Surface geoprocessing functions

Available with Spatial Analyst license.

Available with 3D Analyst license.

With the Surface geoprocessing functions, you can quantify and visualize a terrain landform represented by a digital elevation model.

Starting with a raster elevation surface as input, with these geoprocessing functions, you can gain information by producing a new dataset that identifies a specific pattern within an original dataset. You can derive patterns that were not readily apparent in the original surface, such as contours, angle of slope, steepest downslope direction (Aspect), shaded relief (Hillshade), and visibility.

Each Surface geoprocessing function provides insights into a surface that can be used as an end in itself or as input into additional analysis.

The following table lists the available geoprocessing functions and provides a brief description of each.

Geoprocessing functions in the Surface category

Geoprocessing function	Description
Add Surface Information	Attributes features with spatial information derived from a surface.
Aspect	Derives the aspect from each cell of a raster surface.
Contour	Creates a feature class of contours from a raster surface.
Contour List	Creates a feature class of selected contour values from a raster surface.
Contour with Barriers	Creates contours from a raster surface. The inclusion of barrier features allows you to independently generate contours on either side of a barrier.
Curvature	Calculates the curvature of a raster surface and, optionally, includes profile and plan curvature.
Cut Fill	Calculates the volume change between two surfaces. This is typically used for cut and fill operations.
Feature Preserving Smoothing	Smooths a surface raster by removing noise while preserving features.
Geodesic Viewshed	Determines the raster surface locations visible to a set of observer features using geodesic methods.
Geomorphon Landforms	Calculates the geomorphon pattern of each cell of an input surface raster and classifies calculated geomorphons into common landform types.
Hillshade	Creates a shaded relief from a surface raster by considering the illumination source angle and shadows.
Interpolate Shape	Creates 3D features by interpolating z-values from a surface.
Multiscale Surface Difference	Calculates the maximum difference from the mean elevation across a range of spatial scales.
Multiscale Surface Percentile	Calculates the most extreme percentile across a range of spatial scales.
Observer Points	Identifies which observer points are visible from each raster surface location.
Slope	Identifies the slope (gradient or steepness) from each cell of a raster.
Surface Parameters	Determines parameters of a raster surface such as aspect, slope, and curvatures.
Viewshed	Determines the raster surface locations visible to a set of observer features.
Visibility	Determines the raster surface locations visible to a set of observer features, or identifies which observer points are visible from each raster surface location.