomaly calculation method.

Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst

Apply

Creates a raster object by applying a raster function or function chain to one or more input rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

ComputeChange

Creates a raster object that contains the difference between two categorical or continuous rasters.

Image Analyst

DetectChangeUsingChangeAnalysis

Uses a change analysis raster to create a raster object containing date of change information.

Image Analyst

Foreach

Creates a raster object by applying a raster function or a customized function template to every slice in the input multidimensional raster.

Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst

GenerateTrend

Estimates the trend for each pixel along a dimension for one or more variables in a multidimensional raster.

Image Analyst

HeatIndex

Calculates apparent temperature based on ambient temperature and relative humidity. The apparent temperature is often described as how hot it feels to the human body.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

PredictUsingTrend

Computes a forecasted multidimensional raster object using the output trend raster from the GenerateTrend function.

Image Analyst

TasseledCap

Creates a raster object by applying a tasseled cap transformation on an input raster.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Threshold

Creates a raster object by dividing an input raster into two distinct classes, where a high-value class is displayed with white pixels and a low-value class is displayed with black pixels.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

WindChill

Identifies dangerous winter conditions that, depending on exposure times to the elements, can result in frostbite or hypothermia.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Appearance

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

ContrastBrightness

Creates an enhanced image by improving the contrast and brightness of the source image.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Convolution

Performs filtering on the pixel values in an image, which can be used for sharpening an image, blurring an image, detecting edges within an image, or other kernel-based enhancements.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Pansharpen

Creates a higher-resolution multiband image by fusing a lower-resolution multispectral image and a higher-resolution panchromatic image.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Render

Creates a rendered raster object by applying symbology to the referenced raster dataset. This function is useful when displaying data in a Jupyter notebook.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

StatisticsHistogram

Computes the statistics and histogram of a raster.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Stretch

Enhances an image by changing properties such as brightness, contrast, and gamma through multiple stretch types based on statistics.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

VectorFieldRenderer

Visualize flow direction and magnitude information in your raster with vector symbols.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Band Indices

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

BAI

Calculates the Burn Area Index (BAI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

CIg

Calculates the Green Chlorophyll Index (CIg) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

CIre

Calculates the Red-Edge Chlorophyll Index (CIre) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

ClayMinerals

Calculates the Clay Minerals (CM) ratio from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

EVI

Calculates the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

FerrousMinerals

Calculates the Ferrous Minerals (FM) ratio from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

GEMI

Calculates the Global Environmental Monitoring Index (GEMI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

GNDVI

Calculates the Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

GVITM

Calculates the Green Vegetation Index for Landsat TM (GVITM) from a Landsat TM image and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

IronOxide

Calculates the Iron Oxide (IO) ratio from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

MSAVI

Calculates the Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI2) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

MTVI2

Calculates the Modified Triangular Vegetation Index (MTVI2) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

NBR

Calculates the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

NDBI

Calculates the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

NDMI

Calculates the Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

NDSI

Calculates the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

NDVI

Calculates the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

NDVIre

Calculates the Red-Edge Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVIre) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

NDWI

Calculates the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

PVI

Calculates the Perpendicular Vegetation Index (PVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

RTVICore

Calculates the Red-Edge Triangulated Vegetation Index (RTVICore) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

SAVI

Calculates the Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

SRre

Calculates the Red-Edge Simple Ratio (SRre) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Sultan

Calculates Sultan's formula from a six-band 8-bit raster object and returns a three-band 8-bit raster object.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

TSAVI

Calculates the Transformed Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (TSAVI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

VARI

Calculates the Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI) from a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the index values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Classification

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

Classify

Classifies a raster dataset based on an Esri Classifier Definition file (.ecd) and raster dataset inputs.

Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst

LinearUnmixing

Performs subpixel classification and calculates the fractional abundance of land cover types for individual pixels.

Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst

MLClassify

Performs a supervised classification, using the maximum likelihood classification algorithm.

Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst

RegionGrow

Groups adjacent pixels together depending on the specified radius from the seed point.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

SegMeanShift

Groups adjacent pixels together that have similar spectral and spatial characteristics.

Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst

Conversion

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

Colormap

Transforms the pixel values to display the raster data as either a grayscale or an RGB color image based on a color scheme or specific colors in a color map file.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

ColorMapToRGB

Converts a single-band raster with a color map to a three-band (red, green, and blue) raster.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

ColorspaceConversion

Converts the color model of a three-band unsigned 8-bit image from either the hue, saturation, and value (HSV) to red, green, and blue (RGB) or vice versa.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Complex

Computes the magnitude from complex values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Grayscale

Converts a multiband image into a single-band grayscale image. Specified weights are applied to each of the input bands, and a normalization is applied for output.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

RasterizeFeatures

Converts a polygon, polyline, or point feature class to a raster object.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

RasterToXarray

Converts a multidimensional raster to an xarray.Dataset containing labeled arrays (data array objects) with aligned dimensions.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

SpectralConversion

Applies a matrix to a multiband image to affect the color values of the output.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

TrendToRGB

Converts a trend raster to a three-band (red, green, and blue) raster.

Image Analyst

UnitConversion

Converts pixels from one unit to another. It supports conversion of distance, speed, and temperature.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

VectorField

Combines and converts two rasters into a two-band raster that is of either data type Magnitude-Direction or data type U-V.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

XarrayToRaster

Converts an xarray.Dataset to a multidimensional raster.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Correction

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

ApparentReflectance

Calibrates the digital number (DN) values of imagery from some satellite sensors. The calibration uses sun elevation, acquisition date, sensor gain, and bias for each band to derive Top of Atmosphere reflectance, plus sun angle correction.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Geometric

Creates a raster object by producing an orthorectified image using a sensor definition and terrain model.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Speckle

Creates a raster object by removing speckle and smoothing out noise in radar datasets, while retaining edges and sharp features in the image.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Data Management

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

ApplyEnvironment

Creates a new raster that is a copy of the input raster with the current environment settings being applied.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Buffered

Stores the pixel block of the input raster in memory to optimize performance when the raster is used multiple times in an expression.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Clip

Creates a raster object that is clipped according to the extent of an input raster dataset or the shape of an input polygon feature class.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

CompositeBand

Creates a raster object by combining multiple rasters to form a multiband image.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

ExtractBand

Creates a raster object by extracting one or more bands from, or reordering the bands in, a multiband raster.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

GeometricMedian

Calculates the geometric median across pixels in a time series of multiband imagery.

Image Analyst

Mask

Creates a raster object by specifying one or more NoData values or a range of valid pixel values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Merge

Creates a raster object by merging a list of rasters spatially or across dimensions.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Reproject

Creates a raster object by modifying the projection of the input raster.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Resample

Creates a raster object by changing the spatial resolution of the input raster and sets rules for aggregating or interpolating values across the new pixel sizes.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Subset

Creates a raster object that is a subset of the input multidimensional raster based on selected variables and dimension intervals.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

TransposeBits

Creates a raster object by unpacking the bits of the input pixel and mapping them to specified bits in the output pixel. The purpose of this function is to manipulate bits from a couple of inputs, such as the Landsat 8 quality band products.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Math

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

Arithmetic

Performs an arithmetic operation between two rasters or between a raster and a scalar and returns a raster object with the operation applied.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

BandArithmetic

Performs an arithmetic operation on the bands of a multiband raster object and returns a raster object with the operation applied.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

RasterCalculator

Provides access to all existing math functions and returns a raster object with the mathematical operation applied.

Image Analyst or Spatial Analyst

Reclass

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

Lookup

Creates a raster object by looking up values found in another field in the table of the input raster.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Remap

Categorizes the pixel values of a raster object into groups with specific values.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

ZonalRemap

Categorizes the pixel values of a raster object into groups based on zones defined in another raster and zone-dependent value mapping defined in a table.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Statistical

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

ArgStatistics

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the band index at which that pixel reached the statistical argument. If the input raster is multidimensional, the output raster object will contain dimension values instead of band indices.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Majority

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the value that occurs most often across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Max

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the largest value across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Mean

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the average value across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Median

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the median value across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Min

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the minimum value across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Minority

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the value that occurs least often across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Percentile

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the specified percentile value across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Range

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the difference between the largest and smallest values across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Statistics

Calculates statistics for each cell of an image based on a defined focal neighborhood.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

StdDev

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the standard deviation value across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Sum

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the sum of values across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Variety

Creates a raster object where each pixel contains the number of unique values across multiple rasters.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Surface

FunctionDescriptionLicense requirement

Aspect

Identifies the downslope direction of the maximum rate of change in value from each cell to its neighbors.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

AspectSlope

Creates a raster object that simultaneously displays the aspect and slope of a surface.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Contour

Creates a raster object for contour lines by joining points with the same value from a raster dataset. The contours are isolines created as rasters for visualization.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Curvature

Displays the shape or curvature of the slope, which can be concave or convex and can be understood from the curvature value. The curvature is calculated by computing the second derivative of the surface.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

ElevationVoidFill

Creates pixels on a raster object where holes exist in the elevation.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Hillshade

Creates a raster object of a grayscale 3D representation of a surface by considering the illumination source location and shadows.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

ShadedRelief

Creates a color 3D representation of the terrain by merging the images from the elevation-coded and hillshade methods.

ArcGIS Pro Basic

Slope

Represents the rate of change of elevation for each pixel.

ArcGIS Pro Basic